It appears Germany has come out swinging ahead of today's FIFA World Cup match:
- *GERMANY ENDING VERIZON CONTRACT, CITING NSA: AP
Is this the "boomerang" that Putin warned Obama about?
As AP reports,
The German government is canceling a contract with Verizon over fears the company could be letting U.S. intelligence agencies eavesdrop on official communications. The Interior Ministry says it will let its current contract for Internet services with the New York-based company expire in 2015. The announcement comes after reports this week that Verizon and British company Colt provide Internet services to the German parliament and other official entities.
Germany has been at the forefront of international outrage over alleged electronic eavesdropping by the U.S. National Security Agency and Britain's GCHQ, revealed last year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said Thursday that Germany wants to ensure it has full control over highly sensitive government communications networks. Verizon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
And Reuters:
The German government has cancelled a contract with U.S. telecoms firm Verizon Communications inc as part of an overhaul of its internal communications prompted by the row over United States government spying.
Reports last October based on disclosures by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden that Washington had conducted mass surveillance in Germany.
Berlin subsequently demanded talks with Washington on a "no-spy" deal, but these collapsed after the United States appeared unwilling to give the assurances Germany wanted.
"The pressures on networks as well as the risks from highly-developed viruses or Trojans are rising," Germany's Interior Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Time to revise non-GAAP EPS to exclude impact of NSA spying revelations.
