U.S. Internet Giants To Feds: Back Off On Surveillance

In an open letter to President Barack Obama and Congress, Apple, Microsoft, Google and five other of the world’s largest Internet companies urged major reform of the U.S. government’s surveillance policies. Some of the companies said they were concerned that recent spying revelations have shaken public confidence in the Internet and thus threaten their business interests. “People won’t use technology they don’t trust,” said Brad Smith, general counsel of Microsoft. The open letter urged the United States to take the lead on the issue by making sure that government surveillance efforts are “clearly restricted by law, proportionate to the risks, transparent and subject to independent oversight.” The signatories – Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Twitter and AOL – have a total value of $1.4 trillion dollars.