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Just one major telecommunications company refused to participate in a legally dubious NSA surveillance program in 2001. A few years later, its CEO was indicted by federal prosecutors. He was convicted, served four and a half years of his sentence and was released this month. Prosecutors claim Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio was guilty of insider trading, and that his prosecution had nothing to do with his refusal to allow spying on his customers without the permission of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. But to this day, Nacchio insists that his prosecution was retaliation for refusing to break the law on...

While National Security Agency’s harvesting of telephone data is often defended as a necessary component of post-9/11 national security, old court documents claim the spy agency was putting such a program into place months before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In court papers filed during his 2007 insider trading trial, former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio claimed that Denver-based Qwest was denied lucrative NSA contracts he believed to be worth $50-$100 million, after Nacchio refused to involve Qwest in a secret NSA program that he thought would be illegal. Subsequent reporting at the time revealed that it was a domestic...

Qwest union contract expires SaturdayThe Associated Press Friday, Aug. 15, 2008 NEW YORK The labor contract with the largest union at Qwest Communications International Inc. expires Saturday, little more than a week before the company is to provide phone and Internet service for the Democratic National Convention. The Communications Workers of America has voted to authorize a strike, which could theoretically begin as soon as Sunday. The union organizes 20,000 Qwest workers in 13 states. The same union was involved in contract negotiations with Verizon Communications Inc. recently. The parties were unable to reach an agreement before the expiration of...

Qwest, union talk contract ahead of conventionsBy SANDY SHORE AP Business Writer Friday, July 11, 2008 - Page updated at 02:10 PM DENVER — Qwest Communications and its largest employee union have started negotiations with the hope of agreeing on a new contract ahead of two political conventions that are counting on the company for telecommunications services. A contract covering about 21,000 workers is scheduled to expire Aug. 16, a little more than a week before the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The Republican National Convention begins Sept. 1 in St. Paul, Minn. Denver-based Qwest committed $6 million worth of...

DENVER (AP) - Union officials in Colorado say a Qwest supervisor tried to cut down on lengthy bathroom breaks by telling workmen to use disposable urinal bags in the field. The manager distributed the bags to 25 male field technicians, telling them not to waste time leaving a job site to search for a public bathroom, the Rocky Mountain News reported Thursday. "We deal with a lot of silliness in corporate America, but you've got to admit, it takes the freakin' cake," Reed Roberts, an administrative director at the Communications Workers of America District 7, told the newspaper. Roberts did...

Firestone. American Motors. Texaco. Pan Am. Worldcom. At one point or another these large American companies were at the top of their industries. Pan Am was the leading global airline for decades. All are gone. Some were sold off. Others went bankrupt. Who could have predicted it? There are several iconic US companies that may well not exist at the end of 2008. Some may not even make it halfway through the year. Not all will go out of business. Some may simply be auctioned off in pieces. Others may be bought. These companies will not exist in their current...

DNC protesters likely to have plenty of room — with a view Protesters at next summer's Democratic National Convention will likely be allowed to rally within view of the Pepsi Center, a Denver city council committee was told today. Denver Deputy Police Chief Michael Battista said the city will probably be able to allow closer access for protesters than Boston did in 2004, since the Pepsi Center is not next to a freeway like Boston's Fleet Center. "At the Fleet Center there were railroad tracks and a highway and the protesters were put on the other side," said Battista. "At...

Excerpt - Joe Nacchio, the aggressive chief executive who oversaw Qwest's spectacular growth as well as its near collapse into bankruptcy, was found guilty on 19 of 42 counts of illegal insider trading, a stellar finish for the Justice Department in its five- year probe of the company's former executives. As Judge Edward Nottingham read the guilty counts Thursday afternoon, Nacchio's eyes watered and his lips stayed firmly pressed together. With his hands crisscrossed on the defense table, he briefly glanced at the gallery and raised his eyebrows as if in disbelief. Earlier, as not-guilty pronouncements were read on the...

As the trial for former Qwest executive Joe Naccio gets under way, I think a few predictions are in order: 1. The jury that is seated will take themselves way too seriously. The jury will be composed of more women than men. Those women will furiously scribble notes for the first three weeks (when the prosecution presents its case), and grow tired of the process when the defense takes its turn. 2. The bloodlust of the anti-executive types will grow. Those that have been hurt by the falling stock prices of Qwest will ooze out of the woodwork to proclaim...

SANTA FE— State Public Regulation Commission officials cannot by law speak privately with Qwest Communications officials about a settlement proposal, but Gov. Bill Richardson can and has. The PRC and Qwest are in court over whether the company must invest more than $200 million in the state's telecom system or refund the money to consumers. The New Mexico Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case Feb. 14. Richardson met with Qwest officials at their request in Aspen, Colo., last August. Ned Farquhar, a senior adviser to the governor, also met privately with company officials seven times between July and...

12/5/2005 - FORWARD OPERATION BASE QAYYARAH WEST, Iraq (AFPN) -- The sounds of hammers smashing nails and the buzzing of saws cutting wood, typically resonate through this forward Army outpost -- simply knows as Q-West. The 200-plus civil engineering Airmen of the 557th Expeditionary Red Horse Squadron are nowhere near an airfield. And they are nowhere near any of their Air Force brothers and sisters. “It’s just us flying solo, wherever we are,” said Senior Airman Jesse Gent, a structural journeyman. “We’re kind of like a contractor, and we support the Army wherever they need us.” “We’ve had a pretty...

SBC and Verizon both win merger clearance By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington Published: October 31 2005 23:16 | Last updated: October 31 2005 23:16 SBC and Verizon on Monday successfully concluded their campaigns to win regulatory clearance for their two multi-billion dollar telecommunications deals. The Federal Communications Commission approved both companies’ merger plans without onerous conditions. The FCC, which has for months been evenly split between two Democratic and two Republican commissioners because of a Republican vacancy at the agency, voted unanimously to approve SBC’s $16bn takeover or AT&T and Verizon’s $8.5bn takeover of MCI following a weekend of internal...

Clock ticking on Qwest contract talks Pay, health care, OT sticking points as sides gird for strike By Jeff Smith, Rocky Mountain News August 12, 2005 Qwest Communications and its unions are fast approaching the deadline on contract negotiations, with union officials reporting little progress on key issues such as wages, health care, job security and forced overtime. The current agreement expires at midnight Saturday, and although both sides say they don't want a strike, they are preparing for the possibility. Roughly 25,000 of Qwest's 40,000 employees are union workers, predominantly with the Communications Workers of America. An informational picket...

NEW YORK (AP) -- The three-month bidding war for long-distance provider MCI ended Monday as Qwest dropped out after MCI agreed to an $8.54 billion deal with Verizon and rejected a higher-priced offer from Qwest for the fourth time. The price tag for MCI Inc. ended up about 25 percent higher than what Verizon Communications Inc. originally agreed to pay to acquire the phone company formerly known as WorldCom. But it is still 13 percent less than the $9.85 billion offered by Qwest Communications International Inc. in what became the biggest telecom bidding war since 1999 -- when Denver-based...

Qwest surrenders in war for MCI By Bruce Meyerson The Associated Press Post file / Brian Brainerd The logos of Qwest and MCI appear on buildings in downtown Denver in this 2005 file photo. New York - Denver-based Qwest dropped out of the bidding war for MCI Inc. today after MCI agreed to another new deal with Verizon, rejecting a higher-priced bid from Qwest for the fourth time. "It is no longer in the best interests of shareowners, customers and employees to continue in a process that seems to be permanently skewed against Qwest," the company said in a statement....

NEW YORK (AP) -- MCI embraced a $9.75 billion takeover bid from Qwest on Saturday, finally succumbing to pressure to scrap its lower-priced deal with Verizon. Verizon Communications Inc. now has five business days to respond with an improved proposal or possibly walk away the loser after a nearly three-month bidding war. MCI Inc. said its board of directors, after shunning three prior bids from Qwest Communications Inc., had determined that the latest offer was superior to the long-distance phone company's $7.5 billion agreement with Verizon. Verizon's options include boosting its offer a second time or walking away with...

Verizon is threatening to abandon its $7.5 billion buyout deal for MCI Inc. rather than pay more should the long-distance telephone company declare a rival $8.9 billion offer from Qwest as superior. Verizon's announcement came one day before a deadline set by Qwest Communications International Inc. for MCI to accept or reject its bid. In a statement Monday, Verizon Communications Inc. said, "If the MCI board, capitulating to Qwest's artificial deadline, declares this bid to be `superior,' it would seem to us that the decision-making process is being driven by the interests of short-term investors rather than the company's long-term...

Qwest may spark MCI bidding war The buyer of MCI would get a phone network with global reach US phone company Qwest has said it will table a new offer for MCI after losing out to larger rival Verizon, setting the scene for a possible bidding war.MCI accepted a $6.75bn (£3.6bn) buyout from telecoms giant Verizon on Monday, rejecting a higher offer from Qwest. Qwest chairman Richard Notebaert sent a letter to MCI's board on Thursday saying that it plans to submit a new offer after examining Verizon's bid. Formerly known as Worldcom, MCI is a long-distance and corporate...

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Telephone company MCI Inc. (Nasdaq:MCIP - news) has received a $6 billion takeover bid from Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE:Q - news) and has held talks with another potential suitor, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - news), sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Although MCI has been looking for a buyer for months, interest in the company intensified after long-distance rival AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news) last week agreed to be acquired by SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC - news) for $16 billion, the sources said. Long-distance companies have been slammed by eroding long-distance revenue, price wars...