Why Democrats Face a Rout in November

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Why Democrats Face a Rout in November

Not one byte! German telecom giant plans to rout foreign spooks

Published time: October 14, 2013 15:56

AFP Photo/Thomas Coex

Germany’s largest telecom provider, Deutsche Telekom, is looking to introduce a “national routing” service which would keep German internet traffic out of the hands of foreign spies.

The former state-owned communications giant outlined the plans at a secret meeting in the Economy Ministry, business weekly Wirtschaftswoche reported.

Currently, email data is exchanged between users worldwide via international Internet exchange points; physical structures through which Internet service providers (ISPs) exchange Internet traffic between their networks.

The company hopes to hammer out an agreement with other national Internet providers which would guarantee that “while being transported from the sender to the receiver in Germany… no single byte leaves Germany,” Thomas Kremer, a board member of Telekom’s data privacy, legal affairs and compliance, told the magazine.

To put the plan into effect, Deutsche Telekom must secure the support of all its competitors, including Telefonica and Vodafone.

While Vodafone and Telefonica are currently mulling the initiative, another competitor – Internet service provider QSC – has questioned the efficacy of the plan, saying it was not possible to determine with certainty whether data is being routed nationally or internationally.

“In a next step, this initiative could be expanded to the Schengen area,” the spokesman said, referring to the group of 26 European countries – excluding Britain – that have removed border controls for participating countries.

Deutsche Telekom first began leading the charge for to protect its users’ privacy from foreign intelligence agencies in August when they rolled out ‘Email Made in Germany’, an encrypted email service that only uses German servers to process and store all domestic email traffic.

The move followed revelations that the US National Security Agency (NSA) collects 500 million pieces of phone and email metadata from Germany each month — more than in any other EU country.

“Germans are deeply unsettled by the latest reports on the potential interception of communication data,” said Rene Obermann, head of Deutsche Telekom.

“Now, they can bank on the fact that their personal data online is as secure as it possibly can be.”

Experts do not believe the move will stop governments from getting their hands on information, although it might complicate efforts to do so.

“Of course the NSA could still break in if they wanted to, but the mass encryption of emails would make it harder and more expensive for them to do so,” Sandro Gaycken, a professor of cyber security at Berlin’s Free University, said when the idea was first proposed.

RT – News

Not one byte! German telecom giant plans to rout foreign spooks

Wall Street shrugs off a global market rout

Traders Kevin Lodewick, left, and Fred DeMarco work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Stocks are falling in early trading on Wall Street, following global markets lower after the Bank of Japan declined to take further action to shore up that country’s financial system. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Traders Kevin Lodewick, left, and Fred DeMarco work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Stocks are falling in early trading on Wall Street, following global markets lower after the Bank of Japan declined to take further action to shore up that country’s financial system. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Michael Hagis works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Stocks are falling in early trading on Wall Street, following global markets lower after the Bank of Japan declined to take further action to shore up that country’s financial system. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Timothy Pastina, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Stocks are falling in early trading on Wall Street, following global markets lower after the Bank of Japan declined to take further action to shore up that country’s financial system. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Genaro Saporito, left, works at the post that handles Dole Foods, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Dole Food’s Chairman and CEO David Murdock and his family are offering to buy the business with a bid that values the entire company at approximately $ 1.07 billion. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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NEW YORK (AP) — Renewed concerns about central banks easing off their efforts to support the global economy weighed on the U.S. stock market Tuesday. Indexes were slightly lower in early afternoon trading.

It started off much worse. The stock market began sliding from the opening bell, trailing markets in Asia and Europe, which were rattled when the Bank of Japan decided not to take any new steps to spur that country’s economic growth.

The news out of Japan added to concerns surrounding global central banks, investors said. U.S. markets have been shaken by speculation that the Federal Reserve will start curtailing its own bond-buying program in the coming months.

“There’s just a lot of uncertainty,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at the brokerage BTIG in New York. “People are worried about the Fed. They’re worried about a spike in interest rates. And then Japan says it’s finished for now.”

Shortly after 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 53 points to 15,181. It had lost as much as 152 points in the first hour of trading.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell nine points to 1,633, a loss of 0.6 percent. Nine of the 10 industry groups in the index fell, led by banks and producers of commodities such as oil.

Sprint Nextel gained 2 percent after Japan’s Softbank raised its offer for the company by $ 1.5 billion. Softbank’s total bid for the country’s third-largest phone carrier is now valued at $ 21.6 billion, still short of the $ 25.5 billion offered by Dish Network. Sprint’s stock rose 16 cents to $ 7.34.

The S&P 500 index has lost 2 percent since setting a record high on May 21. The next day, minutes from a monthly Fed meeting suggested the central bank could decide to scale back its stimulus as early as June if the economy picks up.

Overseas, the Bank of Japan voted to stick to its current bond-buying program, disappointing those who had expected new measures to help the world’s third-largest economy. Japan’s Nikkei stock index lost 1.5 percent.

Major stock markets in Europe also fell. Germany’s DAX dropped 1 percent and France’s CAC-40 lost 1.4 percent.

In the market for U.S. government bonds, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was 2.21 percent, the same as it was late Monday.

In commodities trading, crude oil fell 81 cents to $ 94.96 a barrel in New York. Gold dropped $ 11 to $ 1,375 an ounce.

The Nasdaq composite dropped 18 points to 3,456, a 0.5 percent decline.

Among other companies making big moves:

— Lululemon Athletica plunged $ 13.73, or 16 percent, to $ 68.57 following news that the yoga-clothing maker’s CEO will step down as soon as the company’s board finds a replacement.

— Dole Foods soared 21 percent after the company’s CEO and his family offered to take the fresh fruit and vegetable company private at $ 12 per share. That bid values the company at $ 1.1 billion. The company’s stock gained $ 2.16 to $ 12.36

— Corinthian Colleges slumped 27 cents, or 10 percent, to $ 2.52. The company disclosed that it’s under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and has been asked to turn over information on student attendance, recruitment and defaults on federal loans. The Santa Ana, Calif. company runs the Everest, Heald and WyoTech colleges.

Associated Press

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Wall Street shrugs off a global market rout