Joel Johnson on Filtering on AT&T Online Show

The editor of BoingBoing Gadgets goes on an AT&T-sponsored online-only video show and asks about AT&T's announcement that it will filter all Internet traffic. Getting no straight answers from the host, he asks the audience:

"Do you guys want AT&T to read your emails?"

"No!"

Do you want AT&T to like open up your instant message conversation to see if you said something they didn't like or maybe the government didn't like?"

"No!"

— Talking About AT&T's Internet Filtering on AT&T's The Hugh Thompson Show BoingBoing Gadgets, Posted by Joel Johnson, January 21, 2008 5:23 AM

Johnson noticed that the crew of the show was not happy:

The crew was upset with me not only because I was making their job more difficult, but because they feared that my stunt would cost them their jobs. Everyone looked at the staff member who booked me on the show with sad eyes, assuring me that he would certainly be fired. After their initial panic at an interview gone off the rails the crew acted professionally and efficiently to continue shooting the show. If AT&T ends up letting a single person go from that crew, shame on them. What I chose to do has nothing to do with the crew or Mr. Thompson himself, who despite being visibly perturbed handled the whole mess like troupers.

Speaking of Hugh Thompson, I tried looking on AT&T's web pages for his show, and eventually found it in their peculiar flash-only Tech Channel. The Joel Johnson segment does not appear to be up yet; neither the first take nor any other take. In the first take, his response mostly consisted of talking about "striking a balance" between security and various other things, such as in this case privacy. Who died and elected AT&T judge and jury?

Oh, right, that would be Congress. Watch that FISA bill, now being rushed through by the end of January.

-jsq