The Hero at Verizon

As most are already aware, the U.S. government has obtained a top-secret court order requiring Verizon to turn over what could amount to millions of Americans' telephone records.  The news came via a report from UK's Guardian.

The four-page order, which The Guardian published on its website requires Verizon on an "ongoing, daily basis" to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the U.S. and between the U.S. and other countries. 

The Guardian said the order involves "millions of U.S. customers of Verizon."

"The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk -- regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing," the article says.

Also of note, the court order forbids Verizon from revealing the order’s existence. In other words, there is very likely a hero at Verizon that leaked this information to the Guardian. Further, it would seem odd that USG would make this request of Verizon, but not other communications companies like ATT. It's probably likely that other communications companies just don't have a heroic leaker....yet.