This bit seems to be giving a lot of people trouble.

This is a piece of software installed or mandated by the carrier, not the manufacturer.

If you have an ROM based on android source (like cyanogen) or you get it direct from Google then you do not have this application. Nor will you have it if you buy an unlocked and unbranded phone direct from the manufacturer.

The application is installed by the carrier (or by the manufacturer at their behest) on carrier branded phones.

Furthermore this whole shamozzle seems limited to the US.

I don't think any of the above is any sort of excuse though and your man in the interview here is full of shit.

He is saying that their application looks at everything and then decides what to record. He also says their application can take instructions from SMS.

He then says they hand the reigns of this powerful and easy to misuse software over to the carriers; a group of companies not usually noted for their intelligence, probity or ethical behavior....