Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

internetworkers - [internetworkers] Feds step up push to wiretap VoIP calls

internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Christian Stalberg" <cpsr_rtp AT internet-lab.com>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>, <progress AT listserv.unc.edu>, <surgelocal AT listserv.unc.edu>, <cpsr-rtp AT cpsr.org>, <cpsr-privacy AT cpsr.org>
  • Cc:
  • Subject: [internetworkers] Feds step up push to wiretap VoIP calls
  • Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 18:24:11 -0500

Feds step up push to wiretap VoIP calls
By Declan McCullagh
CNET News.com
February 11, 2004, 1:54 PM PT
URL: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-5157282.html

The Bush administration plans to ask the Federal Communications Commission
to order Net telephony providers to comply with a law that would permit
police to wiretap conversations carried over the Internet.

In a series of letters made public Tuesday, the Justice Department said it
is "currently drafting a request" that would invoke the 1994 Communications
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). That law requires
telecommunications carriers to rewire their networks to government
specifications to provide police with guaranteed access for wiretaps.

It is debatable whether CALEA's decade-old definition of "telecommunications
carrier," crafted long before the Internet era, applies to Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers. If the FCC rules that CALEA's
definitions are not a close enough fit for the fast-growing and somewhat
amorphous VoIP sector, then the Bush administration could ask Congress to
rewrite the law.

Until earlier this month, the FBI had tried to block the FCC from
considering VoIP's regulatory structure until the wiretap issue was
resolved. But last week, the two agencies said they had reached an agreement
allowing a vote on VoIP regulations to take place on Thursday.

"While it would obviously be our preference that the FCC decide these issues
prior to considering other broadband proceedings, we recognize that this is
not practical, and have no desire to prevent the FCC from doing its work,"
Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Malcolm wrote in a letter to the FCC.
"We expect that the FCC will commence rule-making proceedings on
CALEA-related matters in response to our petition in the near future."

Malcolm added that based on the Justice Department's conversations with FCC
attorneys, he expects them to recommend that the commission "tentatively
concludes that CALEA applies to broadband Internet access services,
including VoIP, whether provided over DSL or cable modem."

Civil liberties groups such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center and
the American Civil Liberties Union contend that CALEA's definition of
telecommunications carrier clearly does not apply to most VoIP providers.

In general, VoIP providers have pledged to work with police, and some,
including Level 3 Communications, do not oppose the regulations the FBI is
seeking. Others, such as a coalition of 12 smaller VoIP providers that
includes BullDog Teleworks and PingTone Communications, have told the FCC
that "there are various industry initiatives under way, and the commission
should allow those initiatives time to succeed before pre-emptively
regulating."

Vonage already is able to comply with police wiretap requests, company
spokeswoman Brooke Schulz said Wednesday. "We have a way to capture the
data, to give them everything they need," Schulz said. "But we don't really
have a way to get it from our system to their system. We've had meetings
with various law enforcement agencies to figure out the best way to do
that."

CALEA defines telecommunications carriers as companies that are "engaged in
the transmission or switching of wire or electronic communications as a
common carrier"--which probably does not apply to VoIP providers. A second
definition, which covers services that are "a replacement for a substantial
portion" of the local telephone network, comes closer. So far, the FCC has
interpreted CALEA's wiretap-ready requirements to cover only traditional
analog and wireless telephone service.







Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page