Wiretaps have been used since the invention of
the telegraph and have been a legal element
of the US law enforcement arsenal for more
than a quarter century. In keeping with law
enforcement’s efforts to keep laws current with changing
technologies, in 1994 the US Congress passed the Communications
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
(CALEA). The law proved to be controversial because it
mandated that digitally switched telephone networks must be built wiretap enabled, with the US Department
of Justice in charge of determining the appropriate technology
standards.
The law provided a specific exclusion for “information
services.” Despite that explicit exemption, in response
to a request from the US Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), in August 2005, the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) ruled that broadband
voice over IP (VoIP) must comply with CALEA. Civilliberties
groups and the industry immediately objected,
fearing the ruling’s impact on privacy and innovation.
There is another community that should be very concerned.
Applying CALEA to VoIP requires embedding
surveillance technology deeply into the protocol stack.
The FCC ruling undermines network security and, because
the Internet and private networks using Internet
protocols support critical as well as noncritical
infrastructure, national security as well. The FCC ruling
is a step backward in securing the Internet, a national—
and international—priority.
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