Friday, September 17, 2004
The Fuss Over Voice Over IP
The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet has been holding hearings on whether or not the government should be able to force ISPs to make telephone conversations conducted using the Internet tappable.
It’s been an interesting debate to watch. The most amazing fact to come out of it all is that 10 years after the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement (CALEA) was passed, some companies are still struggling to comply with its requirement that transmissions be accessible to law enforcement (with things like warrants, of course).
Even people who understand what the fuss is about aren’t quite sure what’s happening (and thanks to Michael Grebb of WIRED for one of the clearest practical explanations I’ve read) so here’s a rundown of where we stand now.
Telecommunications companies were the original target of CALEA. They’ve been in on this from the beginning. The FCC then added cable modem companies to the list.
Now, the Justice Department wants companies providing “information services” to fall under its purview…and the FCC wants to go along. “Information services” are basically any company that sends packets of data over the Internet…and this includes Voice Over IP, or using the Internet to carry your phone call. To you it feels and sounds just like a phone call but the underlying technology isn’t all that dissimilar from what is needed to send an email or load a webpage.
The big problem is that it’s the data, i.e. your conversation, not the technology, that interests the FBI and other cops. The law was written with a certain technology in mind. Much conversation is focused on what Congress originally intended to regulate when it passed the law. No one has come to a decision about that yet.
CALEA SCORECARD
CALEA definitely applies to:
Telecommunications companies
Cable modem companies (and this includes any VoIP services they offer)
CALEA might or might not apply to:
“Information Services”
Small VoIP only providers (who are technically “information services”)
Those who believe CALEA applies to VoIP:
Justice Department
FBI
FCC
Those who don’t:
Center for Democracy and Technology
Electronic Privacy Information Center
It’s been an interesting debate to watch. The most amazing fact to come out of it all is that 10 years after the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement (CALEA) was passed, some companies are still struggling to comply with its requirement that transmissions be accessible to law enforcement (with things like warrants, of course).
Even people who understand what the fuss is about aren’t quite sure what’s happening (and thanks to Michael Grebb of WIRED for one of the clearest practical explanations I’ve read) so here’s a rundown of where we stand now.
Telecommunications companies were the original target of CALEA. They’ve been in on this from the beginning. The FCC then added cable modem companies to the list.
Now, the Justice Department wants companies providing “information services” to fall under its purview…and the FCC wants to go along. “Information services” are basically any company that sends packets of data over the Internet…and this includes Voice Over IP, or using the Internet to carry your phone call. To you it feels and sounds just like a phone call but the underlying technology isn’t all that dissimilar from what is needed to send an email or load a webpage.
The big problem is that it’s the data, i.e. your conversation, not the technology, that interests the FBI and other cops. The law was written with a certain technology in mind. Much conversation is focused on what Congress originally intended to regulate when it passed the law. No one has come to a decision about that yet.
CALEA SCORECARD
CALEA definitely applies to:
Telecommunications companies
Cable modem companies (and this includes any VoIP services they offer)
CALEA might or might not apply to:
“Information Services”
Small VoIP only providers (who are technically “information services”)
Those who believe CALEA applies to VoIP:
Justice Department
FBI
FCC
Those who don’t:
Center for Democracy and Technology
Electronic Privacy Information Center
# posted by AmandaWelsh @ 8:50 AM 
