EFF what say you about this? Excerpts from WSJ, September 30, 1994, p. B5 Bill Would Ensure Law Enforcement Is Able to Tap Wires By Mary Lu Carnevale Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON - The House Judiciary Committee cleared a bill that would require telephone companies to ensure that their networks remain accessible to law enforcement wiretaps. But key lawmakers agreed to changes aimed at appeasing local phone companies. The modifications largely spell out that phone companies won't be forced to pay to modify their existing networks to comply with the measure. They are expected to be included in the bill before it goes to the House floor, possibly as early as Tuesday. A similar measure sailed through the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week on a 16-1 vote. Though little time remains in the current Congress, the legislation could squeak through. * * * The agreement, details of which are being ironed out, also aims to protect individuals' privacy rights; prevent phone companies or law-enforcement agencies from installing or ordering unnecessary upgrades; and ensure that the changes have the least possible effect on phone rates and phone-company efforts to build advanced communications networks. The legislation is separate from the Clinton administration's controversial "Clipper Chip" proposal that would have mandated an encryption standard for computer and communications equipment. That failed proposal would have let law-enforcement agencies decipher any calls or messages that had been encoded. ------------------- END