Excerpt: # "In a packet world, somebody has to open the packet to look for # the information the FBI is seeking. Is the FBI going to do it? # We're not going to do it unless we are paid to do it. ---- http://www.zdnet.com/filters/printerfriendly/0,6061,2773783-35,00.html # # Unresolved Issues Dog Fed's Data-Tap Efforts # By Doug Brown, Interactive Week # June 13, 2001 8:33 AM PT # # # Rapid changes in communications technology threaten to make "a big mess" # out of the federal government's ambitious plans to weave wiretapping into # the fabric of the digital age, while a 1994 law grows increasingly # outdated. # # While parts of the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act # (CALEA) have already been implemented by phone and other communications # carriers, important areas of the law are being disputed in courtrooms and # mulled over by bureaucrats in the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the # Federal Communications Commission. # # One unresolved issue is how to handle packet data, a technology that was # in its infancy when the law was written, but has since emerged as the # leading method for transmitting voice and data in the Internet age. # # Communications companies carrying packet data have until Sept. 30 to # demonstrate that their systems will permit law enforcement officials to # conduct wiretaps. The industry has filed requests with the FCC to extend # the deadline. The FBI argues that extensions should not be granted. # Industry representatives say they need to figure out a way to separate # the packets' header data from content before they can implement any # standards, and the technological solution to the problem could take years # to figure out. It's up to the FCC to decide how to proceed. # # "We believe the packet issue is going to be around for a long time," said # Rodney Small, an economist in the FCC's office of engineering and # technology who handles CALEA. Industry has "decided it's too expensive to # do this, and they aren't sure what the privacy implications are," Small # said. "They are getting cold feet, legally and financially. Meanwhile, # these new technologies keep developing. . . . On the packet data 'issue', # there could be more petitions and it could be a big mess." # # An industry official agreed. "You will see more lawsuits or court # challenges. You'll certainly see carriers filing extensions on packet # data deadlines," said Grant Seiffert, vice president of external affairs # and global policy at the Telecommunications Industry Association, a trade # group representing many telecommunications carriers implicated in the # CALEA regulations. "In a packet world, somebody has to open the packet to # look for the information the FBI is seeking. Is the FBI going to do it? # We're not going to do it unless we are paid to do it. Who is going to be # looking over everyone's shoulders when we open up this information?" # # As the packet data issue looms, industry and civil liberties advocates # await signals from the Bush administration about how new regulators - # particularly FCC commissioners and the new FBI director - plan to # approach government surveillance issues. The agencies' decisions could # affect the depth of the debates. # # "Congress may be re-engaged," Seiffert said. "It's sort of a wait-and-see # game right now." # # "The FBI's credibility is at an all-time low here," said Barry # Steinhardt, associate director at the American Civil Liberties Union. # "Attorney General 'John' Ashcroft in the Senate expressed skepticism # about a number of government surveillance programs." # # An FBI spokesman defended work to date, saying: "There has been # significant progress made with the implementation of CALEA," and citing # technical solutions available for wireline and wireless segments of the # telecom industry. # # Some CALEA experts question some of what the FBI has managed to implement # already, charging that the agency installed sophisticated data collection # systems in communications networks that require expensive equipment to # decipher. # # "It's close to a scandal," said Stewart Baker, an attorney and former # general counsel at the National Security Agency who has been involved # with legal challenges to CALEA. "After industry has spent all of this # money, it turns out it's generating all of this data that has to be # translated by special-purpose machines that have to be bought by local # law enforcement. This may have the effect of pricing wiretaps out of the # market for a lot of smaller jurisdictions." # # Baker also said that while CALEA is supposed to apply only to voice # communications, the FBI has been "pretty aggressive" when it delves into # the packet data realm, "trying to persuade people who build data networks # that sooner or later they will have to provide wiretap capability." # # "A year ago, when times were good, everybody leaned towards the view that # it was better to not pick a fight with the FBI," Baker said. "Now it's # less clear that people have the funds to spend on development or to # purchase this stuff, so there could be a serious conflict over this and # there is certainly a difficult question for people who are building # Internet Protocol systems."