Metaswitch cleared by FBI for spying

[Tyler Durden]

Well, a secure H.323 is certainly better than nothing, but as of right now 
the world looks like its going to remain circuit switched for a long time. 
That means most standard telephone calls will potentially be under scrutiny, 
unless encryption is used at the end points. And I guess that's where one 
would ultimately want to do that anyway...

-TD


>From: Thomas Shaddack <shaddack at ns.arachne.cz>
>To: Tyler Durden <camera_lumina at hotmail.com>
>CC: <cypherpunks at minder.net>
>Subject: Re: Metaswitch cleared by FBI for spying
>Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2003 23:07:30 +0200 (CEST)
>
>
> > ALAMEDA, Calif. -- MetaSwitch, supplier of the VP3500, the industry's 
>first
> > true Next Generation Class 5 Switch, announced today that it has 
>completed
> > an extensive review with the FBI, which demonstrates that the MetaSwitch
> > CALEA specification meets the J-STD-025A standard for circuit switching
> > equipment.
>
>What's the chance to amend the H.323 specs with end-to-end encryption,
>and/or make publicly available design of phone switching system built on
>fully open designs, something that the user can audit and amend, something
>over which nobody but the user has the control?
>
>There are already general steps in the right direction out there, see eg.
>http://www.openh323.org/ and http://www.opencores.org/ - could even be a
>good small-to-medium size business for the manufacturers of the hardware,
>generic boards for the PABXes - boards with interface circuits, and empty,
>user-programmable FPGAs? An open-source FPGA core firmware could come free
>with the package, or developed in-house to suit needs (or, most likely,
>combination of both approaches - build the function from blocks).
>
>Then we'd get cheaper private switchboards with guaranteed NO CALEA
>"extensions", full knowledge of what's inside (and the associated chance
>to do our own in-house service without need of expensive vendor service
>contracts and dependency on their servicemen).
>
>Fully open, fully documented designs are the only doable way of getting
>infrastructure building blocks that aren't vulnerable to incorporating
>(either by the vendor being forced by law, or by "voluntary cooperation")
>of little agents of Big Brother.
>
>Or did I smoked one puff too much?
>
>


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