more surveillance puts strain on carriers

[Eugen Leitl]

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113945527128569215-ap0UyM9HXxWBrOiAX0m
sQpD4xsw_20070209.html?mod=blogs

More Surveillance
Puts Strain on Carriers
Third Parties Help Telecom,
Internet Firms Fill Law Enforcement's
Increasing Data Requests
By CHRISTOPHER RHOADS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
February 9, 2006; Page B3

After the 2001 terrorist attacks, retired Federal Bureau of Investigation
agent Michael Warren saw that many phone and Internet companies would need
help meeting an expected jump in law-enforcement requests for customer calling
and email information.

His prediction proved correct. Mr. Warren formed a company that won business
from telecom, cable and Internet-service providers around the U.S. Last year,
he sold the business for an undisclosed amount.

"There's been a significant increase in demand and pressure on companies for
providing records, tracing calls and wiretapping," said Mr. Warren, now a vice
president for fiduciary services at NeuStar Inc. of Sterling, Va., which
bought his company. "That's led to a great deal of strain on carriers."

Often overlooked amid the controversy over the legality of the Bush
administration's eavesdropping without warrants is a huge increase in recent
years in the number of wiretaps conducted with court approval. Smaller telecom
companies in particular have sought help from outsiders in order to comply
with the court-ordered subpoenas, touching off a scramble among third parties
to meet the demand for assistance.

VeriSign Inc., the communications company in Mountain View, Calif., that
manages the Internet's .com and .net domain-name suffixes, entered the
assistance business after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. SS8 Networks
Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based company, in 2001 morphed its business into one
that helps others deal with law-enforcement requests, after starting as an
Internet-phone-equipment company a couple of years earlier.

The number of telephone wiretaps from 2000 to 2004 authorized by state and
federal judges increased by 44% to 1,710, according to the latest annual
report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The vast bulk of the
wiretaps related to drug and racketeering investigations, according to the
report. But terrorism and other national-security investigations also helped
drive the increase, according to security experts and service providers.

CenturyTel Inc., a fixed-line phone company and Internet-service provider
based in Monroe, La., serving 2.5 million customers, received about 1,500
subpoenas and court orders for customer data last year, said Stacey Goff,
CenturyTel's chief legal counsel.

Almost 20% of those related to national-security matters, about double the
percentage of such requests from a year earlier, he said. The overall number
of requests from law enforcement for customer information has nearly doubled
from about five years ago, Mr. Goff added.

"A few years ago it was drugs and divorces, that was it," said Mr. Goff. "Now,
we're getting requests on more-sensitive matters."

Companies assisting carriers handling the increased law-enforcement demands
typically sell software that simplifies the process of reviewing tens of
thousands of phone-call records. Some third parties also provide assistance by
setting up in-house compliance procedures, interacting with law-enforcement
agencies and providing access to networks for wiretaps.

Smaller telecom, cable and Internet companies generally haven't received
requests from the National Security Agency, the super-sensitive U.S.
intelligence-gathering arm, for customer data without warrants, officials at
smaller companies say. Such NSA requests -- which are at the core of the
domestic eavesdropping debate -- have been aimed at large international
telecom companies, which tend to handle government and law-enforcement matters
in-house.

Big telecom companies in the U.S. were required under the 1994 Communications
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act to install equipment to help law
enforcement keep up with advances in technology, such as the rise of cellular,
the switch to digital technology from analog and new features such as call
forwarding.

Now, Internet providers must also comply with the act. The Patriot Act, passed
after the 2001 terrorist attacks, took matters a step further, giving
law-enforcement agencies powers to monitor individuals and all the ways they
communicate, rather than being limited to a specific communication device.

Government surveillance has intensified even more heavily overseas,
particularly in Europe. Some countries, such as Italy, as well as government
and law-enforcement agencies, are able to remotely monitor communications
traffic without having to go through the individual service providers.

To make it easier for authorities to monitor traffic, some also require
registering with identification before buying telephone calling cards or using
cybercafes.

Write to Christopher Rhoads at christopher.rhoads at wsj.com

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