Originally published November 29 2005
FCC's VOIP policy contested by privacy advocates in court battle
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Advocacy groups The Center for Democracy and Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are now entering a court battle in an attempt to overturn the FCC's decision to allow law enforcement agencies to wiretap VOIP (voice over internet protocol) technologies.
A group of privacy advocates and technology companies today filed court papers to challenge a ruling by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, saying it overstepped its authority by requiring Internet telephony providers to allow wiretapping by law enforcement agencies.
The groups, including advocacy groups the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argued that an FCC's ruling on Voice over Internet Protocol could introduce security vulnerabilities into such services, could drive up costs for customers, and could open up additional Internet applications, such as instant messaging, to wiretap rules.
The August 2004 FCC ruling requires VoIP providers, by early 2007, to build in technology that complies with a 1994 telephone wiretapping law called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).
But adding such functionality to VoIP could introduce security holes by increasing the complexity of the code, and it could open up vulnerabilities to sophisticated hackers, said Susan Landau, a Sun Microsystems engineer.
"What the FCC rule does is say, 'Build surveillance technology into Internet Protocol,'" she said.
The American Council on Education filed its own challenge to the VoIP CALEA rules Monday.
Objections By adopting the VoIP wiretapping rule, the FCC backtracked on an earlier decision to treat computer-to-computer VoIP much like it treats other Internet-related communication, as an unregulated information service, the groups said.
The FCC overstepped limits in the CALEA law exempting information services, and federal law enforcement agencies have not shown they need additional help to intercept online communications, said John Morris, staff counsel for the CDT.
Building in wiretapping functionality will cost money both to for-profit VoIP providers and to organizations such as public libraries offering free Internet access to patrons, the groups said.
And while law enforcement authorities have not asked for CALEA to apply to other Internet applications, it opens the door, said Morris.
"It's clear to us that if the CALEA mandate can be imposed on VoIP, it will imposed on things like instant messaging and Xbox Live."
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