Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Pushing to wiretap 'push to talk'

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 21:27:27 -0400

Pushing to wiretap 'push to talk'
Last modified: April 15, 2004, 5:04 PM PDT
By Ben Charny 
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

U.S. cell phone service providers are willing to wiretap "push to 
talk" phone calls, but only one has the technological capability to 
do so, according to sources familiar with the situation. 

"The current technology to tap these calls doesn't exist," said a 
representative of Verizon Wireless, which this week told the Federal 
Communications Commission that it believes wiretapping laws apply to 
push-to-talk, a service that lets cell phone customers talk with the 
push of a button, like a walkie-talkie. "But being able to (wiretap 
push-to-talk calls) is different from believing we shouldn't be 
bound by law to do it."

Sprint and Alltel share Verizon's plight, according to an FBI 
representative. In fact, the only carrier capable of wiretapping 
push-to-talk calls is Nextel Communications, which is using an 
earlier version of the technology. Representatives of Sprint and 
Alltel could not immediately be reached for comment.

Push-to-talk calls connect to another cell phone in less than a 
second. Because there's no time spent dialing or making a connection 
to a network, calls are shorter and less expensive. Law enforcement 
agencies say criminals are using the technology, knowing full well 
that the calls can't be tapped. 

"It is absolutely true that every day, criminals and terrorists are 
becoming more savvy with regard to technology," an FBI 
representative said. "It is also true that every day, we in law 
enforcement are losing the ability to carry out fully effective 
means to conduct court-authorized surveillance of criminal and 
terrorist activity."

The issue was augmented when the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI 
and the Drug Enforcement Administration recently asked the FCC to 
draw up regulations to tap push-to-talk, voice over Internet 
Protocol and other communications technologies that use the Internet 
Protocol, the world's most popular method for sending data from one 
computer to another. The FCC isn't expected to rule for a few more 
months.

Verizon told the FCC on Wednesday that wiretapping laws should one 
day include push-to-talk services, exposing a rift between it and 
the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, a cell phone 
trade group. A day earlier, the CTIA expressed an antiregulatory 
position.

"The wireless industry is committed to deploying a surveillance 
system that fits law enforcement needs," a CTIA representative 
said. "Wireless has been working with law enforcement to provide 
these very capabilities."

The FCC's initial inquiry into whether Net phone services should be 
regulated has broadened. Besides push-to-talk, applications such as 
cell phone picture mail and video messaging have also caught the 
attention of law enforcement, according to New York State Attorney 
General Eliot Spitzer's office. 

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5192653.html

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