Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FCC may put cable, Net phones under wiretap rule

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2004 14:50:04 -0400

FCC may put cable, Net phones under wiretap rule

8/4/04

By Paul Davidson

USA TODAY

The Federal Communications Commission plans to propose a ruling today
that would require Internet-based phone and broadband services to design
their networks so they can be easily wiretapped, two FCC officials say.

The move is designed to resolve the Justice Department's fear that FCC
plans to deregulate broadband could keep the FBI from monitoring the
communications of criminals and terrorists, FCC officials say.

That's not an issue for most phone calls. The Communications Assistance
for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) requires ''telecommunications'' carriers
to make their networks wiretap-friendly.

But the law exempts ''information services.'' And in 2002 the FCC ruled
that cable's broadband offerings are information services. It also plans
to put phone-company DSL services in that category.

Analysts and officials expect the information-service label to lead to
further FCC rulings that exempt both cable and phone companies from
obligations to open their broadband networks to rivals such as EarthLink
and AOL.

Phone DSL providers are currently subject to open-access and CALEA
rules; cable firms aren't.
Justice has said the information-service ruling could hamper its efforts
to monitor criminals and terrorists. They increasingly make calls on
broadband lines via Internet-based phone services.

The FCC plans to propose that CALEA rules apply to broadband and
Internet-based phone services because they ''substantially'' replace
traditional phone networks.
Internet-based phone providers, such as Vonage, as well as the National
Cable & Telecommunications Association, which represents cable
operators, say they don't oppose a requirement to make networks
CALEA-compliant.

In exchange, analysts say, the FCC wants Justice's solicitor general to
seek Supreme Court review of an appeals court ruling that struck down
the FCC's decision to call cable broadband an ''information service.''
That ruling could force cable services to open their broadband networks
to rivals. The deadline for appeal is Aug. 30.
The FCC pro-wiretap proposal ''certainly moves the ball in the right
direction,'' says Legg Mason analyst Blair Levin.

But Medley Global Advisors analyst Jessica Zufolo calls the plan ''a
political effort to reach out to the law enforcement community.''
Jim Dempsey of the Center for Democracy & Technology says the FCC is
exceeding its authority because, ''Congress decided the Internet should
not be regulated.''
The FCC is also expected to rule that walkie-talkie services, must
comply with CALEA wiretap rules.
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040804/6423001s.htm

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