IP: Secret Calea Meetings

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Fri, 06 Mar 1998 08:17:47 -0500
From: Barry Steinhardt <Barrys () eff org>


Attached is a joint letter from EFF,CDT and EPIC to Attorney General Janet
Reno objecting to secret meetings the Justice Department and FBI has been
holding with the telephone industry in efforts to reach a "compromise"
about implementation of CALEA (the digital wiretapping law). This is part
of the FBI's effort to gain new surveillance powers well in excess of
anything provided for in the statute.


We have previously filed comments with FCC objecting law enforcement's
overreaching.




Barry


arch 5, 1998


BY FACSIMILE




The Honorable Janet Reno
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20530


        RE:     Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act ("CALEA")


Dear Attorney General Reno:


We are writing to object to the way in which decision-making about
implementation of CALEA has been taken behind closed doors.  We understand
that the Justice Department has scheduled for this Friday, March 6, another
meeting with telephone industry representatives to discuss a potential
"compromise."  There will be no public participation in tomorrow's meeting,
nor has there been any public participation in the series of meetings held
by Justice over the past 6 months regarding implementation of CALEA


It is clear that CALEA is not working.  Taking the unresolved issues behind
closed doors will not make it work any better.  To the contrary, the effort
to agree on a design of the nation's telephone system without privacy input
violates the intent of Congress to ensure public participation in the
process, through an open industry standards process, public proceedings at
the FCC, and notice and comment rulemaking.


The interim industry standard already goes too far, as we have argued and
will argue at the Federal Communications Commission.  The failure of the
FBI to issue a capacity notice further undermines the viability of CALEA.
Adding additional capabilities in a process where privacy interests are not
represented further invalidates the implementation.


We respectfully urge you to abandon the course the Department is pursuing.
Implementation of CALEA, if it can be implemented, should be returned to
the industry standards process, as Congress intended, with public oversight
on the record by the FCC.


Sincerely,




Center for Democracy and Technology




Electronic Frontier Foundation




Electronic Privacy Information Center








__________________________________________________________________________


Barry Steinhardt (Barrys () eff org),President
Electronic Frontier Foundation
East Coast:     tel/fax:+ 1 203 226 4897 
West Coast:     tel:  + 1 415 436 9333 (V)
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1550 Bryant Street Ste 725
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