Law Fights to Keep Pace With Tech

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: September 9, 2004 9:36:44 AM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Law Fights to Keep Pace With Tech
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com

Law Fights to Keep Pace With Tech

By Michael Grebb
Story location: 
<http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,64887,00.html>

02:00 AM Sep. 09, 2004 PT

WASHINGTON -- Government and industry officials butted heads Wednesday 
over whether a 10-year-old law governing electronic surveillance is 
working -- and whether industries are meeting their obligations to help 
authorities catch criminals and terrorists in the internet age.

Lawmakers are considering whether to update the Communications 
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994, or CALEA, to address the 
recent explosion of technologies such as packet-switched data.


In testimony before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and 
the Internet, representatives from the Justice Department and the FBI 
said many companies still fail to comply with CALEA.

"We are trying to work with the companies, and some companies are more 
difficult to work with than others," said Laura Parsky, deputy 
assistant attorney general in the Justice Department. "We are 10 years 
out on CALEA, and the technology has moved."

CALEA requires telecommunications carriers to design systems to meet 
wiretapping standards set by the government, but the law has long 
exempted "information services," which now include certain 
voice-over-internet protocol, or VOIP, services.

In August, however, acting upon an earlier request by Justice 
Department agencies, the Federal Communications Commission proposed 
applying CALEA to VOIP services.

The FCC has already classified cable-modem service as a 
"telecommunications service," bringing it under CALEA's umbrella.

Richard Green, president and CEO of Cable Television Laboratories (the 
cable industry's research arm), noted that the FBI this week endorsed 
its PacketCable Electronic Surveillance Specification (.pdf), which 
addresses the FBI's earlier concerns over CALEA compliance for VOIP 
services provided directly by cable operators.

That standard, however, has no effect on independently offered VOIP 
services such as those offered by companies like Skype Technologies and 
pulver.com.

Green told lawmakers that he believes all cable operators are now in 
compliance, but Parsky said some have failed to comply with 
court-ordered wiretaps because of technical limitations.

Several lawmakers asked Parsky to name names, but she said any public 
airing of violators would tip off criminals to weaknesses.

"It's something that's extremely sensitive for law enforcement," she 
said, noting that any such disclosure to Congress would have to be 
classified.

Parsky also argued that "information services" were never intended to 
include the transmission of data over the internet and said many 
companies are confused about that issue.

In fact, ambiguity over CALEA's application to the internet continues 
to spur considerable debate.

"Congress was very clear that it wasn't intended for the internet," 
said James Dempsey, executive director of the Center for Democracy and 
Technology.

In fact, the FBI has won new CALEA powers in recent years through 
lobbying at the FCC, despite limiting its requests for powers when 
Congress was drafting the law, charged Stewart Baker, an outside 
counsel for the Telecommunications Industry Association.

He said the FBI has little understanding of how regulations burden the 
affected industries.

"If they make a decision that's too regulatory, it doesn't cost them 
anything," he said. "They just want more."

But others told lawmakers that it's unclear whether Congress truly 
foresaw the convergence of packet-switched and circuit-switched 
networks when it drafted CALEA.

"It was not envisioned at the time that the internet was going to be 
used as a means to make phone calls," said Julius Knapp, deputy chief 
of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology.

Several lawmakers echoed that sentiment at the hearing.

"We thought everything was going to be about voice," said Rep. Steve 
Buyer (R-Indiana). "We got it wrong. It's about data. That's the 
power."

At the same time, Rep. Chris Cox (R-California) warned that 
overregulation under CALEA could stifle innovation and enable foreign 
firms not subject to U.S. law to get the upper hand on American 
companies.

"As information services and telecommunications services morph into 
each other, we're going to have some tough calls to make," he said. "I 
think we have to be very cautious about everything in this area."

Said Marcus Thomas, deputy assistant director of the FBI's 
investigative technologies division: "(CALEA) didn't have as much 
agility as we need in the internet environment. It's going to have to 
be tweaked."


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