Freedom to be free - going going ... Court Backs Government Broadband Wiretap Access

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

June 9, 2006

Court Backs Government Broadband Wiretap Access

By REUTERS
Filed at 12:11 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld the  
government's authority to force high-speed Internet service providers  
to give law enforcement authorities access for surveillance purposes.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit  
rejected a petition aimed at overturning a decision by regulators  
requiring facilities-based broadband providers and those that offer  
Internet telephone service to comply with U.S. wiretap laws.

The court concluded that the FCC requirement was a ''reasonable  
policy choice'' even though information services are exempted from  
the government's wiretapping authority.

The FCC has set a May 14, 2007 deadline for compliance.

The ruling comes at a time when critics have voiced concerned the  
Bush administration's surveillance program violates civil liberties.  
The administration argues it needs the program, which allows the  
National Security Agency to monitor international telephone calls of  
U.S. citizens, as part of its broader war on terrorism.

Authorities are concerned the growth of Internet communications could  
allow criminals to circumvent wiretaps by using e-mail and Internet  
phone services instead of traditional telephone services.

Private networks would not be subject to the wiretap requirements,  
but those connected with a public network would have to comply with  
the law.

The FCC decision has prompted an appeal by universities and  
libraries. The groups, including the American Library Association and  
Association of American Universities, challenged the agency's  
authority to extend such requirements to high-speed Internet services.

The FCC has long considered broadband Internet in the category of an  
``information service.''

But in an opinion written by Judge David Sentelle, the appeals court  
said the same words could be defined differently by the FCC in  
applying the wiretapping laws.

In a dissenting opinion, one of the judges, Harry Edwards, called the  
argument ``convoluted.''

``The agency has simply abandoned the well-understood meaning of  
'information services' without offering any coherent alternative  
interpretation in its place,'' Edwards wrote.


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