On Friday, the D.C. the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s order extending provisions of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, to cover Internet systems at libraries, universities and commercial Internet providers, and others.
Senator Leahy, the chief sponsor of CALEA, was disturbed that Congress wasn't consulted in this decision.
Here is his statement:
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"Reaction Of Sen. Patrick Leahy,
Primary Sponsor Of CALEA,
And Ranking Member, Judiciary Committee,
On The D.C. Circuit’s Decision Friday
On Extending CALEA To Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
Friday, June 9, 2006
“The Court’s expansion of CALEA to cover the Internet is troubling, and it is not what Congress intended. Stretching a law written for the telephone system of 1994 to cover the Internet of 2006 is simply inconsistent with congressional intent.
“As Senior Circuit Judge Harry T. Edwards noted in his dissenting opinion, ‘[i]n determining that broadband Internet providers are subject to CALEA as “telecommunications carriers,” and not excluded pursuant to the “information services” exemption, the Commission apparently forgot to read the words of the statute.’ Law enforcement agencies of course should be able to intercept those communications with appropriate court orders, but stretching this law without changing it -- and without properly examining the implications of doing that -- invites a basketful of potential new problems.
“Congress recognized the unique architecture of the Internet and explicitly excluded it from the scope of CALEA’s surveillance design mandates, and we did that to allow Congress to revisit the appropriateness of such an extension as the Internet developed. For this reason, CALEA was passed to apply only to the public telephone network -- and only after careful analysis over several years by the Congress of the costs, burdens, alternatives and security risks posed by a new regulatory scheme.
“There are certainly legitimate law enforcement interests involved in Internet communications, and they deserve and require thoughtful and appropriate attention. We need to develop suitable solutions after reaching a broad consensus, and congressional hearings are a good place to start. I call on Congress to address this issue and to make sure that CALEA is used, and not misused, as Congress intended.”"
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You can read the court's decision here:
http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200606/05-1404a.pdf
The case was brought by the American Council on Education (against Verizon and the FCC) and wrestles with the idea of what exactly is "telecommunications" and what is an "information system" as well as questions of public vs. private networks.