Internet wiretapping: More questions than answers

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: GIBBS & BRADNER
10/11/05

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Net Insider columnist Scott Bradner discusses the latest
developments on the issue of wiretapping
* Links related to Gibbs & Bradner
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: Internet wiretapping: More questions than
answers

By Scott Bradner

You can't get them all right. It's now been more than a year and
a half since I complained that the FCC was trying to deal with
the complex issue of wiretapping the Internet "with unseemly
haste," but the FCC has just released yet another in a series of
documents on the topic. This one, like its predecessors, leaves
the reader with more questions than answers - and there are more
documents to come.

In March 2004, I reported on an FCC request for comments on
applying the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
(CALEA) to the Internet and Internet-based services (See "
Looking for the dumb ones
<http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2004/0322bradner.html>
"). The result was a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad518> published a few
months later (" FCC chooses middle road on 'Net wiretapping
<http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2004/081604bradner.html>
"). That notice asked for comments on some of the FCC's
tentative conclusions.

The new document <http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad8341>
represents the FCC's final decision, based at least somewhat on
comments received in response to last year's Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking. The current document also contains a new notice, as
well as a request for comments dealing with a number of topics,
but is mostly focused on the FCC's conclusion that
facilities-based broadband Internet access providers and
providers of "interconnected VoIP" are subject to CALEA's
wiretapping requirements.

The logic that the FCC uses is often rather tortured. For
example, it says that a VoIP provider that uses gateways to
direct calls to and from the public switched telephone network
(PSTN) fits the switching requirement because it "must
necessarilyuse a router or other server to do so." Of course,
this condition is true of all services offered over the
Internet, not just interconnected VoIP. So where should the
boundary be?You should expect that a large pod of lawyers will spend lots of

clients' money (including your tax dollars) arguing the details
of FCC's decision and the authority of the commission to decide
what it did in the light of the enabling laws. From my strictly
non-lawyer point of view, I expect the courts to toss out this
set of decisions but that Congress will quickly change the law
to produce about the same result.

There is a lot of strangeness in this document. On one hand, the
FCC says that an Internet access provider would have "no CALEA
obligations with respect to, for example, the storage functions
of its e-mail service," while at the same time implying that the
same access provider would have to tap data going into or out of
the aforementioned storage. Seems like an irrelevant difference.
The FCC definition of an interconnected VoIP provider is
strangely worded: It says that VoIP providers that both send
calls to and receive calls from the PSTN are covered, but ones
that go only one way are not, nor are ones where the user can
employ a PSTN gateway provided by a third party as long as the
VoIP provider has no specific arrangement for using the gateway.

The FCC still considers enterprise networks exempt. But the
commission has not yet made up its mind about a number of other
connectivity providers, such as hotels. This is far from the
last word on the topic, including from me next week.Disclaimer: Rules like
this are music to the ears of law school
graduates, but I got no input from any of them for the above.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Symantec AntiVirus Scan Engine has serious bug
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad8498>
2. How to solve Windows system crashes in minutes
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad7713>
3. IETF effort promises fewer net failures
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad8499>
4. Nortel's uphill battle
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad8071>
5. You won't find this book on Oprah's list
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad8500>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Scott Bradner

Bradner is a consultant with Harvard University's University
Information Systems. He can be reached at <mailto:sob@sobco.com>

_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Nokia
Empower Your Mobile Enterprise

Nokia believes that business mobility will fundamentally change
the way work gets done-and for the better. To allow the entire
organization to get the most from this paradigm shift in
productivity, Nokia Enterprise Solutions focuses on delivering
increased efficiency through enhanced mobility. Learn more by
downloading this white paper today!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=117275
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Gibbs archive:
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/gibbs.html

Bradner archive:
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/bradner.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE

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proportionally across people, process and technology.
Implementing best practices frameworks such as Information
Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) can help, but they
introduce their own set of challenges. Click here for more:

<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/092205-itil.html>
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