Interesting People mailing list archives
Stu Baker on MetaSwitch, VOIP spying, and IETF's bad call
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 16:25:43 -0400
------ Forwarded Message From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com> Previous Politech message: "MetaSwitch embeds police spy features in new Net-phone switch" http://www.politechbot.com/p-04647.html Background on IETF decision not to bow to FBI request: http://www.politechbot.com/p-00652.html http://www.politechbot.com/p-00711.html http://www.politechbot.com/p-00709.html ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2003 15:22:46 -0400 From: "Baker, Stewart" <SBaker () steptoe com> To: "'declan () well com'" <declan () well com> Cc: "Albertazzie, Sally" <SAlbertazzie () steptoe com> Subject: RE: MetaSwitch embeds police spy features in new Net-phone switch Declan, I do a lot of CALEA law. This announcement is no surprise. And it's just the tip of the iceberg. While VOIP should be treated as an information service and thus exempt from CALEA's wiretap functionality requirements, there are two big uncertainties for manufacturers of Internet hardware. First, the FCC has hinted that it will treat VOIP as covered by CALEA in some circumstances. Second, the law itself says that it will cover new technologies once they become substitutes for a substantial portion of the public switched network. So if you're planning for success, or just hedging your legal bets, it makes sense to build in CALEA functionality. In addition, if you're a hardware maker, it's tempting to offer a new generation of equipment that the FBI may require your customers to buy. For all these reasons, Cisco and perhaps Juniper also seem to be working hard to build extensive wiretap functionality into their new products. The IETF's long-ago refusal to consider this issue was hailed as a civil liberties victory at the time. In fact, it has had the ironic effect of making it more likely that wiretap solutions will be proprietary and designed in quiet consultation with the FBI. Bottom line: the notion that the Net inherently resists government control is in for a bad decade. Stewart Baker Steptoe & Johnson LLP 1330 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20036 phone -- 202.429.6413 email fax -- 202.261.9825 main fax -- 202.429.3902 sbaker () steptoe com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Stu Baker on MetaSwitch, VOIP spying, and IETF's bad call Dave Farber (Apr 12)