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Fwd: FC: Stu Baker on MetaSwitch, VOIP spying, and IETF's bad call
This is a forwarded message
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
To: politech@politechbot.com
Date: Friday, April 11, 2003, 9:52:33 PM
Subject: FC: Stu Baker on MetaSwitch, VOIP spying, and IETF's bad call
______________________________________________________________________
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
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