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US FCC Mandates VoIP Wiretaps |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Tuesday, 09 August 2005 |
A trio of US Government agencies successfully petitioned the US Federal Communications Commission to force VoIP service providers to open their networks to wire tapping.
The FCC agreed and now IP Telephony service providers will be required to provide the same kind of access that exists for other Telecommunications services under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).
The US Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Drug Enforcement Agency asked that service providers must be prepared to accommodate law enforcement wiretaps if required to do so by a court-order.
Interestingly, the ruling only applies to services capable of connecting to the PSTN, services that do not connect to the PSTN will not be covered by the ruling.
The Commission found that the definition of “telecommunications carrier” in CALEA is broader than the definition of that term in the Communications Act and can encompass providers of services that are not classified as telecommunications services under the Communications Act.
CALEA contains a provision that authorises the Commission to deem an entity a telecommunications carrier if the Commission “finds that such service is a replacement for a substantial portion of the local telephone exchange.”
The Commission has given the IP Telephony providers industry an 18 month deadline to become compliant.
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