From: Adam <""4thwormcastfromthemolehill\"{at}the field.near
the bridge">

Entertaining how :

"criminals, terrorists and spies"

is the the exact same reasoning in places like Russia & the PRC etc.

Globalization of internal security stds & methods.

Adam

Rich Gauszka wrote:
> "The brief demonstrates the flaws in the FCC's reasoning and
strips away any
> believability that its legal analysis has any validity,"
>
> http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6032300.html
> Universities, libraries and technology companies are asking a federal court
> to block controversial wiretap rules designed to facilitate police
> surveillance of the Internet.
>
> In a 71-page brief sent to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., on
> Thursday, they ask the judges to overturn a wiretap ruling from the Federal
> Communications Commission that applies to "any type of broadband Internet
> access service" and many Internet phone services.
>
> The Bush administration claims that last year's FCC rules are necessary to
> make it easier to catch "criminals, terrorists and spies" that would
> otherwise be able to evade detection.
>
> But the organizations behind the lawsuit say that Congress never intended to
> force broadband providers--and private networks at corporations and
> universities--to build in central surveillance hubs for police convenience.
> The list of organizations includes Sun Microsystems, Pulver.com, the
> American Association of Community Colleges, the Association of American
> Universities, and the American Library Association.
>
> "The brief demonstrates the flaws in the FCC's reasoning and
strips away any
> believability that its legal analysis has any validity," said
Albert Gidari,
> a partner at Perkins Coie in Seattle who co-authored the document.
>
> Even without the FCC rules that are scheduled to take effect in spring 2007,
> police have the legal authority to conduct Internet wiretaps--that's
> precisely what the FBI's Carnivore system was designed to do. Still, the FBI
> says, the need for "standardized broadband intercept capabilities is
> especially urgent in light of today's heightened threats to homeland
> security and the ongoing tendency of criminals to use the most clandestine
> modes of communication."
>
> Unlike most lawsuits that are first heard by a judge, a procedural twist
> sends this one directly to the appeals court. Thursday's filing was
> expected; the universities and other groups filed a brief notice of appeal
> on Oct. 24, and now the Justice Department and the FCC will have a chance to
> submit their responses.
>
> At issue in this case is the scope of a 1994 called the Communications
> Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA. It required telephone
> companies to rewire their networks and switches--at taxpayer expense--to
> guarantee police access to features such as extracting touch tones pressed
> during a call, conference call information, call waiting data, and so on.
>
> Opponents of the FBI's demands argue that Congress explicitly said CALEA
> would not apply to the Internet. A House of Representatives committee report
> prepared in October 1994 says CALEA's requirements "do not apply to
> information services such as electronic-mail services; or online services
> such as CompuServe, Prodigy, America Online or Mead Data; or to Internet
> service providers."
>
> According to the brief filed Thursday, the Bush administration is "relying
> on an interpretation of CALEA that is contrary to the plain meaning of the
> statute, arbitrary and capricious, and otherwise not in accordance with
> law."
>
> In an unusual twist, some of the FCC commissioners who unanimously approved
> the wiretapping rules have acknowledged that the agency was on shaky legal
> ground. Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, for instance, said she had
"concern
> that an approach like the one we adopt today is not without legal risk."
>
>

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