Leahy Reaction To Extension Of Wiretap Law
To Cover Internet Systems
October 26, 2005
[Below is Senator Leahy’s reaction to the Federal Communications
Commission’s order extending provisions of the Communications
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, to cover Internet
systems at libraries, universities and commercial Internet
providers, among others. Leahy, the chief sponsor of CALEA,
expressed concerns about the FCC’s broad order without
congressional input or oversight. The 1994 law required
telephone carriers to engineer their systems at their own cost
so that federal agents can obtain easy surveillance access.]
Reaction of Senator Patrick Leahy,
Primary Sponsor Of CALEA,
And Ranking Member, Judiciary Committee,
On The Extension Of CALEA To
Voice Over Internet
Protocol
October 26, 2005
“The expansion of
the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) to
the Internet is troubling, and it is not what Congress
intended. Law enforcement agencies should be able to intercept
those communications with appropriate court orders but
stretching this law without changing it, and without properly
examining the implications of doing that, invites a basketful of
potential new problems. It could give the government the
authority to dictate network and software designs, impede
innovation, drive innovators offshore, raise costs for both
businesses and consumers, and threaten both privacy and network
security.
“I worked hard to
bring together law enforcement agencies, privacy and consumer
advocates, telephone companies and other stakeholders together
to bridge competing interests in order to meet a well-defined
law enforcement need. CALEA was passed to apply only to the
public telephone network -- and only after careful analysis over
several years by the Congress of the costs, burdens,
alternatives and security risks posed by a new regulatory
scheme.
“Congress
recognized the unique architecture of the Internet and
explicitly excluded it from the scope of CALEA’s surveillance
design mandates, and we did that to allow Congress to re-visit
the appropriateness of such an extension as the Internet
developed. Any extension of CALEA – a law written for the
telephone system in 1994 – to the Internet in 2005 would be
inconsistent with congressional intent.
“There are
certainly legitimate law enforcement interests concerning
‘tapping’ the Internet, and they must be addressed
appropriately. We need to develop suitable solutions after
reaching a broad consensus. Congressional hearings are a good
place to start.
“We certainly need
to hear whether law enforcement agencies are actually
experiencing interception problems on the Internet, since the
last thing we should do is fix a problem that does not exist.
We should also carefully examine any approach that would allow
law enforcement agencies to set technology mandates,
particularly given the challenges we have seen this year in the
FBI’s own mishaps in its technology development.
“The federal
government so far has successfully allowed the Internet to
flourish by avoiding design mandates and other limitations. We
all must keep that important lesson in mind as we consider law
enforcement concerns. The United States developed and nourished
the Internet, and the world watches whenever we attempt to
regulate it. Whenever we venture down that road, we have a
special responsibility to get it right, and it’s in our best
interests to get it right. Recent proposals to change Internet
governance and threaten Internet stability remind us of the need
to be particularly vigilant in maintaining the essential freedom
that has kept the Internet flourishing. We should proceed
prudently and knowledgeably. We must find ways to ensure that
law enforcement agencies have the tools they need, without
jeopardizing the innovation that benefits consumers and our
economy.”
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