WASHINGTON
(Friday, June 9) -- Below is the reaction of Senator Patrick Leahy,
(D-Vt), to the decision Friday by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals
upholding 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 Sen.
Patrick Leahy,
Primary Sponsor Of CALEA,
And Ranking Member, Judiciary Committee,
On The D.C. Circuit’s Decision Friday
On Extending CALEA To Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
Friday, June 9, 2006
“The Court’s
expansion of CALEA to cover the Internet is troubling, and it is not
what Congress intended. Stretching a law written for the telephone
system of 1994 to cover the Internet of 2006 is simply inconsistent
with congressional intent.
“As Senior
Circuit Judge Harry T. Edwards noted in his dissenting opinion,
‘[i]n determining that broadband Internet providers are subject to
CALEA as “telecommunications carriers,” and not excluded pursuant to
the “information services” exemption, the Commission apparently
forgot to read the words of the statute.’ Law enforcement agencies
of course 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.
“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 revisit the appropriateness of
such an extension as the Internet developed. For this reason, 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.
“There are
certainly legitimate law enforcement interests involved in Internet
communications, and they deserve and require thoughtful and
appropriate attention. We need to develop suitable solutions after
reaching a broad consensus, and congressional hearings are a good
place to start. I call on Congress to address this issue and to
make sure that CALEA is used, and not misused, as Congress
intended.”
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