CALEA ISSUE MAY LIMIT FCC'S VoIP ACTION NEXT WEEK
Despite the FBI’s request for delay because of CALEA concerns, the FCC may go ahead and release a VoIP notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) at its Feb. 12 agenda meeting, although it may back off acting on related petitions, sources said Wed. The FCC will release the meeting agenda late today (Thurs.). The FBI, Dept. of Justice and Drug Enforcement Administration have asked the FCC to deal with concerns about CALEA compliance before acting on the VoIP rulemaking or petitions (CD Feb. 2 p1). Law enforcement agencies are concerned about the technical and regulatory problems of imposing CALEA wiretap requirements on broadband services such as VoIP.
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The FCC had been expected to consider the rulemaking proposal and at least one pending petition, by Pulver.com. Pulver seeks a ruling that its Free World Dialup isn’t a telecom service because it’s completely IP-based and doesn’t use the public switched network. However, the petition goes to the heart of an FBI concern: How VoIP should be classified for regulation. Law enforcement agencies worry that if VoIP is classed as an information service instead of a telecommunications service, it might not be subject to CALEA requirements. The NPRM on the other hand is expected only to ask questions and not draw conclusions -- so sources say the FCC is more inclined to act on it amid the CALEA controversy.
A group of technology companies was poised Wed. to make a filing at the FCC arguing that the Commission had flexibility to make a regulatory classification for CALEA purposes only. Under that theory, VoIP could be classified as a telecom service for CALEA, but not necessarily as a general regulatory classification, the filing will argue.
Technology experts on an FCBA panel Wed. said making VoIP calls accessible to law enforcement tapping under CALEA would be a tough hurdle from a technology standpoint. Technology companies are “committed to seeking solutions” and will make whatever adjustments are needed in their technology to meet the “legitimate needs of law enforcement,” Intel Communications Policy Dir. Peter Pitsch said. “There are going to be trade-offs,” as is the case of most regulatory solutions, said Pitsch, a former FCC staffer: “In the end we'll make it work.” Prudential Equity analyst Inder Singh warned that if the FCC didn’t make sure VoIP complied with CALEA, “every drug dealer will get a VoIP phone, knowing it can’t be tapped.” The panel was part of a 2-day “Comm Law 101” tutorial on technology in telecom policy.