Wiretapping The Internet: Is VoIP Different?
May 20, 2004
Overview | Video | Panelist Biographies | One Pagers
The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee hosted a lunch panel on "Wiretapping The Internet: Is VoIP Different?" on Thursday, May 20, 2004. The expert panel debated whether law enforcement can and should wiretap real-time Internet communications such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). The panel debated the U.S. Department of Justice's (USDOJ) current scope of authority to tap Internet communications, its VoIP proposal for more authority under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) before the FCC, and whether Congress will have to again consider granting more Internet wiretapping authority to USDOJ in the future.
The USDOJ's petition to the FCC to apply CALEA to high-speed Internet access communications framed a good portion of the debate. If applied to the Internet, CALEA would require companies to build into their networks technologies that would facilitate law enforcement access to communications traveling across a plethora of protocols -- email, IM, VoIP, etc... Many feel the petition would chill innovation, invade privacy and possibly drive business out of the United States. Also, debated was whether the government or industry would bear the cost of developing the technology for such surveillance. USDOJ officials are concerned that deregulatory actions by the FCC could impede its ability to enforce wiretapping orders and would allow suspects to slip through their fingers.
Stewart Baker moderated the balanced and knowledgeable panel that included:
- James X. Dempsey (Center for Democracy & Technology)
- Anthony Rutkowski (VeriSign)
- Mike Warren (Fiducianet, Inc.) Mr. Warren was formerly chief of the FBI CALEA Implementation Bureau.
- Praveen Goyal (Covad Communications)
This event is hosted in conjunction with the Internet Caucus and its co-chairs -- Senators Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Congressmen Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Rick Boucher (D-VA).