Extending US Wiretap Law to Universities' Internet Connections Brings Protest over High Cost

By administrative order from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a 1994 law, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), has been extended to a number of intermediate agencies such as libraries, airports and universities. The effect will be to require these institutions to alter their networks so that enforcement agencies can intercept communications to their members who customarily make their Internet connections via the institutions' facilities. Some of the institutions have described this new requirement as "an extraordinary technological challenge", and one which will cost several billion dollars to implement. Many universities, for example, provide Internet access sites to its students and staff via wired or wireless facilities in hundreds of locations dispersed through scores of buildings. To effectively capture all of these communications automatically would require the re-building of their communications networks. Counsel for the American Council on Education is said to be preparing a court challenge to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Other NGOs such as the Center for Democracy and Technology are also expected to intervene. For an article in The New York Times, see: http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q11653B0C You can visit the web site of the Center for Democracy & Technology at: http://www.cdt.org Summary by: The Editor