At 12:13 PM 10/10/2001, William Allen Simpson wrote:
Unlike CALEA, there are no provisions for reimbursing ISPs for these
expenses -- tens of thousands of dollars could bankrupt many ISPs.
This is an attack on both civil liberties and small business.
I agree that our legislators are not technologists. That said, what you
report here isn't what I heard:
Said report on HR 2795, to whit:
The text is at http://thomas.loc.gov/ The current version at Thomas does
not include the amendments.
The following amendment caught my eye. It isn't clear what its affect
would be on our CALEA efforts:
----------------------------
No Technology Mandates
10/3. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) offered an amendment at the House Judiciary
Committee's mark up of the PATRIOT Act on October 3, which was adopted by
a unanimous voice vote. The amendment prevents the government from
requiring ISPs or other service providers to modify their equipment or
services under the PATRIOT Act. The amendment was cosponsored by Rep. Bob
Goodlatte (R-VA) and Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT).
The amendment states as follows: "Insert at the end of Title I the
following. Section ___: Clarification of No Technology Mandates. Nothing
in this Act shall impose any additional technical obligation or
requirement on a provider of wire or electronic communication service or
other person to furnish facilities, services or technical assistance."
There was nothing in the bill which required service providers to furnish
any facilities or services to the government. Reps. Goodlatte and Boucher
both explained their reasons for offering this amendment. They are
concerned about the history of the Communications Assistance for Law
Enforcement Act (CALEA). Congress passed this Act in 1994 to enable law
enforcement authorities to maintain their existing wiretap capabilities in
new telecommunications devices. The Congress had cell phones in mind. It
provides that wireline, cellular, and broadband PCS carriers must make
their equipment capable of certain surveillance functions. However, the
FBI has since sought an implementation of CALEA that expands surveillance
capabilities beyond those provided in the statute. Moreover, the FCC,
which has written implementing rules, has largely backed the FBI. This has
imposed considerable burdens and costs upon service providers, and their
customers.
-----------------------------------------