From: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 12:21:52 +0800
To: cypherpunks@Algebra.COM
Subject: fbi wiretapping law runs into friction
Message-ID: <199707180416.VAA13557@netcom13.netcom.com>
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From: jackdoolin@earthlink.net
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 1997 14:56:59 -0400
Subject: SNET: Phone firms resist FBI wiretap gear


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              Published Wednesday, July 16, 1997, in the San Jose Mercury 
News  

  Phone firms resist FBI wiretap gear    New York Times  

  Asserting that the FBI is trying to force the development of wiretapping 
equipment that goes beyond the law, telephone industry executives said 
Tuesday they would petition the Federal Communications Commission to resolve 
a dispute over the limits of digital surveillance in the information age.

 Industry executives are expected to ask the commission to step in today 
after more than two years of negotiations with law enforcement authorities 
over standards for advanced digital telephone switching gear intended to 
permit the police and FBI agents to listen to suspected criminals.

 The two sides failed to reach an agreement at a meeting last week in Boston.

 ``We've come to an impasse and only the FCC can resolve it,'' said Stewart 
Baker, a Washington lawyer representing the industry.

 FBI officials said Tuesday they were still confident that disagreements with 
the industry could be worked out. Another negotiating session is scheduled 
for next week.

 ``We're still committed to the negotiating process,'' said Edward Allen, 
section chief in the Information Division at the FBI. The Communications for 
Law Enforcement Act, which was signed into law by President Clinton in 1994, 
calls for spending $500 million to modify the nation's telephone network for 
wiretapping and specifies a standard-setting process to redesign the 
equipment.

 Telephone industry officials have warned that the cost of making the 
modifications requested by law enforcement might run into the billions of 
dollars. They also contend that the FBI has overstepped its mandate and is 
trying to control the process of setting standards. The law, they say, 
specifies only that the agency will be consulted in setting the standard.

 Industry executives say their companies will be at risk of being sued by 
civil liberties groups over privacy invasions.

 Law enforcement is asking for the ability to maintain a wiretap in a 
conference call even after the individual who is the object of the court-
authorized wiretap drops out of the phone call. Such a capability would 
require costly modifications to the telephone network, industry officials 
said.

 ``We're taking this action out of monumental frustration,'' said Thomas 
Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, a 
trade group in Washington.

 The telephone industry is facing an October 1998 deadline to comply with the 
law. Wheeler said the members of his association were growing increasingly 
concerned that in the absence of a standard they would have insufficient time 
to develop new products that comply with the law. The legislation provides 
for $10,000 a day in penalties for companies that fail to meet the 
requirements. 

        
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