Groups battle FCC's Wiretap Act extension (UPI)

[struggle4progress]

By ELLIOT SMILOWITZ

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Civil liberties groups have come out strongly against the Federal Communications Commission's order to expand the Wiretap Act and force universities and public Internet networks to overhaul their networks to make it easier for the feds to monitor online communications.

The FCC finalized an order two weeks ago calling for an expansion of 1994's Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which required that that telecom carriers design their networks in a way that they can intercept messages and deliver them to the government upon court order.

The FCC's expansion of the act applies to broadband Internet access providers, such as universities, libraries, and public wireless access networks like the ones planned in Philadelphia and San Francisco, as well as voice-over Internet protocol companies.

The Center for Democracy and Technology led several groups this week in asking a federal appeals judge to overturn the FCC's order. According to a CDT news release put out Tuesday, "when Congress passed CALEA in 1994 it specifically exempted the Internet from its reach." <snip>

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051028-025706-9246r