John is the legal counsel to the FCC and he’s going to talk about CALEA and the obligations of VoIP to assist law enforcement. But, first, as he steps up to the podium, he gets two phone calls. He doesn’t take either.

This happens in the midst of two major changes. First, there’s the digital revolution, which the FCC is trying to apply only a “light regulatory touch” to. Second, there’s the security imperative.

CALEA requires carriers to give access to the content and the metadata of calls to law enforcement agencies. But how do you do this in the digital age? That’s what CALEA is about, John says.

The FCC put forward some tentative conclusions for comment.

1. “Telecommunications” is broader in CALEA than in the Telecom Act.

2. Whatever substitutes for telephone service (= VoIP) is subject to CALEA.

[Missed the rest. Damn.]

The FCC concludes that VoIP is both a substantial replacement (and thus subject) and an information service (and thus not), so we’re going to go with the one that gives law enforcement the tools they need. Hence, it’s a substantial replacement.

Distintermediated calls — peer-to-peer — would not be covered by CALEA.

Comments are due Nov. 8

Categories: Uncategorized dw