Scott looks at the FCC’s decision about how to enforce wiretapping access rules on the Internet. Snippet:

The logic that the FCC uses is often rather tortured. For example, it says that a VoIP provider that uses gateways to direct calls to and from the public switched telephone network (PSTN) fits the switching requirement because it “must necessarilyuse a router or other server to do so.” Of course, this condition is true of all services offered over the Internet, not just interconnected VoIP. So where should the boundary be?

The Thou Shalt Wiretap mandate (the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA) is dead serious and potentially hugely chilling of innovation, since it may head us towards only allowing “authorized” applications on the Net. We need to be taking this boneheaded step towards totalitarianism — in the name of homeland security, of course — quite seriously. [Tags: DigitalRights calea ScottBradner voip fcc]

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