Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
October 25, 1999
Mr. Fred Baker
IETF Secretariat
C/o Corporation for National Research Initiatives
1895 Preston White Drive
Suite 100
Reston, Virginia 20191-5434
IN RE: Wiretapping and Internet Telephony
Dear Mr. Baker:
In light of the fact that the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has become involved in the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) compliance debate, I write to urge your strong opposition to any effort to force a surveillance-friendly architecture on the Internet. There are several reasons why opposition to such efforts is critical.
When CALEA was enacted in 1994, law enforcement officials assured Congress its only effect would be to maintain the wiretapping status quo. Since then, the same officials have used every opportunity to pressure telecommunications companies to create unprecedented monitoring capabilities going far beyond the status quo, CALEA's mandates, the intent of Congress, and the Fourth Amendment. Even worse, the telecommunications companies have been forced to either pass these costs along to their customers or contest law enforcement's demands in court.
In my opinion, Internet telephony in its current form falls far short of the statutory definitions in CALEA. Furthermore, based on Congress's intent to do nothing more than maintain the status quo by enacting CALEA, it is questionable whether Internet telephony could ever be appropriately included under the Act's mandates. Of course, this fact will not put an end to demands by law enforcement and regulators that Internet service providers and telecommunications companies make their jobs easier by wiretapping the Internet for them.
If you encourage such steps, several things will happen. First, network and software creators will begin building flaws into products in order to create back doors for law enforcement. In the process, the security that serves as a prerequisite and incentive for electronic commerce and communication will be threatened. As hackers demonstrate with frightening regularity, practically no system is fully secure. Building intentional flaws into systems will expose them to criminal abuse and unconstitutional monitoring.
Secondly, an initial demand for limited access to Internet telephone calls will soon expand into an ever-increasing demand for access to all voice communications, followed by a demand for access to e-mail and data traffic.
If the IETF gets in the business of trying to anticipate what the government might demand, government agencies will thank you for your efforts, and promptly issue more demands. It is a virtual certainty the government's demands will exceed the private sector's willingness and ability to comply with them. The only real question is precisely when that point will be reached.
Finally, Internet-based companies will be forced to pass compliance and legal costs along to their customers. In a sector where cost-competitiveness is critical, compliance costs could bring the development of exciting new Internet telephony products and services to a virtual standstill. Similar effects could also be felt on practically every Internet company, if surveillance mandates are expanded beyond telephony.
For the sake of protecting freedom, commerce, and privacy on the Internet, I urge you to draw the line firmly and early, by immediately rejecting any attempts to force a cumbersome, expensive, and dangerous surveillance architecture on the Internet. If you arrive at the conclusion further legal protections are needed to ensure a massive wiretapping structure is not imposed on the Internet, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss how best to enact them.
With kind regards, I am,
very truly yours,
BOB BARR
Member of Congress
We all hate politicians, but Bob Barr is one of the good guys. Thanks Bob!
nice article. BTW is this common:
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Not wanting to be paranoid, but I got this from the account I use for FR. Is this common?
I have not seen that one before.
You have not been posting Echelon stuff, have you?
[Just kidding on the Echelon part. Gotta keep the 'alphabet' people on their toes.]
I have the honor to live in his district and to date have had no reason to regret the votes that I have cast in his election. An honest, hardworking man and conservative to boot. Sometime I think I get lucky.
Not I. Haven't even used it for it's intended purpose yet. I seem to be back on line. These things happen, I suppose.
This Bob Barr guy is over-reacting. He's just suspicious of the government. What's he know about it, anyway?
There. I beat a few of the boys in the hole to it!
If only we had about 530 more like Barr in the right positions.
What's that "Eschelon" thing you've been mentioning for about two years?
"What's that "Eschelon" thing you've been mentioning for about two years?"
"ECHELON", according to a number of reports, the US electronic eavesdropping system operating in Europe. By all accounts, Echelon has number of our European friends very concerned about privacy. You can find scads of information on Echelon by simply doing a Yahoo search on ECHELON.
Here's one of the many links from Yahoo: Codename: Echelon
Barr is a gem. That is why he is 'media enemy #1'. Right after Buchanan, of course.
ND, right you are. We gotta celebrate the good ones.
Re Echelon, [Hell, I get Christmas cards from 'em, anymore] there was an aricle in my local bird specimen collector, er... paper about Echelon.
I had to revive the birds. Mouth to beak is a bitch.
"ECHELON" is real, it exists and it is very controversial. The Italians, of all countries, have brought a challenge to its' existence based upon Italian Privacy laws.
Concerning Bob Barr, this guy just cannot make up his mind. On the one hand he seems to be truly and sincerely one of the good guys. But on the other hand he sometimes does goofy things which really piss me off. Exhibit; His defunding of the voter count in DC. on the Medical Marahoochi issue.
Go figure!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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