Justice Dept. Wants CALEA Applied to More Internet Providers
The Dept. of Justice urged the FCC late Mon. to expand the pool of Internet providers subject to CALEA requirements by applying CALEA to a broader segment of VoIP services as well as to carriers that resell broadband Internet access services. Although few IP providers were prepared to respond Tues., one said privately that some of DoJ’s ideas could end “the notion of a minimally-regulated Internet.”
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An FCC order applying CALEA to VoIP and Internet access providers went into effect Mon., meaning providers of covered services must comply within 18 months. The order was sought by DoJ, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Meanwhile, the FCC had asked for comments by Mon. on whether the order should be expanded or tweaked in other ways, which is what DoJ’s filing addressed.
DoJ said it didn’t advocate extending CALEA coverage beyond the “interconnected VoIP” providers specified in the order, but suggested the term be redefined to include a potentially broader group. The FCC defined “interconnected VoIP” as services that allow users to both receive calls from and terminate calls to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). DoJ said the FCC should expand that definition to include VoIP services that provide only one of those 2 capabilities.
DoJ said the FCC’s definition is based on CALEA’s Substantial Replacement Provision (SRP) that makes providers subject to CALEA if they substantially replace local exchange service. “Services that offer only one-way connection to the PSTN replace… a substantial functionality of local exchange service and therefore meet the requirements of the SRP,” DoJ said. DoJ said the interconnected VoIP definition came from the FCC’s VoIP/E- 911 order and isn’t fully compatible with CALEA.
One-way Internet services could include Skype, Microsoft’s Xbox, and other new technologies, an industry source said. Applying CALEA to one-way services isn’t new, however, and is contained in at least one bill making its way through Congress, the source said.
Also of concern to some in the industry: A statement in the middle of the filing suggesting that the PSTN could “evolve over time.” According to DoJ: “In the future, if a VoIP service provider has no need to maintain any connection to the PSTN… but its service continues to be a replacement for local telephone exchange service, that provider should be subject to the SRP,” Justice said. “Under these circumstances, the PSTN should be deemed to have evolved.”
VeriSign appeared to agree with DoJ, telling the FCC that under the current definition “a vast array of new SIP-based VoIP services that do not connect to the PSTN would be placed beyond the assistance capabilities of CALEA -- a result that would significantly impede law enforcement.” VeriSign told the FCC: “It is a simple and rather precise step to require that any provider of SIP- based (or equivalent) services to the public support CALEA capabilities… Providers of SIP-based capabilities to the public are clearly the equivalent of exchange signaling providers… and will constitute a ubiquitous service of public IP-enabled Next Generation Networks. Whether a provider interconnects with the PSTN is essentially irrelevant.”
Other DoJ recommendations: (1) The interconnected VoIP definition shouldn’t be limited to services that require a broadband connection. “The speed of transmission required to use the service is not a necessary limiting factor for the purposes of CALEA,” DoJ said. “Further, such a limitation may be misunderstood to exclude a service that can be used over a dial-up connection, even if that service is typically used over broadband.” (2) Interconnected VoIP shouldn’t be limited to the use of IP-compatible customer premises equipment. “The type of equipment used is not relevant to the need for CALEA coverage and should not limit CALEA’s applicability under the SRP,” DoJ’s filing said.
Justice also recommended expanding the FCC’s decision that facilities-based broadband Internet access should be CALEA compliant. DoJ said the FCC also should include resale-based providers of broadband Internet access. The FCC should clarify that “providers who resell broadband Internet access services are subject to CALEA in the same way that resellers of telecommunications services are subject to CALEA.”
DoJ was one of numerous organizations filing comments with the FCC. OPASTCO and the National Telecom Co-op Assn. urged the FCC to exempt the broadband Internet access services of rural telephone companies from CALEA requirements. Most rural ILECs’ circuit-switched networks are CALEA compliant even thought they experience few intercept requests, the OPASTCO-NTCA filing said. Expanding that compliance to Internet access services would be a highly expensive endeavor, the associations said.