Sam’s younger brother, Charlie, he’s the FCC half of the family, has asked for comment about VoIP wiretaps.
At issue is the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), a federal law that mandates surveillance backdoors in US telephone networks, allowing the FBI to start listening in on a target’s phone line within minutes of receiving court approval. Last month the commission tentatively approved a proposal by the Department of Justice, the FBI and the US Drug Enforcement Administration that interprets CALEA as applying to Internet traffic, ruling that cable modem, broadband over power line, satellite, wireless and other high-speed Internet providers are covered by the law. At the same time the FCC ruled that “managed” Internet telephony providers like Vonage must also become wiretap friendly.