Debate surrounding wiretap law continues
The implementation plan for the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) recently submitted to Congress by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) appears to raise more questions than it answers, in the opinions of several industry members and associations.
So far, the FBI has not published a final proposal for capacity and capability requirements, which has "put our guys in a tremendous bind in terms of meeting the [CALEA] deadlines," said Tim Ayers, vice president-communications for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA).
"On an operational level, our industry deals with the FBI every day and we will continue to," Ayers said. What is at issue, he explained, is the reconciliation of differences between the industry's and law enforcement's interpretations of CALEA.
Ayers said that the industry favors Congress revisiting the issue, which, he said, Congress likely will do.
In a letter to FBI Special Agent in Charge James Kallstrom, CTIA President Thomas Wheeler asked that "the principals from each interest meet and agree upon certain basic points." Without such action, the letter said, the implementation process will continue to be delayed.
In response, Kallstrom wrote, "The FBI flatly rejects CTIA's accusation that law enforcement is stalling the implementation of . . . CALEA . . . To the contrary, it has been the actions of some in the telecommunications industry and their associations that have delayed the implementation of CALEA." Nowhere in the letter did Kallstrom answer Wheeler's request for a meeting.
Ayers said that CTIA is keeping the offer to meet open. In the meantime, the industry is proceeding with the development and approval of a standard that manufacturers will use to comply with CALEA. The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is leading that effort, which is in the balloting stage.
"Our engineering committee will be closing its comments May 12 [on Standards Proposal No. 3580]. It's really hard to say until we look at the comments how long it will take [to approve the standard]," said Sharon Grace, communications manager for TIA. The expediency of the approval process for the standard depends on how technical in nature the comments are, she explained. The same goes for the public comments, which are due by June 24, she said.
But manufacturers must wait until the standard is approved to start making changes to equipment to comply with CALEA. The process of making those changes will take 18 months, TIA argues. If the standard is not approved until after June, that 18-month development period will prevent manufacturers from meeting the October 1998 deadline for compliance, TIA said.
TIA recommended in its response to the FBI's implementation plan that the Justice Department work with carriers and manufacturers to extend the deadline to take into account the time it takes to change switches. Also, it believes the FBI should "provide periodic updates of the model cooperative agreements to all industry participants as they evolve in the negotiation process."
TIA also asked that the Justice Department and the FBI consider postponing the deadline for CALEA compliance "until the capacity required by the FBI can be designed into switches from the start." (source: http://cellspynews.com/how-can-i-tap-my-husbands-mobile-phone/ )
One of those manufacturers is Alcatel Network Systems [ALA]. Its reaction to the FBI's implementation plan was that the plan is "unrealistic," said David Owen, vice president and general manager of Alcatel's mobile switching division. He believes the FBI has "lost sight of the fact that wireless networks are there for other reasons than helping the FBI, as laudable as that might be."
Owen said Alcatel, like other vendors, is "seriously interested in trying to be helpful in this matter . . . [but] it is not an easy task."
Another manufacturer, Motorola Inc. [MOT], had this to say: "We're working with industry groups to urge that they continue a dialogue aimed at producing an agreement," said spokesman Tim Kellogg.
So far, the FBI has not published a final proposal for capacity and capability requirements, which has "put our guys in a tremendous bind in terms of meeting the [CALEA] deadlines," said Tim Ayers, vice president-communications for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA).
"On an operational level, our industry deals with the FBI every day and we will continue to," Ayers said. What is at issue, he explained, is the reconciliation of differences between the industry's and law enforcement's interpretations of CALEA.
Ayers said that the industry favors Congress revisiting the issue, which, he said, Congress likely will do.
In a letter to FBI Special Agent in Charge James Kallstrom, CTIA President Thomas Wheeler asked that "the principals from each interest meet and agree upon certain basic points." Without such action, the letter said, the implementation process will continue to be delayed.
In response, Kallstrom wrote, "The FBI flatly rejects CTIA's accusation that law enforcement is stalling the implementation of . . . CALEA . . . To the contrary, it has been the actions of some in the telecommunications industry and their associations that have delayed the implementation of CALEA." Nowhere in the letter did Kallstrom answer Wheeler's request for a meeting.
Ayers said that CTIA is keeping the offer to meet open. In the meantime, the industry is proceeding with the development and approval of a standard that manufacturers will use to comply with CALEA. The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is leading that effort, which is in the balloting stage.
"Our engineering committee will be closing its comments May 12 [on Standards Proposal No. 3580]. It's really hard to say until we look at the comments how long it will take [to approve the standard]," said Sharon Grace, communications manager for TIA. The expediency of the approval process for the standard depends on how technical in nature the comments are, she explained. The same goes for the public comments, which are due by June 24, she said.
But manufacturers must wait until the standard is approved to start making changes to equipment to comply with CALEA. The process of making those changes will take 18 months, TIA argues. If the standard is not approved until after June, that 18-month development period will prevent manufacturers from meeting the October 1998 deadline for compliance, TIA said.
TIA recommended in its response to the FBI's implementation plan that the Justice Department work with carriers and manufacturers to extend the deadline to take into account the time it takes to change switches. Also, it believes the FBI should "provide periodic updates of the model cooperative agreements to all industry participants as they evolve in the negotiation process."
TIA also asked that the Justice Department and the FBI consider postponing the deadline for CALEA compliance "until the capacity required by the FBI can be designed into switches from the start." (source: http://cellspynews.com/how-can-i-tap-my-husbands-mobile-phone/ )
One of those manufacturers is Alcatel Network Systems [ALA]. Its reaction to the FBI's implementation plan was that the plan is "unrealistic," said David Owen, vice president and general manager of Alcatel's mobile switching division. He believes the FBI has "lost sight of the fact that wireless networks are there for other reasons than helping the FBI, as laudable as that might be."
Owen said Alcatel, like other vendors, is "seriously interested in trying to be helpful in this matter . . . [but] it is not an easy task."
Another manufacturer, Motorola Inc. [MOT], had this to say: "We're working with industry groups to urge that they continue a dialogue aimed at producing an agreement," said spokesman Tim Kellogg.