Re: [Raven] Technology to support legal intercept

[Rob Lockhart <rob.lockhart@mot.com>]

Let's look at one part of this from a strictly US carrier standpoint ..

(Same disclaimer of 'individual opinion' et al ..)

Koen Holtman wrote:

[snip]

> The IESG wrote:
> >[...]
> >The key questions are:
> >
> >  "should the IETF develop new protocols or modify existing protocols
> >  to support mechanisms whose primary purpose is to support wiretapping
> >  or other law enforcement activities"
>
> No it should not.  By staying out of the wiretap support game, the IETF
> might make wiretapping more difficult or costly, which would be a good
> thing.

[snip]

If I were a US carrier, I would tend to think that this would not be a 'good
thing'.  US carriers *must* (strong word intended since there's no choice in
the matter) be CALEA-compliant by 30 June 2000.  Failure to have implemented
whatever 'safe harbor' standard exists for the industry in question will
result in a 'US$10K/day/failed wiretap' fine for the carrier.  Making it more
costly just means that the carrier will have to fork over more money to be
compliant by the 30 June date.  Granted the US Congress allocated some funds
for this, but those funds won't last long .. assuming there's still any left.

Now perhaps 'US$10K/day/failed wiretap' doesn't seem like much when viewed
from the standpoint of a mega-carrier, but CALEA also affects small
'mom-n-pop' carriers such as those supplying simple paging services for, say,
less than a thousand customers.  Is such a carrier the responsibility of the
IETF, probably not, considering the nature of the carrier, but there are also
small 'mom-n-pop' ISPs.  The definition of what falls under the umbrella of
'information services' has changed a number of times since CALEA first came
to light.  It's not out of the realm of possibilities to consider that ISPs
may not always have their exemptions (if indeed they still do have them) and
the IETF's entry into this 'game' could have a significant impact in this
arena even to the point of determining who will stay in the business and who
will not.

just a bit of personal viewpoint,
Rob
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