[IP] Colleges Protest Call to Upgrade Online Systems [RISKS] Risks Digest 24.08
Begin forwarded message:
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 15:52:27 PDT
From: "Peter G. Neumann" <neumann@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Colleges Protest Call to Upgrade Online Systems
The federal government, vastly extending the reach of an 11-year-old
law, is
requiring hundreds of universities, online communications companies and
cities to overhaul their Internet computer networks to make it easier
for
law enforcement authorities to monitor e-mail and other online
communications. The action, which the government says is intended to
help
catch terrorists and other criminals, has unleashed protests and the
threat
of lawsuits from universities, which argue that it will cost them at
least
$7 billion while doing little to apprehend lawbreakers. Because the
government would have to win court orders before undertaking
surveillance,
the universities are not raising civil liberties issues.
The order, issued by the Federal Communications Commission in August and
first published in the Federal Register last week, extends the
provisions of
a 1994 wiretap law not only to universities, but also to libraries,
airports
providing wireless service and commercial Internet access providers. It
also applies to municipalities that provide Internet access to
residents, be
they rural towns or cities like Philadelphia and San Francisco, which
have
plans to build their own Net access networks. So far, however,
universities
have been most vocal in their opposition.
The 1994 law, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act,
requires telephone carriers to engineer their switching systems at
their own
cost so that federal agents can obtain easy surveillance access. ...
[Source: Sam Dillon and Stephen Labaton, *The New York Times*, 23 Oct
2005;
PGN-ed]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/technology/23college.html?
ex=1287720000&en=36556cd12f8fc287&ei=5090
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