WASHINGTON-Four members of the House Judiciary Committee have told the Federal
Communications Commission to consider the cost of deploying technical standards to implement the digital wiretap
law.
The representatives reminded FCC Chairman William Kennard in a letter sent last Thursday that the
Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 “requires the FCC to consider cost as a factor in
determining the CALEA technical standard.”
The letter was signed by Reps. John Conyers (D-Ga.), ranking
Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Bob Barr (R-Ga.), Zoe Lofgren (D.-Calif.) and Bob Goodlatte (R-
Va.).
The FCC is drafting CALEA technical standards after industry and law enforcement-most notably the FBI-
could not agree on technical capabilities to implement the law.
The FBI consistently has said the industry’s interim
standard was deficient because it did not contain nine additional capabilities known as the punch list. Law enforcement
says these technical capabilities are necessary to implement CALEA, but the telecommunications industry and privacy
advocates claim the capabilities go beyond the scope of CALEA. In a CALEA further notice of proposed rule making
released last year, the FCC tentatively agreed with law enforcement on five of the items. It rejected three others and did
not comment on the ninth item.
The final order is expected within the next few months.
The representatives also
requested the FCC provide specific cost information to Congress when it releases its order, including:
The
cumulative cost of implementing the final CALEA technical standard;
The cumulative cost of implementing the
industry’s interim standard, which was soundly rejected by the FBI;
The cumulative cost to industry of retrofitting
all equipment installed, deployed or significantly modified after the Jan. 1, 1995, grandfather date. Under the law,
government is required to reimburse telecommunications carriers for CALEA-related upgrades to equipment in place
before Jan. 1, 1995. Any equipment in place that has not been significantly upgraded and that the government chooses
not to pay to be upgraded would be considered in compliance. The FBI has said that if telecom carriers have
“significantly upgraded” their equipment since Jan. 1, 1995, then that equipment no longer qualifies for
reimbursement;
The average time between significant upgrades and major modifications to telecom switches-
nationally, in urban areas and in rural areas; and
The average time required for carriers to build the final CALEA
technical requirements into their networks.
