WASHINGTON-Six House members last week sent a letter to Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urging consideration of a bill recently passed by the House that would change the digital wiretap grandfather date from Jan. 1, 1995, to June 30, 2000.
“This change is justified because of the extended delays that have seriously set back the efforts of telecommunications equipment manufacturers to develop the technology necessary for the telecommunications carriers to implement the [Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994],” wrote the House members. Those signing the letter were Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Rick Boucher (D-Va.), Bob Barr (R-Ga.), George Gekas (R-Pa.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and John Conyers (D-Ga.).
The grandfather date in the law requires the government to reimburse telecom carriers for CALEA-related equipment upgrades in place before Jan. 1, 1995. Any equipment in place that has not been upgraded significantly and that the government chooses not to pay to be upgraded would be in compliance.
Telecom carriers other than PCS companies that have significantly upgraded their equipment since Jan. 1, 1995, would not qualify for reimbursement. This line in the sand has brought the cellular, landline and manufacturing industries into the fight over the grandfather date.
The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, which favors changing the grandfather date, does not believe there is support for such a change in the Senate.
“We don’t believe that the legislation in the Senate has strong enough support to move independently, but we would still like to see Congress respond to the grandfather date,” said Steven K. Berry, CTIA senior vice president for congressional affairs.
Attempts to find out if Hatch plans to schedule action on the bill were unsuccessful.
While the Personal Communications Industry Association was not responsible for the letter, the trade association for start-up PCS carriers is continuing to work to get the grandfather date policy changed, said David Murray, PCIA director of legislative affairs.
“We are clearly interested in changing the grandfather date. We continue to have discussions with the Hill and [the Department of Justice] about the concerns of our members. It is really something we will try to get addressed either though legislation or through our discussions with law enforcement,” Murray said.
The Telecommunications Industry Association is not focusing on changing the grandfather date but rather is working on the technical standard to implement the capabilities rule released recently by the Federal Communications Commission, said TIA President Matthew J. Flanigan.
