WASHINGTON-The telecommunications industry may have an easier time convincing Congress the grandfather date in the digital wiretap act should be changed now that Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) has been elected House Speaker.
Livingston has been fully briefed on the issue and understands the telecom industry has worked hard to find a solution, said Steven Berry, senior vice president for congressional affairs at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. “[Livingston] knows the history. He knows the industry has tried to find solutions,” Berry said.
The grandfather date refers to language in the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) of 1994 requiring 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 considered in compliance.
Personal communications services carriers have argued this date needs to be extended because they didn’t even exist at that time. Without a technical standard, these carriers argue, it is impossible to put in place CALEA-compliant equipment. The FBI has not been so generous, saying carriers should have built out their systems to the FBI’s specifications so there would be nothing to worry about.
In addition, the FBI has said if telecommunications carriers, aside from PCS companies, have “significantly upgraded” their equipment since Jan. 1, 1995, then that equipment no longer qualifies for reimbursement. This line in the sand has brought cellular and landline carriers as well as manufacturers into the fight over the grandfather date.
The telecommunications industry came close last month to getting Congress to extend this date, but was thwarted when Attorney General Janet Reno sent a letter saying it could cost the government in excess of $2 billion if the grandfather date is extended.
Although the telecom industry lost the battle last year, Livingston “was very helpful. He was willing to help us try to reach a reasonable solution with law enforcement,” said Dave Murray, director of legislative affairs for the Personal Communications Industry Association.
CTIA, PCIA and the United States Telephone Association have been leading a lobbying coalition to change the grandfather date.
At the same time telecom congressional lobbyists prepare to fight the grandfather date battle once again, telecommunications representatives that deal with the Federal Communications Commission are preparing responses to a further notice of proposed rule making released earlier this month.
These comments are not expected to change the landscape much as both sides seem to have dug in their heels once again.
Law enforcement, although happy the FCC tentatively agreed five of nine controversial punch-list items were allowed under CALEA, is expected to continue to urge the FCC to accept the three items the FCC originally rejected and the one item the FCC tentatively did not decide.
In addition, the law-enforcement community is expected to prod the FCC to release a standard (rather than a rule) on CALEA compliance capabilities. The FCC in its FNPRM tentatively concluded it would send the rule back to the standards body organized by the Telecommunications Industry Association to be completed.
“The industry is in the best position to determine how to implement these technical requirements most effectively and efficiently … We tentatively conclude that it would then be appropriate for industry, in consultation with the law-enforcement community, to develop a final `safe harbor’ standard for CALEA compliance,” said the FCC in its FNPRM.
Indeed, Grant Seiffert, TIA director of government relations, said TIA is preparing to receive the rule from the FCC and turn it into a standard within the 180-day time frame set out by the FCC. “This is an ambitious schedule,” Seiffert said.
