Mediaboss Marketing

May 5, 2012

Enid Burns for RedOrbit.com

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has drafted a controversial proposal that would require social networking sites, VoIP services and other online platforms to build a wiretap-friendly back door. The government organization is making the rounds to social networking companies including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo and Google to urge them not to oppose the proposal.

In a time when more lines of communication are open, such as instant messenger, social networking sites and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), the FBI worries it wont have access to communications between suspicious individuals. A ZDNet article states that The FBI General Counsels office has drafted a proposed law that the bureau claims is the best solution: requiring that social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly.

The proposal hopes to amend the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA. CALEA requires telecommunications providers to provide the tools for an easily implemented wiretap. In 2004 the Federal Communications Commission extended CALEA to encompass broadband networks.

In defense of the original CALEA enacted in October of 1994, the FCC says it was intended to preserve the ability of law enforcement agencies to conduct electronic surveillance by requiring that telecommunications carriers and manufacturers of telecommunications equipment modify and design their equipment, facilities and services to ensure that they have the necessary surveillance capabilities.

The law includes common carriers, facilities-based broadband internet access providers, and providers of interconnected VoIP service. The agency fears a Going Dark trend. Going Dark is a term the FBI revealed in early 2011 to describe how new technologies and rapidly changing communications modes erode the ability of the government to conduct court ordered intercepts of wire and electronic communications.

Sources say the FBI has held meetings with Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Facebook as well as the White House and U.S. Senators to discuss the proposal. In talks with internet companies, the FBI reportedly urged companies not to oppose the action.

Many social networking companies already comply to law enforcement actions, to a degree. The safety center page on Facebook states the conditions under which it cooperates with law enforcement authorities within the U.S. and international jurisdictions.

In the U.S., Facebook complies to the federal Stored Communications Act (SCA). Under this act the social network complies with federal and law enforcement requests with a valid subpoena issued in connection with an official criminal investigation; a court order issued under 18 U.S.C Section 3703(d); or a search warrant issued under the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Read this article:
FBI Pushes for Wiretap-Friendly Social Networks