CONTROL OF COMMUNICATION FACILITIES IN THE USA
ABSTRACT: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gives permission to legally oblige developers of communication and telecommunications systems to provide special capabilities for information control.
The U.S. government has passed regulations that will give the FBI and other U.S. government agencies and intelligence agencies new electronic surveillance capabilities that will enable them to use the latest developments and technologies in the field of communications and telecommunications, such as cellular and satellite communications, including the use of forced conference call mode (microphone activation).
The Federal Communications Commission's regulation, based on a 1994 law, allows intelligence agencies to obtain subscriber information and access their information transmitted over communications systems and to have access to users' cell phones. The regulation provides for such an opportunity only by court order.
Privacy Group representatives strongly objected to the decision, saying it turned modern communications systems into powerful surveillance tools.
In addition to the Subscriber Location Regulation — which was proposed by industry representatives — the FCC defined a number of additional protocols proposed by law enforcement agencies.
For example, the FBI will be able to connect to any subscriber's cellular or regular telephone system in conference call mode, including even those on which no calls are currently being made.
«Our actions today will help ensure that law enforcement agencies are equipped with modern technology to combat criminal elements,» said FCC Chairman Bill Kennard, who introduced the order for consideration.
The regulation would help implement a 1994 law that requires companies to incorporate into their new designs law enforcement requirements for monitoring subscriber information, including identifying nonstandard language features, and to provide for private access to the monitored information.
The committee on the bill stepped in after a review by the Justice Department, the FBI, and telecom industry representatives failed to agree on a plan of action after years of negotiations.
The Justice Department and the FBI have accomplished much of what they set out to do.
The order gives companies that design and manufacture this equipment until March to agree to all equipment standards and protocols that meet the requirements of the order and to put them into effect by September 30, 2001, and to comply thereafter.
The FCC's order addresses key law enforcement concerns and will help law enforcement officers more effectively combat terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking, the Justice Department said.
«Continued technological advances in the nation's data and communications systems pose challenges to law enforcement,» Attorney General Janet Reno said in a statement.
«These new capabilities will enable security tasks to be carried out at a high technological level, keeping pace with the latest advances in telecommunications and communications systems.»
However, representatives of the Privacy Groups said that these requirements violate the 1994 law and are an attempt by the government to expand the powers of intelligence agencies to intercept and listen in on telephone conversations.
«We are deeply disappointed that on every significant issue the commission has ruled against privacy in favor of expanding the FBI's power to monitor communications systems,» said Jim Dempsey, a member of the advocacy group Privacy Defense, at a meeting at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington.
Industry representatives said they were pleased that the FCC's order did not include all of the FBI's requests for approval of the requirements they had long sought. But they warned that companies would have a tough time complying with them.
«Now is not the best time to make changes to equipment,» » , said Grant Seifert, vice president of the Telecommunications Industry Association, which represents major equipment makers, calling the proposal unrealistic.
Tom Wheeler, head of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, said he hoped the agency would «give manufacturers the flexibility they need to implement these capabilities and do it in a smart way.»
Under the current rules, the changes would allow information to be obtained based on access to cellular base station systems, or the portion of a «cell» where a request is initiated and terminated.
The FCC rules would also allow authorities, through a court order, to determine when a target is using call preemption, three-way interrogation or other special features, as well as the number information the target has dialed, such as for long-distance and international calls.
Kalpana Srinivasan, The San Diego Union-Tribune,
August 28, 1999.