WASHINGTON-As parties in the never-ending fight over the implementation of the digital wiretap
act prepare to file reply comments this week with the Federal Communications Commission, two federal lawsuits filed
by the telecommunications industry against the Department of Justice and the FBI have been combined. In both places,
the argument rages with no end in sight.
The case in federal district court has both parties disputing the FBI’s
implementation regulations. The Justice Department and the FBI argue the telecommunications industry’s case against
the FBI’s capacity standard centers around a theme of a “higher risk that individual interceptions occasionally
might be frustrated.”
This is contrasted by the industry, which claims it was ignored by the FBI when
developing the various regulations implementing the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of
1994.
On another CALEA front, one of the wireless industry’s main legislative priorities for the upcoming Congress
is to change the grandfather date so more telecom carriers can be reimbursed for making CALEA-related upgrades to
their networks.
The telecommunications industry came close in October to getting Congress to extend this date, but
was thwarted when Attorney General Janet Reno said it could cost the government more than $2 billion.
