- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.
telephone companies, including mobile phone carriers, will have to provide
law enforcement officials with some new surveillance capabilities by June
30, the Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday.
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- Carriers will have to provide upon request from law enforcement
agencies the numbers dialed after a call is connected, numbers and associated
signals of various parties who join a conference call or drop from one;
call forwarding and call waiting signals; and signals related to obtaining
messages left for a caller.
-
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
vacated those so-called punch-list requirements in 2000 because it said
the FCC failed to address adequately privacy and cost concerns raised by
carriers and privacy advocates.
-
- The FCC issued a 57-page order upholding the four challenged
capabilities and found that their implementation was cost-effective and
would minimize costs on residential customers.
-
- ``We find it reasonable to require wireline, cellular,
and broadband PCS carriers to implement all punch list capabilities by
June 30,'' the FCC said in an order unanimously adopted on April 5 and
released Thursday.
-
- ``The record indicates that much of the software required
to implement the punch list items has already been developed which should
significantly speed implementation,'' the agency said.
-
- Two other punch list items that carriers will also have
to comply with include providing the FBI and other law enforcement agencies
with timing information about calls as well as the content of conference
calls by the target of an investigation.
-
- Carriers could again challenge the requirements in court
or appeal to the FCC for more time to come into compliance.
-
- The trade group for the wireless industry said it was
disappointed with the order because it did not clear up whether certain
wireless data services like Internet browsing and short-messaging services
are subject to surveillance requirements.
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- ``The Commission said it would address such requirements
in this order, but by avoiding the issue it leaves the industry guessing
about future standards for surveillance,'' Tom Wheeler, head of the Cellular
Telecommunications & Internet Association, said in a statement.
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