Posted on 02/12/2007 9:19:55 PM PST by The Watcher
BTW, many of you may not have noticed. But as of March 14, 2007, EVERY means of access to the internet, except for dialup, will be REQUIRED by the federal government to be tap and record the use by ANY specific user.
Yes, your VOIP phone. Yes, your MSN Messenger chats. Yes, your email. Yes, the content of any website you may visit... OR ANY SOMEONE WHO USES YOUR CONNECTION may visit.
What else is going on? Guess who has to pay for this? The feds? Nope. Your ISP, your phone company, your company (yes, if your company has a network that connects you to the internet, IT TOO HAS TO COMPLY! ).
Scattered across the country, are scores of thousands of small ventures. Some of them are informal arrangements to bring fast internet to a remote neighborhood, some of them are "free" networks brought into existence by computer geeks. Some of them are small ventures where "broadband" (any connection faster than 5X dialup speed) must comply a long list of federal regulations, from registering with the FCC to be "counted" for reporting to industry and Congress, and to comply with a complex set of rules for compliance with wiretapping.
The first federal deadline is tomorrow, Feb 12. On that date, you have to file "compliance" statements. Either you are (and how you are) or if you aren't, how you are going to.
You are expected to list your network topology, equipment manufacturers and methodology for compliance.
Yet, most ISP's have no idea yet how they intend to comply. Few can.
A few companies offer the data sorting and extraction services remotely... The estimated cost for the device alone is $100,000 for that kind of service.
The program is called CALEA, or Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Agencies.
The federal goverment is taking the stance that they demand what they want, and industry is left to define how to do it - to create standards on their own.
Guess who creates the standards? The big guys. Cisco, Telephone companies, network providers. Guess who they want to put out of business? Small providers.
Internet services was the bright star of our economy. ANyone could become an ISP. Countless small companies have created a serves and data revolution that has fueled our economic engine for the last few years.
We may not know it yet. We may not have noticed it yet. But the ISP business is dead. It has been usurped by the federal government, taken over. Network design and operations are now controlled by Big Brother. Technologies and operational techniques are now mandated by federal desires to NOT HAVE TO DO ANY WORK to spy on you.
I have devoted the last 4 years of my life to building, from NOTHING a broadband business, to bring services to areas that will never get them otherwise. I have yet to earn a paycheck. Every dime I have been able to get through sales has been reinvested in this venture.
And I am seriously considering writing my customers letters tomorrow, explaining that as of a short time from now, they will have to find a new provider, as I will have to abandon the business, as I have no money with which to fund "compliance".
One more example of runamok government.
Even the FedGov can handle only so much.
ECHELON, CARNIVORE, both relied on keywords.
They got spammed by people discussing things in which those words were innocuously used, and it can happen again.
If this is so dangerous, why can't they catch these bastids that post "You Tube" video's of be-headings and blowing up our soldiers? If and when they pull one of us into court for posting on FR, then we can get excited. The problem with libs is they know they are going to be the first to fall under this law. THEY are the ones wanting to kill Bush and blow up churches.
I am a 30 year retiree from SBC and worked on the circuits AlGore wanted to send all fiber pipes to Virginia so they could dial into any and all phone traffic( that's DSL also) to listen in. Remember back when AlGore wanted us to all be digital(cell phones too) by such and such date? Fiber runs in rings and the equipment to monitor it can be here or Canada, Mexico, or anywhere. SBC had a plan at one time to send all traffic to Mexico to replace US workers that you might talk to for service. It never happened, but it was discussed. I think it ended up in India. Supposedly, you still have to get a warrant to tap communication, but they can listen to anybody anytime in the time it takes to punch in a LEN number in your central office. The truth is, someone in India could punch you up and read your e-mails or listen to you phone calls whenever they wanted. They might get into trouble if the contractor wanted to keep the contract with the phone company, but hey, who knows who is interested in what and for how much? I'm sure there are safeguards to set off alarms if someone is doing this illegally, but there is alway someone with a password and authority if it is needed.
The other name is "Echelon" or some such spelling. It takes me awhile, but it's all still there.
If you have a large company, and your in-house network provides web connect to the employees, likely you have to comply.
Since most non-ISP companies haven't paid any attention, most won't know they're required to comply.
Basically, the FCC has said that you must "obtain professional legal and technical consultation" to know HOW and WHAT you must do.
So, your first stop is not hte net, you need to have your legal department investigate.
Well, that explains the degredation in the satellite link service on the oil rig I work on. Jeepers, that has slowed down--it used to be multiples faster.
>>If you have a large company, and your in-house network provides web connect to the employees, likely you have to comply. <<
Yes. If it were real. I have seen no such project even discussed in our project assessment meetings. We have many thousands of employees with internet connectivity.
You're welcome to debate the politics of this all you want.
AT this moment, it is NOT my "politics" at stake, but my business, and mandates to countless thousands of unprepared and non-compliant businesses, universities, ISP's, and so on, all over the nation.
BTTT!
"If it were real"???
What are you talking about?
CALEA enforcement and compliance mandates are VERY real.
Again, the issue is not that it's not real. The issue is that hardly anyone knows yet, what they'll be required to do.
I use my neighbors WI-fi and there are free Wi-fi coffee shops all over this area. It is no problem to be completely anonymous unless "they" actually get their hands physically on your computer.
Um, no.
So, Watcher,
What are you putting across the wires that you are so concerned about the government seeing? Are you sending msg's to ragheads plotting against US Marines? Are you sending and/or receiving child porn?
Do you want your hometown to be safe? Or are you more invested in making things difficult so the muzzi's can sneak in and bomb the crap out of us?
>>Again, the issue is not that it's not real. The issue is that hardly anyone knows yet, what they'll be required to do. <<
Well, then, it's popcorn time! This'll be fun!
You would think you would be good at that given your screen name "The Watcher".
You could have used the screen name "The Listener" too.
Sorry, had too. :-)
Good luck.
Yep, Echelon is what you're referring to, FWIW.
OK, thanks for the clarification. BTW, I can understand why you're upset; I just wanted to be clear on what the issue is since I was fairly certain that it wasn't what I interpreted initially (records keeping).
....and we are ALL going to be members of the bureaucracy doing the surveillance....cause, we're going to need every da*n one of us to do this! /sarcasm
Oh please. Unless you run a big telecom you don't need to worry about CALEA compliance.
Yes, they did. Someone that I know very well actually runs an E911-provider service for VOIP providers, and his clients openly admit that they only buy service for some of their phones (we are talking guys with 50K lines and more).
The FCC has not clamped down, and has not had any enforcement. Don't believe me? Go look online at the FCC database of enforcement actions... there are hardly any.
Further, unless you are a pretty big company, you are NOT big enough. Read Cornell's explanation / take on definitions of "facilities based providers" and common carriers here: click here
LOL!
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