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June 09, 2006, 12:34 PM ET
Broadband Interpretation
A federal appeals court today ruled that the Federal Communications Commission acted lawfully when it issued a ruling requiring Internet service providers, including colleges, to redesign their networks so law-enforcement agencies can easily eavesdrop on online communications. At issue was whether a 12-year-old federal statute known as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or Calea, applies to broadband and Internet-based phone services. “The commission reasonably concluded that mixed services—such as broadband Internet access—are partially covered by the statute,” the court’s opinion read.
The 2 to 1 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was written by Judge David B. Sentelle and supported by Judge Janice Rogers Brown. Judge Harry T. Edwards dissented. “What we see in this case is an agency attempting to squeeze authority from a statute that does not give it,” he wrote.
To read more about this issue, see an article from The Chronicle (subscription required) by Andrea Foster.
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