Calea Confusion

On Wednesday the Federal Communications Commission released an order designed to clarify what broadband providers must do to comply with a regulation to re-engineer their networks so the government can monitor online communications. The order, however, did little to clear up colleges’ confusion about what the regulation will require of them. The order stems from a federal statute known as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or Calea. Deborah Taylor Tate, an FCC commissioner, reiterated what the agency already revealed in a court brief in February — that colleges will have to modify only the equipment that connects their campus networks to the Internet. The American Council on Education and eight other higher-education groups have sued the FCC over the order, and a court hearing on the matter is scheduled for Friday.