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Legal Challenge Issued against VoIP Wiretapping Ruling

6:30 am on December 1, 2005 | Category: Business, Law, VoIP

A coalition of technology companies and privacy advocates have recently filed court papers challenging the FCC ruling that VoIP is subject to normal wiretapping laws.

The group behind this action, which includes such organizations as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology, claims that enforcing wiretapping laws could create security vulnerabilities for VoIP users. They also argue that such laws would drive up consumer costs and could set a precedent for similar rules to be applied to other internet communication services, including email and instant messaging.

The FCC ruling was passed in August and requires all VoIP providers to build technology that allows their services to be monitored in the same way as normal telephones. They are expecting this to be done by early 2007.

Since the ruling was made, many groups have argued that the FCC is violating the terms of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which clearly states that internet communication services are exempt from telephone wiretapping requirements.

Although several lawsuits have already been filed, this most recent one seems to be one of the most powerful and well organized. Over the coming months, they hope to built a strong case against this ruling, and its many infringements on the privacy rights of citizens.

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