Verisign Offers Wiretapping Services

LinuxDeckard writes "According to this article at FindLaw, VeriSign will soon be offering its 'NetDiscovery' wire tapping services for a monthly fee. NetDiscovery will allow Telecoms to comply with court ordered wire taps." Verisign's press release is informative. This appears to be tapping of voice calls rather than internet usage. I assume it would work something like this: telecom company gets a wiretap notification from the FBI or local police; it routes all calls to/from $TARGET through a Verisign switch; Verisign does the tapping and reporting to the tappers. If you think this doesn't affect you, keep in mind that under the PATRIOT Act the barrier for wiretapping is set very low indeed.

Comments

Regulations that have gained "prominence"

[truthsearch]

...to help U.S. telecommunications carriers comply with wiretapping regulations that have gained more prominence since the attacks of Sept. 11.

I prefer to see them as regulations that were pushed through legislation by taking advantage of public fears after Sept. 11. I'm from NYC and I hear the warnings every week and occassionally still hear military fighters and helicopters fly over my home, but that batch of regulations under the Patriot Act are nothing patriotic. I want terrorists caught just as much as anyone else. Some people had been pushing for more wiretapping freedom for years. They took advantage of our fears to slip these regulations through which give too much power to our government.

How secure do you need to be?

[outlander78]

How secure do you really need to be, though? I'm sure that most people on this list are not criminals, and don't lead lives so exciting that they're worth listening into. That's not meant as an insult - I'd feel sorry for the poor people stuck tailing me or listening to my phone conversations (most concern wedding planning, which even we don't want to be hearing! :).

Why is this such a hot button with some people? Do you really think Uncle Sam / Big Brother cares about your personal lives? Unless your doing something illegal (beyond the odd burned cd or speeding ticket), why worry? With limited resources and public pressure for results, the FBI and other law institutions don't have the resources to spy on us all.