VoIP Wiretapping

pisqon writes "VoIP News has an article discussing a U.S. government decision that will extend wiretapping regulations to the Internet. From the article: 'The Federal Communications Commission voted 5-0 last week to prohibit businesses from offering broadband or Internet phone service unless they provide police with backdoors for wiretapping access. Formal regulations are expected by early next year.'" Update: 03/28 04:52 GMT by Z : As several readers have pointed out, this story is a mite out of date. Good conversation in the comments, though.

Comments

Uhh, VoIP is digital

[Eric(b0mb)Dennis]

Being that VoIP originates from the callers machine digitally, it would be easy to add encryption to the transmission. Please comment, do any current VoIP services clients or other free/open-source clients already offer this feature?

Is Skype [dev'd outside of USA] exempt?

[ivi]

Remember the "can't export crypto technology" era?

Those who did their crypto development outside USA
were exempt from the restriction (mostly), ie,
since they wouldn't have to export code in an
electronic form.

Perhaps software-only VoIP systems like Skype
will be exempt from the FCC's "must provide a
backdoor" ruling.

Has Skype made any statement on its position?

Re:Is Skype [dev'd outside of USA] exempt?

[Mike deVice]

From TFA:

Skype CEO Niklas Zennstrom told me last fall that "we do not have any legal obligation to provide any means for interception" in his company's VoIP software. How will you force a company based in Luxembourg to insert backdoors in its software when it has no obligation to do so?

This doesn't qualify as an official statement from Skype, but it pretty much says it all, I think.

Re:Only makes sense

[EvanED]

There are theives who leave their wallets at the scene of the robbery. Or who buy something with their credit card immediately before holding someone up. Or who call the police to tell them that their marijuana cache has been stolen. It's asking a lot to have them be careful with encryption.

Sure, you're not gonna catch Danny Ocean that way (sorry, just saw Ocean's 12 last night), but you will get 95% of people you're after.

Re:Only makes sense

[CSMastermind]

The FBI plays mean tricks on people. My Aunt and her husband wanted for murder, embezzlement, and some more minor crimes. They both ran away in the early eighties. Agents called my grandmother's house pretending to be doctors and told her the her daughter was in a New York hostipal in critical condition. They had her phone tapped and were hoping that if she knew where Connie was that she would call her back and they'd be able to trace the call. The point of tapping phones is that they're one of the most widely used means of communication.

Re:Internet too?

[Degrees]

They can't open personal letters, can they?

Of course they can. They are not supposed to, but they can, and do.

I vividly remember my dad going into a rage when his mail was being read by the local post office. He went to the mailbox, and I followed him (I was a little kid, it was natural for me to follow.) Had the letter in his hand, shaking it, saying "Look at this! Look at this! These bastards are reading my mail!" The whole top of the letter had been ripped open, and then taped shut.

At the time, he was a semi-high mucky-muck in the Republican Party in California. If the letter came from from party headquarters, some democrat (presumably) opened the letter and read it. After opening and reading it, they'd tape it shut, rubber stamp it with "sorry, damaged in handling", and send it on. Complaints to the local Post Master were ignored (federal government workers, at least at that time, were almost all Democrat, for some strange reason....) For a little more information, see the paragraph under Hobbies list here.

Privacy invasion is more subtle now, but there is zero reason to think things have changed for the better since then.