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Surveillance Is on the Rise, Straining Carriers

Posted by Zonk on from the if-there-is-that-much-we-should-probably-rethink-this dept.

Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "The number of telephone wiretaps from 2000 to 2004 authorized by state and federal judges increased by 44%, the Wall Street Journal reports, in part because of a rise in terrorism investigations after 9/11, and because the Patriot Act extended surveillance to Internet providers. All the surveillance activity can put a strain on carriers. 'Smaller telecom companies in particular have sought help from outsiders in order to comply with the court-ordered subpoenas, touching off a scramble among third parties to meet the demand for assistance', the WSJ reports, adding, 'Government surveillance has intensified even more heavily overseas, particularly in Europe. Some countries, such as Italy, as well as government and law-enforcement agencies, are able to remotely monitor communications traffic without having to go through the individual service providers. To make it easier for authorities to monitor traffic, some also require registering with identification before buying telephone calling cards or using cybercafes.'"

2 of 336 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Careful..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    "What is next? Thoughtcrimes?"

    Evidently you didn;t hear that Cindy Sheehan was arrested at the SOTU for the completely legal action of wearing a T-Shirt with a slogan on it. BTW, visitors have STREAKED there before, so the "crime of innappropriateness" of wearing a T-Shirt is essentially just saying "Thought Crime"

  2. CALEA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wire taps my ass. Check out: http://www.askcalea.net/

    Yes, I have worked for various carriers though out my professional career; everything from RBOC/LECs, CLECs, CAP's, Cellular. The current state of affairs is freakin depressing. The old school method of getting a wire tap is:
    1) Get a court order
    2) Submit it to a carrier to get a tap
    3) Carrier puts on tap and makes all sessions available to authorities.

    Ya want to know how it works now.
    1) Remote login (law enforcement)
    2) Start recording (aka run a few commands)
    3) WTF happened to the court order

    All companies that make communications equipment have CALEA access built into their equipment. The system is getting freakin abused and no one has a clue that this *hit is going on.

    PS: Yeah, I am just a wee bit touch about the situation.
    PSS: The telco folks have always done their job; but that wasn't good enough... Direct access is what has been given away.... and that is a load of horse *hit. By the way; CALEA stands for Communications Assistance Law Enforcement Act.