Court Backs Broadband Wiretap Access

bitkid writes "Reuters reports that the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a petition aimed at overturning a FCC decision requiring broadband providers and others that offer Internet telephone service to comply with wiretap laws. According to the court, private networks would not be subject to the wiretap requirements. Just the same, networks connected with a public network would have to comply with the law." From the article: "The court concluded that the FCC requirement was a 'reasonable policy choice' even though information services are exempted from the government's wiretapping authority."

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[Doc Ruby]

Has anyone else noticed that our Republican government's telecom rulings always produce the most invasive government and least liable corporations, with humans always taking up all the slack?

Telcos and cablecos (what passes for "broadband" in the US) can run VoIP businesses that won't be taxed (increasing their price), required to support 911 or deliver universal service because they're somehow not "phone services". But when the government wants to tap them, they're "phone services".

There's no longer any role for consistent principles in our Republican government, except merely baselessly stating that each decision is a matter of principle.