posted on Jun, 10 2006 @ 03:47 AM
hosted.ap.org
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal appeals court sided with the Bush administration Friday on an electronic surveillance issue, making it easier to tap
into Internet phone calls and broadband transmissions.
The court ruled 2-1 in favor of the Federal Communications Commission, which says equipment using the new technologies must be able to accommodate
police wiretaps under the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, known as CALEA.
Judge David Sentelle called the agency's reading of the law a reasonable interpretation. In dissent, Judge Harry Edwards said the FCC gutted an
exemption for information services that he said covered the Internet and broadband.
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Does this Federal court ruling pave the way for other forms of internet monitoring? If this verdict stands, and it becomes routine for Federal law
enforcement to monitor internet voice traffic, what else will they be allowed to monitor? Does this ruling provide the government with an excuse to
check your hard drive? If the Bush administration's warrantless wiretap program is extended in to this arena, we may see a new form of intrusion that
could change the very fabric of our society.