Waiting for the CALEA Deadline to Pass
The deadlines set by the FCC were explicit: by March 12th, 2007, VoIP providers in the U.S. had to file their plans for metting the wiretapping obligations laid out in CALEA(the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act).
It was made official that by March 14 these providers must be in full compliance or suffer the heavy fines. While several people assume this means that any VoIP call may be tapped, this is not the case. All that can be said with any certainty is that CALEA compliance is a work in progress, and having trouble off the ground at that.
Robert Poe of VoIP-News.com says,
Setting the deadline doesn’t mean punishment for non-compliance will be swift and certain. In theory the fine for not meeting CALEA requirements can be up to $10,000 a day. But the FCC has announced no procedure for determining who gets fined, or when or for how much. Even well-connected observers aren’t sure what’s going on.
Read more about the nuances of CALEA at VoIP-News.
