Here's an
interesting New York Times article just published.
Colleges Protest Call to Upgrade Online Systems
By SAM DILLON and STEPHEN LABATON
Published: October 23, 2005
The federal government, vastly extending the reach of an 11-year-old law, is requiring hundreds of universities, online communications companies and cities to overhaul their Internet computer networks to make it easier for law enforcement authorities to monitor e-mail and other online communications.
The article continues...
The action, which the government says is intended to help catch terrorists and other criminals, has unleashed protests and the threat of lawsuits from universities, which argue that it will cost them at least $7 billion while doing little to apprehend lawbreakers. Because the government would have to win court orders before undertaking surveillance, the universities are not raising civil liberties issues.
The order, issued by the Federal Communications Commission in August and first published in the Federal Register last week, extends the provisions of a 1994 wiretap law not only to universities, but also to libraries, airports providing wireless service and commercial Internet access providers.
This order is going to be challenged in court for many reasons, but if not reversed, expect tuition increases to cover the expense of the networks that would need to be overhauled.
Just in 2004 there was an increase of 19% (to 1,710) in court-authorized wiretaps, not including warrants issued for wiretaps under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, which reached a record 1,754 warrants last year. These new regulations should increase the number of surveillance warrants issued because with more technologies available for surveillance, there will be more opportunities for law enforcement to intercept communications.
Though I haven't studied the new regulations, it seems like the equipment necessary must allow monitoring of intranet communications, i. e., traffic that doesn't go out through the public internet. And most probably that's one big reason the feds are requiring these extensive university network overhauls.