The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has now made it official that VoIP telephony providers must allow wiretapping to identify possible criminal activity. The FCC gave providers 18 months to comply with the requirements of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).
This ruling comes as software developers continue to develop tools to eavesdrop on VoIP telephone conversations, and to protect them.
I’ve said before that governments need to constantly evaluate their revenue and regulatory environments in light of new advances in technology, and this issue highlights my point. Eighteen months may not seem that long in the world of POTS, but it is a very long time in the world of internet technology (which, after all, is the world VoIP belongs in).
It remains to be seen what will happen in the next year and a half to impact this ruling. Stay tuned!