U.S. Looking to Ease Internet Wiretap Laws, Report Says

The Obama administration is reportedly prepping new Internet regulations that would allow online service providers to comply with wiretap orders.

These new regulations could include sites like Facebook, mobile providers like Research in Motion, and software like Skype "to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order," according to a report in The New York Times. "The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages."

The Obama administration would reportedly submit the new regulations in the form of a bill next year.

Voice communications services and broadband networks are already required to provide such assistance under a 1994 law called the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act. That law does not apply to data communications services and this effort attempts to hold them to the same standard.

The Times identified the likely requirements:

• Communications services that encrypt messages must have a way to unscramble them.
• Foreign-based providers that do business inside the United States must install a domestic office capable of performing intercepts.
• Developers of software that enables peer-to-peer communication must redesign their service to allow interception.

It's possible that some services are not capable, in their current designs, of meeting these requirements. It's also hard to see how this requirement would be enforced against open-source protocols like BitTorrent protocol encryption. The Times quoted computer science and law enforcement experts as saying that implementation would be difficult, expensive for providers, and likely to be exploited by hackers for illicit purposes.

Read More:

Originally posted on PCMag's Security Watch blog.