US regulations that make it easier for law enforcers to tap Internet phone calls also will make computer systems more vulnerable to hackers, digital privacy and civil liberties groups say.
While the groups don't want the Internet to be a haven for terrorists and criminals, they complain that expanding wiretapping laws to cover Internet calls, or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), will create additional points of attack and security holes that hackers can exploit.
"Once you enable third-party access to Internet-based communication, you create a vulnerability that didn't previously exist" Marc Rotenberg, executive director at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said in an interview on Wednesday. "It will put at risk the stability and security of the Internet."
Acting on appeals from the US Department of Justice and other law-enforcement officials, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted last week to require providers of Internet phone calls and broadband services to ensure their equipment can allow police wiretaps.
The decision applies to VoIP providers and to cable and phone companies that provide broadband services. The companies will have 18 months to comply with the FCC's order.
"We recognize that people use different methods for communication, and certainly most of the time the people are using the method that they can avoid detection most,"said FBI spokesman Ed Cogswell.
Besides objections about privacy and security, digital-rights experts worry that expansion of the wiretapping law will stifle innovation. They also argue that the FCC lacks the authority to order companies to make changes to their systems for wiretapping purposes.
MINERAL DEPOSITS: The Pacific nation is looking for new foreign partners after its agreement with Canada’s Metals Co was terminated ‘mutually’ at the end of last year Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of Pacific Ocean harboring coveted metals and minerals. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative seafloor deposits of cobalt, nickel and copper — recently inking a cooperation deal with Cook Islands. Kiribati opened discussions with Chinese Ambassador Zhou Limin (周立民) after a longstanding agreement with leading deep-sea mining outfit The Metals Co fell through. “The talk provides an exciting opportunity to explore potential collaboration for the sustainable exploration of the deep-ocean resources in Kiribati,” the government said
The head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, was sacked yesterday, days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he no longer trusts him, and fallout from a report on the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. “The Government unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end ISA Director Ronen Bar’s term of office,” a statement said. He is to leave his post when his successor is appointed by April 10 at the latest, the statement said. Netanyahu on Sunday cited an “ongoing lack of trust” as the reason for moving to dismiss Bar, who joined the agency in 1993. Bar, meant to
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
The central Dutch city of Utrecht has installed a “fish doorbell” on a river lock that lets viewers of an online livestream alert authorities to fish being held up as they make their springtime migration to shallow spawning grounds. The idea is simple: An underwater camera at Utrecht’s Weerdsluis lock sends live footage to a Web site. When somebody watching the site sees a fish, they can click a button that sends a screenshot to organizers. When they see enough fish, they alert a water worker who opens the lock to let the fish swim through. Now in its fifth year, the
RSS