YOUR QUICK GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING CALEA YOU KNOW, WITHOUT ALL THE LEGAL JARGON AND THE POLITENESS OF SUGAR-COATED COMPANY PRESS RELEASES ABOUT "LAWFUL INTERCEPTION". WHAT IS CALEA? - - - - - - - - Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (Pub. L. No. 103-414, 108 Stat. 4279) U.S. Congress passed it October 25, 1994, came into force on January 1, 1995. To amend title 18, U.S. Code, to clarify a telecommunications carrier's obligation to cooperate in the interception of all communications for Law Enforcement and follow every single CALEA requirement through their equipment, facilities & services. HOW DID CALEA GET IT'S START? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FBI Director Louis Freeh, at the time, Congressional testimony in August 1994 about emerging technologies frustrating surveillance efforts. Congress responded by making telecommunications services rewire their networks to provide police with guaranteed access for wiretaps. Legislators granted the FCC a great deal of leeway in defining what types of companies must comply, another factor was that CALEA was made as Generic as possible. WHAT IS SUBJECT TO CALEA? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CALEA was written knowing that there would be new technologies for telecommunications. So what qualifys as a telecommunications carrier? The question is what does not? Short and simple, Everything. Any service, device or software that enable people to communicate in a large medium or peer-2-peer weather you are in the U.S. or not. "They" repeatedly assured people that the Internet would be excluded. Yet the FBI/FCC betrayed that promise now and stepped beyond the law, demanding that Internet software be redesigned to facilitate eavesdropping. Internet broadband providers? Yes. We can not stress enough, Everything! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE THEY REVISED CALEA? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Too many times, do not bother keeping track, you will lose count. DOES IT MATTER? No, of course not. In fact, CALEA is more an Idea then is it an act that must be required for everyone to cooperate. Originally it was for call forwarding, call waiting and cellular phones, then there was VoIP (people are still hopeful that CALEA will not catch up) but as the future of telephony it is too late. Now today we are dealing with "THE NEW CALEA" for information services for example VoIP software, internet and etc. CALEA will always find a Way. WHO CREATES THE STANDARDS FOR CALEA? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CALEA relies on industry to set standards, not law enforcement. There are many Key players here such as Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), CableLabs with their Standard "PacketCable" (Many companies are using it) and Companies like Fiducianet for the sole purpose of helping companies become CALEA-COMPLIANT, just to name a few. There is another option "8.3 Alternative compliance with CALEA capability requirements" if your not satified with the current standards just as long as you meet all the requirements. WHAT ARE THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1. Intercept communications 2. Access call-identifying information 3. Deliver information and communications to law enforcement 4. Provide privacy of interception without the caller's knowledge 5. Provide interception assistance for mobile services that allow subscribers to redirect or assign their communications to another service area or another service provider 6. Decryption capability 7. Monitoring on TSP premise during emergency by allowing monitoring at its premises if it is the only means of interception or access 8. Specific industry design is not required: specific design of equipment, facilities, services, features, or system configurations to intercept (easy access). And extra services never covered in CALEA such as Cell phones being used as tracking devices, just 1 of many. HOW LONG TO COMPLY? - - - - - - - - - - - About 18 months. Can not make it? Use the "safe harbor" provision (no one does) but just in case, TIA has developed an interim standard for wireline, cellular, and broadband PCS carriers (J-STD-025) that satisfies the CALEA safe harbor provision. Don't forget, Prohibit further extensions - FCC can grant extensions of time if compliance was not reasonably achievable but would grant carriers a one time extension and then deny the possibility of any further extensions. DO COMPANIES GET HELP COMPLYING? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Only in funding with the DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER COMPLIANCE FUND Payments just enough for all the modifications made and termination of the fund once all the expenses are paid for. All that's left is for the U.S. Governement approve it or not. Most of the CALEA standards are part of a law enforcement-industry collaboration like CableLabs with PacketCable. CAN YOU EVADE COMPLYING TO CALEA? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Never. Whenever Law Enforcement can not intercept every kind of Communication System it will always be a matter of "National Security" as they love calling it. After 9/11 CALEA is apt for the ideals of the Patriot Act. All kinds Companies are receiving more and more pressure to comply. U.S. companies are forced to comply but some foreign companies will be approached sooner or later if they haven't already. Contries like Untied Kingdom, Australia, etc are open to CALEA. There are always ways such as Skype not being a U.S. company yet Ebay (U.S) has acquired it. Hence, subject to U.S. laws, but it does not stop there. Any voice communication that goes through U.S. infrastructure must be CALEA compliant! Just a matter of TIME. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU TRY TO EVADE CALEA? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fined $10,000 per day in U.S., In Australia, fine is $10 million (US $7 million) per day! Or to be blunt, they will give you hell. If you plan to profit off of your service or product, get out now. This is the Business world, you have to do what you have to do to stay in it. IS CALEA A NEW CONCEPT? - - - - - - - - - - - - - In No way is it new. In 1968, there was Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act with specific rules on surveillance of electronic communications. In 1970, Congress, mandated that a court could order a phone company to give law enforcement "information, facilities and technical assistance" needed to accomplish interception due to the FBI's lack of technical ability to install and monitor wiretaps. Law enforcement would have to compensate the phone company for expenses in providing that help. Now, it has never been easier. THE NEW CALEA - - - - - - - - March 10, 2004, DOJ, FBI & DEA filed a "Joint Petition for Expedited Rulemaking" in which they requested certain steps to accelerate CALEA compliance. Petition mainly involved extending the provisions of CALEA to cover communications that travel over the internet. Which resulted FCC issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking entitled "In the Matter of CALEA and Broadband Access and Services" on August 9, 2004. As of February 2005, this amendment to CALEA is still under consideration. We are sure what will happen. This is just to satisfy certain people, lawyers, businessman and etc. To have it on paper and to make it Official. WHY DID WE WRITE THIS GUIDE AND CREATE CAMELOID? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To show people how far we all let things get such as CALEA. The technology of how we all communication is always everchanging but there is always a way for CALEA to apply to all forms of communication. Companies will comply if they wish to continue profiting off the Communications business. Which is why people should be skeptical of companies that offer encrytion. It will not make sense when you can verify these companies are CALEA-COMPLIANT (you must provide Decryption capability). Cell phones are a great example of this. It they do not state they are compliant then why are they not being hasseled by Law? People insist on trusting Skype just because they say they use Encryption, there is no proof of this claim. Yet, 8 million people use it, but there are now subject to CALEA. We build Cameloid in order for People to see it for them selves. You make your own judgement. Because there is no such thing as privacy anymore.