CTIA Hails D.C. Federal Court of Appeals Decision on CALEA; Wireless industry wins in effort to protect consumer privacy.Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 15, 2000 The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association See TIA. (body, standard) Telecommunications Industry Association - (TIA) An association that sets standards for communications cabling. Cables that TIA set standards for include: EIA/TIA-568A and EIA/TIA-568B category three, four and five cable. today applauded the D.C. Federal Court of Appeals decision in which the court ruled that the FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. must use a narrower legal standard in interpreting CALEA CALEA Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (Fairfax, Virginia) CALEA Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 CALEA Communication Assistance to Low Enforcement Act . "We have consistently and reliably cooperated with law enforcement in their efforts and we will continue to support lawful court-ordered intercepts," said Tom Wheeler, President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of CTIA (1) See CompTIA. (2) (Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, Washington, DC, www.ctia.org, www.wow-com.com) A membership organization founded in 1984 that is involved with regulatory and public affairs issues in the wireless industry. . "But, the FBI's attempts to expand its wiretapping A form of eavesdropping involving physical connection to the communications channels to breach the confidentiality of communications. For example, many poorly-secured buildings have unprotected telephone wiring closets where intruders may connect unauthorized wires to listen in on phone capabilities through CALEA has been nothing more than a massive power grab, going well beyond current law without the consent of Congress. This ruling truly vindicates Congress's efforts to protect the privacy rights of wireless consumers. With this ruling, wireless customers will have the same protection under the laws as wireline users." The D.C. Federal Court of Appeals ruled that the FBI must achieve the highest legal standards in order to examine "packet" data, which includes digital information sent over wireless phones, such as e-mail. This portion of the ruling may make illegal the FBI's newest data searching tool, Carnivore carnivore (kär`nəvôr'), term commonly applied to any animal whose diet consists wholly or largely of animal matter. In animal systematics it refers to members of the mammalian order Carnivora (see Chordata). . Today's ruling also returned the industry's entire punch list to the FCC for a second ruling using a stricter legal interpretation. By removing dialed digit extraction, a punch list item, from the FBI's powers, consumers who enter private data such as calling card numbers, credit card numbers or any other type of information using the phone's keypad will also be protected. The Court supported the Commission's requirement of carriers to make available to law enforcement the location of the cellular antenna which handled the call. CTIA had not contested this previous ruling. CTIA has led the way in vigorously defending the rights of consumers since the FBI made its capability and capacity requests in 1996. Since then, CTIA has worked in good faith within the process to insure that law enforcement does not unlawfully expand its wiretapping capabilities in the wireless field. In April of 1998, CTIA first brought suit against the Justice Department and the FBI, arguing that they had exceed their authority under CALEA. CTIA is the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry. http://www.WOW-COM.com |
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