FCC approves Net-wiretapping taxes
update WASHINGTON—Broadband providers and Internet phone companies will have to pick up the tab for the cost of building in mandatory wiretap access for police surveillance, federal regulators ruled Wednesday. — The Federal Communications Commission …
Context & Ripple Effects
The FCC had already signaled a broader willingness to impose obligations on Internet phone services: Chairman Kevin Martin identified wider Internet-phone taxation as a priority in December 2005. The May ruling extends that regulatory posture from revenue policy to the cost of surveillance capability, placing the implementation burden on network operators rather than police agencies.
First-order effects
- Broadband providers and Internet phone companies must fund and build the mandated law-enforcement access, adding a compliance requirement to their network operations.
- Law-enforcement agencies gain access infrastructure whose construction costs are assigned to the communications providers.
Second-order effects
- Broadband and Internet-phone operators must treat surveillance access as a built-in network cost, putting pressure on service pricing and deployment budgets.
- The ruling narrows the operational distinction between traditional communications networks and Internet-based voice services by subjecting both to comparable surveillance obligations.
Third-order effects
- If the FCC continues to attach public-policy duties to Internet communications, the economics of offering network services will increasingly be shaped by regulatory compliance as well as by technology and customer demand.
The trend: Internet communications are being drawn into the regulatory framework that has long governed conventional telecom networks, including the allocation of public-safety and surveillance costs.