Several strong reactions to the D.C. Circuit ruling on CALEA coverage the other day.
First, the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) has put out a major study [pdf] saying that “government attempts to impose a poorly conceived wiretap surveillance regime on domestic Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone traffic could destroy American leadership in telecommunications. Such a move could stall Internet innovation, introduce new cyber security concerns, and expose hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting Americans to law enforcement surveillance.”
The study has distinguished parentage – Susan Landau, Vint Cerf, Whit Diffie, Steve Bellovin, Matt Blaze, and others.
Second, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) (of which I am a proud Policy Fellow) says that the CALEA decision is a “major setback for civil liberties.” Their full analysis is here. CDT notes that, quite apart from its many legal weaknesses, the ruling leaves unanswered how exactly we're supposed to define “call-identifying information” on the internet.
For Tony Rutkowski's reaction, see his comment.