Feds want backdoors built into VoIP and email

[Peaches]

Feds want backdoors built into VoIP and email

Warn of investigations 'going dark'

Developers of email, instant-messaging and voice-over-internet-protocol applications would be forced to redesign their services so their contents can be intercepted by law enforcement agents armed with legal wiretap orders under federal legislation reported on Monday by The New York Times.

The legislation would, among other things, require cellphone carriers, websites and other types of service providers to have a way to unscramble encrypted communications traveling over their networks, the report said. It specifically mentions companies such as Research in Motion and Skype, which are popular in part because their cellular communications and VoIP services respectively are widely regarded as offering robust encryption that's impractical if not impossible for government agents to crack.

Read more here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/27/encryption_backdoor_legislation/

[Peaches]

Feds eye plan to make Internet snooping easier

The Obama Administration is reportedly considering a statute that would make it easier for federal authorities to intercept communications over Facebook, Skype and BlackBerry -- an idea that's stoking anxiety within the privacy community.

The measure would force Internet companies that provide communications services to add in capabilities allowing federal authorities to intercept any messages on their networks, and to unscramble encrypted ones, the New York Times reported today.

The idea is being driven by law enforcement authorities worried that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is being eroded as more communications take place online rather than by phone.

A bill outlining the requirements could go to lawmakers sometime next year, the Times said.

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