I can say via firsthand knowledge that CALEA requests are definitely happening and are not even that rare, proportional to a reasonably sized subscriber-base. It would be unlawful for me to comment specifically on any actual CALEA requests, however. But if you have general questions about my observations, feel free to reach out directly.
-MJ On Thu, May 12, 2016 at 11:28 AM, Brian Mengel <[email protected]> wrote: > My comments were strictly limited to my understanding of CALEA as it > applied to ISPs, not telcos. A request for a lawful intercept can entail > mirroring a real time stream of all data sent to/from a customer's Internet > connection (cable modem/DSL/dedicated Ethernet) to a LEA. AFAIK this > requires mediation before being sent to the LEA and it is the mediation > server itself that initiates the intercept when so configured by the ISP. > Perhaps some LEAs have undertaken the mediation function so as to > facilitate these intercepts where the neither the ISP nor a third party can > do so. If that were the case then very little would be needed on the part > of the ISP in order to comply with a request for lawful intercept. I can > say with certainty that these types of requests are being made of broadband > ISPs though I agree that they are very rare. > > On Wed, May 11, 2016 at 2:58 PM, Ricky Beam <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Tue, 10 May 2016 17:00:54 -0400, Brian Mengel <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > > AFAIK being able to do a lawful intercept on a specific, named, > >> individual's service has been a requirement for providers since 2007. > >> > > > > It's been required for longer than that. The telco I worked for over a > > decade ago didn't build the infrastructure until the FCC said they were > > going to stop funding upgrades. That really got 'em movin'. (suddenly > "data > > services" people -- i.e. ME -- weren't redheaded stepchildren.) > > > > have never heard of a provider, big or small, being called out for being > >> unable to provide this service when requested. > >> > > > > Where existing infrastructure is not already in place (read: > T1/BRI/etc.), > > the telco can take up to 60 days to get that setup. I know more than one > > telco that used that grace period to actually setup CALEA in the first > > place. > > > > did not perform intercepts routinely. > >> > > > > The historic published figures (i've not looked in years) suggest CALEA > > requests are statistically rare. The NC based telco I worked for had > never > > received an order in the then ~40yr life of the company. > > > > The mediation server needed to "mediate" between your customer > aggregation > >> box and the LEA is not inexpensive. > >> > > > > And also is not the telco's problem. Mediation is done by the LEA or 3rd > > party under contract to any number of agencies. For example, a telco tap > > order would mirror the control and voice traffic of a POTS line (T1/PRI > > channel, etc.) into a BRI or specific T1 channel. (dialup was later > added, > > but wasn't required in my era, so we didn't support it.) We used to test > > that by tapping a tech's phone. Not having any mediation software, all I > > could do is "yeap, it's sending data" and listen to the voice channels > on a > > t-berd. > > > > --Ricky > > > >
