Hi All,
Sigh. More law enforcement fun due next week.
As you all know by now, we had to file an FCC form 445 a couple of weeks
ago. That was a form telling the FCC how we're doing at becoming CALEA
compliant. Now we have to tell them what our policies will be when we're
hit with a CALEA action. That's what Monday's filing is all about.
WISPA has worked on this issue with telecom attorney Kris Twomey. He's
worked with us WISPs for a long time and ran a plan past the WISPA board for
SSI procedures. We're recommending Kris' handbook as either your policy or
a starting point for one of your own.
If you want Kris to help you you'll have to send him the following
information:
Full company info.
example:
Marlon K. Schafer dBa Odessa Office Equipment
box 489
107 S. 1st Street
Odessa Wa. 99159
(509) 982-2181
Primary contact:
Marlon K. Schafer
office line
cell phone
pager
Alternate contact:
Hours available:
24/7 as cell phone coverage allows
Etc.
Kris has worked out a great platform for this. The cost to have him file
for you is $250. If you are a WISPA member it's $100. You'll have until
March 12 to join
WISPA and get the WISPA rate...
Here's Kris' explanation of what this is and his contact info. Please
direct questions directly to Kris as I don't know enough about this to
answer any :-)
First a little background. About a year ago, the FCC required all
facilities-based broadband and VoIP providers to ensure that they are
"CALEA compliant" by May 14, 2007. CALEA stands for Communications for
Law Enforcement Act, and previously only applied to telecommunications
carriers selling traditional voice services. The FCC and FBI are
worried about the ability of bad guys and terrorists to use advanced
communications methods to avoid detection, resulting in this expansion
of CALEA.
There has been much discussion as to which companies are caught in this
requirement. WISPs are considered facilities-based providers because
WISPs build, manage, and control infrastructure used to provide
broadband to consumers. This is distinct from traditional ISPs that
purchase DSL transport from their local ILEC and sell DSL. Those ISPs
are not covered by CALEA, instead, their ILEC is responsible for
maintaining CALEA-compliant equipment. WISPs, however, are indeed
required to become CALEA compliant. WISPA and several vendors are
pursuing technical solutions for the WISP industry to adopt that will
meet this CALEA requirement.
In the meantime, the FCC established interim deadlines as part of the
CALEA compliance verification process. By February 12, 2007, all WISPs
should have filed a FCC Form 445 to alert the FCC as to the progress of
upgrading equipment to be CALEA compliant. By March 12, 2007, all WISPs
must file a "System Security and Integrity" Plan. The SSI Plan sets out
the policies and procedures that WISPs agree to follow when receiving
either a CALEA or Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ("FISA") traffic
interception request from a law enforcement agency. The SSI also
identifies the employees of the WISP to whom a law enforcement agency
should contact with an interception request. The SSI that I drafted will
provide the FCC with proof that the filer has CALEA procedures in place.
It can also be used as a "best practices guide" for how WISPs should
handle requests from law enforcement agencies, paperwork requirements,
and record storage retention. The FCC has authorized fines of $10,000
per day for non-compliance, so this isn't just an annoying FCC request
that can be ignored.
As counsel to WISPA, I have created a template SSI Plan that satisfies
FCC requirements for WISPs. I am offering to file the SSI Plans for
WISPA members for the discounted fee of $100 each. Non-WISPA members may
also take advantage of a reasonable rate for filing of $250; only active
WISPA members get the discounted rate. I heard from one (new) client
that a large law firm quoted them a price of $7500 to make the filing. I
think that's unreasonable, borderline unethical, and is an example of
the type of business practice that led me to start my own firm five
years ago. Please feel free to pass this information along to anybody
that might be interested.
Kris
__________________
Kristopher E. Twomey
Telecom/Internet Law and Regulatory Consulting
www.lokt.net
Marlon
(509) 982-2181 Equipment sales
(408) 907-6910 (Vonage) Consulting services
42846865 (icq) And I run my own wisp!
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.odessaoffice.com/wireless
www.odessaoffice.com/marlon/cam
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