I'd like to add my own brief CALEA comments and concerns. Out of respect
for the "maximum of 5 posts per day" proposal, I'll keep it short.
I'm thinking that extending CALEA to small WISPs without compensating
them for their costs has more to do with "the big fish eating the little
fish" than it has to do with "national security" or "fighting crime".
It also has a lot to do with Big Brother's quest for efficient control
of the citizenry. It's much easier for government overseers to deal with
a few big businesses than it is for them to deal with thousands of small
businesses.
I also can't help but wonder who owns the TTPs. Heck, if some of those
are government "front" companies or owned by friends of people already
installed in the Justice Department or the CIA, wouldn't that make
illegal information gathering (for business or political purposes) even
easier?
But that's only my 2 cents worth... and I could be wrong.
I'd like to hear the FCC response to Rep. Bart Stupak's request to waive
the CALEA regulations for small broadband providers, as described in the
following link.
http://www.wispa.org/?p=21
In addition, this next link provides an interesting summary of what
CALEA means to small ISPs and WISPs.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1825361/posts
jack
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I have seen numerous posts on the WISPA list indicating that a cost
effective and compliant solution for this issue was being worked on and
would become available in the near future.
I think that is wishful thinking on some people's part. When you see
companies like Cisco struggle to provide a minimum of support on a small
subset of their products you can begin to imagine the scope of the
problem. Every post I have seen where people have suggest a solution, the
suggestion only solved one specific part of CALEA. Solving part of the
problem is not enough.
I have seen numerous posts indicating that small providers should not be
concerned and that attaining CALEA compliance would not put them out of
business.
I would argue that small providers should be very concerned. Not just
about CALEA, but a concerted effort on the part of large telcos to ruin
competition through seemingly legimate public safety issues.
The facts remain that our business model currently is profitable and we
are
providing a valuable service in a rural area. The added costs of CALEA
compliance jeopardize our ability to continue providing service. Who
needs
to explain to the hundreds of happy customers I currently service in a
rural
community that they no longer have high speed internet and don’t have an
alternative broadband solution?
Unfortunately, many consumers will lose as small companies go under. This
won't be the first policy that is designed for the good of the many as
opposed to the few. It isn't fair, but it is done.
If someone has better information on how a small ISP can become CALEA
compliant in a cost effective manner, please contact me as I am all ears.
If there is better information or a defined solution being presented on
the
WISPA member list, I am more than willing to pay membership dues to access
it. If there isn’t a better solution being discussed there, I would just
as
well save the due money as it will probably not be long before we are out
of
business or sell to a larger competitor and the membership will be
useless.
I personally do not believe that any CALEA can be cost effective. Quite
simply, solving CALEA requires spending money without earning any
additional revenue. The only way to justify the CALEA expense is to accept
it as a cost of doing business. This means simply that your market
opportunity is lost if you aren't CALEA compliant. I firmly believe every
service provider should have plans for being CALEA compliant or have plans
for exiting the business. This one is different than E911; the liability
will be staggering.
-Matt
--
Jack Unger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) - President, Ask-Wi.Com, Inc.
FCC License # PG-12-25133
Serving the Broadband Wireless Industry Since 1993
Author of the WISP Handbook - "Deploying License-Free Wireless WANs"
True Vendor-Neutral Wireless Consulting-Training-Troubleshooting
FCC Part 15 Certification Assistance for Wireless Service Providers
Phone (VoIP Over Broadband Wireless) 818-227-4220 www.ask-wi.com
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