Aug 8, 2005 2:45 PM

Interconnected voice-over-IP (VoIP) providers will be required to adhere to legacy telephone wiretap rules designed to help law-enforcement officials conduct surveillance activities, the Federal Communications Commission ruled last week.

Under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), legacy telephone companies have had to build their networks in a manner that gives law-enforcement agencies the ability to wiretap with relative ease. Whether generally unregulated VoIP providers should be required to adhere to CALEA and 911 regulations has been an ongoing debate for more than a year. In May, the FCC ruled that VoIP providers must provide enhanced 911 through the legacy emergency-calling system.

One caveat in the order stipulates that the CALEA mandate applies only to VoIP providers that connect calls to the public switched telephone network. Peer-to-peer VoIP providers such as Skype, Free World Dialup and Xbox are not subject to the surveillance order.

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