july06c.indd


Ber nadette Murphy W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n e  

CALEA appeals court ruling and libraries 
On June 9, a DC circuit court of appeals 
ruled against ALA, ARL, ACRL and a coalition 
of universities, public interest groups, and 
businesses to oppose an August 2005 ruling 
by the Federal Communications Commission 
(FCC). In that ruling, the FCC extended the 
1994 Communications Assistance for Law 
Enforcement Act (CALEA) to the Internet. 

What is CALEA? 
Passed by Congress in 1994, CALEA requires 
telecommunications carriers to ensure that 
their communications equipment, facilities 
and services are capable of conducting real­
time electronic surveillance. Carriers have 
to be able to intercept the content of com­
munications, acquire related call­identifying 
information and deliver both to law enforce­
ment premises without the knowledge of 
the target of the surveillance. Under the FCC 
order, CALEA requirements now also apply 
to broadband Internet access and voice over 
Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. 

Are libraries covered by the FCC Order? 
The FCC found it not to be in the public in­
terest at this time to extend CALEA to librar­
ies that procure broadband Internet directly 
through a commercial Internet Service Pro­
vider. However, many libraries obtain Inter­
net access through local and regional library 
networks, or other private networks. The 
FCC cryptically stated that to the extent these 
networks are interconnected with a public 
network like the Internet, providers of the 
facilities that support the connection of the 
private network to a public network are sub­
ject to CALEA. Thus, it is possible that librar­
ies or their private network connections still 
could be subject to CALEA obligations. The 
FCC’s Order does not address specifi cally the 
exact interconnection point in the network 
that would be subject to compliance. 

Bernadette Murphy is communications specialist at ALA’s 
Washington Offi  ce, e-mail: bmurphy@alawash.org 

What exactly is required if libraries 
must comply? 
The precise technical requirements have not 
been determined. Library groups are con­
cerned that routers and other equipment that 
support broadband connection to the Inter­
net would have to be upgraded to provide 
wiretap capabilities at the library’s own cost. 
In addition, entities that are covered must 
provide 24/7 security personnel to receive 
and implement wiretap orders. Wiretaps 
must be performed with the affi rmative in­
tervention of service provider staff so it can 
fairly be concluded that libraries will have 
to train personnel on the receipt of surveil­
lance orders and their implementation. To 
the extent that library network operators are 
covered, similar upgrades and administrative 
procedures would have to be implemented. 

What comes next? 
In a statement, ALA President­elect Leslie 
Burger said that the library groups “will evalu­
ate our options for appeal and reconsidera­
tion. While libraries are pleased with the fact 
that CALEA does not extend to their operations 
today, we continue to be concerned with the 
logic and reasoning of the court upholding 
the FCC’s order and its implications for library 
Internet­based services tomorrow.” 

Where can these CALEA orders and 
other information be found? 
For more information on CALEA and librar­
ies, visit the ALA CALEA page at www.ala. 
org/ala/washoff/WOissues/techinttele/ca­
lea/calea.htm. A collection of FCC orders 
and law enforcement filings are online at 
www.askcalea.ne, and all comments and 
FCC orders filed in this matter can be found 
on the FCC Web site at www.fcc.gov/cgb/ 
ecfs/. Select search for filed comments, and 
enter the proceeding number 04­295 in the 
search form template. The comments, docu­
ments and FCC orders will be returned in 
chronological order. 

C&RL News July/August 2006  434 

www.fcc.gov/cgb
http:www.askcalea.ne
mailto:bmurphy@alawash.org