US colleges oppose system upgrade
Then US federal government , vastly extending the reach of an 11-year-old law, is
requiring
universities , online
communications companies and cities to overhaul their internet networks to make it easier for law enforcement authorities to monitor e-mail and other online communications.
The action, which the government says is intended to help catch terrorists and other criminals, has unleashed protests and the threat of lawsuits from universities, which argue that it will cost them at least $7 billion doing little to apprehend lawbreakers. Because the government would have to win court orders before undertaking surveillance , the universities are not raising civil liberties issues.
The order, issued by the Federal Communications Commission in August and first published in the Federal Register last week, extends the provisions of a 1994 wiretap law not only to universities, but also to libraries, airports providing wireless service and commercial internet access providers .So far, however , universities have been most vocal in their opposition.
The 1994 law, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, requires telephone carriers to engineer their switching system at their own cost so that federal agents can obtain easy surveillance access. Recognising the growth of internet-based telephone and other communications, the order requires that organizations like universities providing internet access also comply with the law by spring 2007.
The Federal Communications Commission says it is considering whether to exempt educational institutions from some of the Law’s provisions , but it has not granted an extension for compliance.
Lawyers for the American Council on Education, the nation’s largest association of universities and colleges, are preparing to appeal the order before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Terry W Hartle, a senior vice president of the Council said.
The Center for Democracy and Technology , a civil liberties group, has enlisted plaintiffs for a separate legal challenge, focusing on objections to government control over organizations.