April EFFector ONline DIGITAL TELEPH

############                        ##########      Volume 2 Number 8

############                        ##########         April 17, 1992

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|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|                 EFFector

|                                          |                   ONline

|            DIGITAL TELEPHONY             |                         

|         The FBI/DOJ Initiative:          |              eff@eff.org

|             An EFF Editorial             |                         

|                                          |        155 Second Street

|           ISDN YOU CAN AFFORD            |      Cambridge, MA 02141

|      A Report from the EFF/ISDN Lab      |           (617) 864-0665

|                                          |                         

|                                          |  666 Pennsylvania Ave.SE

|                                          |    Washington, DC  20003

|                                          |           (202) 544-9237

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                       REACH OUT AND TAP SOMEONE?

                              An Editorial

                   By Mike Godwin (mnemonic@eff.org)

You can imagine how difficult the invention of the telephone made law

enforcement in the late 19th and early 20th century. Prior to the spread

of telephone networks, criminals had to meet *in person* to conspire.

law-enforcement agents would often be tipped off that something was up.

Once the telephone became widespread, however, it became possible for

criminals to plan crimes without being in the same place--without even

being in the same town! The advent of telecommunications had made

understand, if not entirely sympathize with, a law-enforcement agent in

By the same token, we can understand the motivations of FBI Director

William Sessions, who, along with the Department of Justice, wants to

technology from making wiretaps more difficult. But that doesn't mean we

burden of making wiretaps feasible from the government to the phone

companies (and to other electronic communications providers such as

CompuServe, Prodigy, and small BBSs). Considered as a whole, this

nitiative is based on false technological premises and questionable

The initiative,called "Digital Telephony," would "require providers of

electronic communications services and private branch exchanges to

ensure that the Government's ability to lawfully intercept

communications is unimpeded by the introduction of advanced digital

telecommunications technology or any other telecommunications

technology." The initiative would also require that changes or additions

n communications software or hardware be paid for through increased

telecommunications system done under the initiative would be

administered by the Federal Communications Commission (in cooperation

authority of this section shall be closed to the public." In effect, the

FCC would compel and supervise the incorporation of wiretapping software

and hardware into the upgraded digital telephone system. And, if the

Attorney General wished it, this action could take place without public

On the technology side, telephone experts question the Justice

Department's assertion that "the emergence of digital telecommunications

technology will preclude the FBI and all of law enforcement from being

able to intercept electronic communications[,] thus all but eliminating

a statutorily sanctioned, court authorized and extraordinarily

mpossible; at most, say some experts, wiretapping of digital lines may

be more difficult. And it should be noted that digital telephone service

s already in place at many sites, yet Director Sessions told Congress

Justice Department eager to impose upon communications providers the

obligation to build in wiretapping capability? One possible explanation

lies in last year's effort by the Department of Justice (in S.  266) to

expand government authority to compel phone-companies to "ensure that

communications systems permit the government to obtain the plain text

contents of voice, data, and other communications when appropriately

authorized by law." On its face, this language would have outlawed the

could not decrypt those communications into their "plain text contents."

Far more than digital telephone service itself, encryption poses the

mmensely difficult if not impossible. Talk to law enforcement personnel

about the increasing use of commercial encryption, since it would give

criminals the potential to make their communications, even when

ntercepted, impossible to read. But for the same reason, noncriminal

uses of encryption are also growing--businesses and individuals have

valid reasons for wanting to keep their communications private. That's

last year and managed to get it killed.

That coalition might have had a harder time, however, if the FBI and the

Justice Department had already passed their Digital Telephony

nitiative.  If this initiative had already been in place, the

*protect the phone companies' investment in built-in wiretapping

capability*. "You've already required the phone companies to build in

you ensure that the intercepted communications are readable."

This hypothetical case underscores the philosophical problems civil

libertarians have with the Digital Telephony initiative. Historically,

enforcement, the government has coped with those problems by developing

advances in its own investigatory techniques. For example, when

telephone systems made it hard to monitor suspects' plans and

activities, the government didn't outlaw telephones--it learned how to

mplement wiretaps.  Until now, U.S. law-enforcement agencies normally

And that's what they should be doing in response to whatever new

s coordinating a coalition of privacy and civil-liberties groups and

computer, communications, and telephone companies -- a coalition ranging

from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and the ACLU to

believe, the government has no business compelling the phone companies

to turn our communications networks into surveillance systems.

                       -==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-

                          THE SWITCHED CIRCUIT

      Number 1:  Reasonable ISDN Rates Available In Massachusetts

                    A Report from the EFF's ISDN Lab

   By Christopher Davis  and Helen Rose 

This is the first in a series of reports from the EFF's new ISDN Lab,

Telephone, along with as many different kinds of ISDN hardware as we can

We recently attended a seminar on ISDN given by New England Telephone

for the benefit of telecommunications consultants.  Though they focused

market focus for offering the residential service is the work-at-home or

"telecommuting" population, but the residential service is not crippled

n any way.

The prices for ISDN services are encouraging. First and foremost, they

are affordable. This is *not* the gold-plated offering we've seen from

circuit- switched voice, data, or voice/data B channel) and monthly

$5 for data or voice/data B channels.  (Packet switched connections at

either high or low speed are more expensive, however.)

One very nice feature is that NET is not charging the usual monthly

actually *cheaper* than the two voice lines many people have in order to

make data calls while leaving their "normal" line free.  Though you

can't order two of the same type of B channel, the voice/data channel

can be used for either voice or data on a per call basis.This allows you

to order a voice channel and a voice/data channel to get, in effect, two

voice lines while also having the ability to do circuit-switched data.

Voice calls are charged at the usual rate, so if you have unmeasured

voice service, you're not going to be stuck with measured ISDN voice

for the first minute and .016 for each additional minute; after

September 25, residential customers will pay $.026 for the first

minute), but are only available (currently) within the same central

office.  NET plans to make interoffice connections available starting

later.

connection.  This is one of the first things we'll test; if true, it

As part of the ISDN Lab, we'll be trying ISDN between our home and EFF's

Cambridge office, allowing us to test both the residential and business

offerings, and everything from straight 56/64kbps "fast modem" style

connections to AppleTalk and IP over ISDN.

As part of this effort, we will be working with several computer and

telecommunications hardware providers to try out various ISDN terminal

adapters, routing software, and the like.

electronic mail to isdnlab@eff.org.

                       -==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-

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                       -==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-

Seen in InformationLeak:

       "We did Windows applications, but we didn't inhale."

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