FBI to wiretap iChat, Xbox Live etc

[diamond geezer]

link (http://microsoft.gamerfeed.com:80/gf/news/6011/)

FBI Wants Access to Xbox Live
By Mike Viscel -- Staff Writer
Published 5:03 PM CDT, April 2, 2004

The FBI proposes that they be allowed to wiretap Xbox Live communications...

Today it was learned that the FBI has made a proposal to the FCC that would require all Internet Providers to rewire their current system in order to make wiretapping accessible to the FBI. Experts claim that if the new proposal were to pass, MSN Messenger, Xbox Live and any voice over Internet protocol would be accessible for wiretapping.

The 85-page document that was submitted to the FCC would require all companies to build a "back door" for the FBI to monitor chatting. New services that did not offer a "back door" would become illegal and old services, such as Xbox Live, would have 15 months to comply.

"The importance and the urgency of this task cannot be overstated," says the proposal, which is also backed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration. "The ability of federal, state and local law enforcement to carry out critical electronic surveillance is being compromised today."

The situation is said to be taken seriously by the FCC. Last month, FCC Chairman Michael Powell stressed that "law enforcement access to IP-enabled communications is essential" and that police must have "access to communications infrastructure they need to protect our nation."
»*Mike Viscel**

[Backtothemac]

What would be the problem with this? They would still have to get a wire tap approved through the courts. So what do you have issue with?

[pseudobrit]

What would be the problem with this? They would still have to get a wire tap approved through the courts. So what do you have issue with?

My issue would be that a backdoor would likely be accessible to hackers.

IIRC, under PATRIOT ACT they wouldn't need a warrant to surveille your communications.

[Thanatoast]

everybody got their newspeak dictionaries handy?

[mactastic]

My issue would be that a backdoor would likely be accessible to hackers.


Are your phone lines not vulnerable to wiretapping by a physical 'hacker' right now?

[Backtothemac]

My issue would be that a backdoor would likely be accessible to hackers.

IIRC, under PATRIOT ACT they wouldn't need a warrant to surveille your communications.

I thought under the Patriot Act they still have to obtain a court order.

[zimv20]

I thought under the Patriot Act they still have to obtain a court order.
there are certain activities exempted from the need to acquire one. iirc, the FBI (and other agencies?) can obtain credit reports w/o one. one is still needed to enter your home, but the provision of informing you it was done has been removed.

i believe the pseudo is correct -- electronic eavesdropping is also exempted. further, your ISP is forbidden from telling you it happened.

[pseudobrit]

Are your phone lines not vulnerable to wiretapping by a physical 'hacker' right now?

It's a lot harder to wiretap for real than to sit at a terminal in Singapore and listen in on a converstaion taking place halfway around the globe.

[mactastic]

It's a lot harder to wiretap for real than to sit at a terminal in Singapore and listen in on a converstaion taking place halfway around the globe.

Think about that for a second. Ok, sure you actually have to make a physical trip to the location. But it's all in your skill set. I personally find it MUCH easier to physically wiretap someone than to figure out the code-monkey skills I'd need to hack into some program. With the right equipment I could sneak over to my neighbors house and tap it while they are gone.

BTW, do you ever talk on a cordless phone? :D

Oh, and it's not that I don't agree with you on the privacy issue, I just think the vulnerability to exploitation by skilled persons is not the strongest foot to put forward here. As the president asserts, the ability to communicate privately is essential. Unfortunately he feels it only applies to him.