Communications act deals with electronic surveillance

Although initially expected to cost college campuses billions in federally mandated computer upgrades, higher education experts now believe the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which makes it easier for law enforcement to eavesdrop on electronic communication and Internet phone calls, won’t severely impact post-secondary institutions after all.

Oregon State University will wait to make any changes to its Internet connection until it’s clear how CALEA applies to universities, according to OSU administrators.

“We believe we are a private network and are not subject to CALEA,” said Jon Dolan, assistant director for network services at OSU.

Although CALEA makes electronic surveillance easier and less expensive for the government, in part by forcing college campuses to upgrade computer networks, students won’t live in an Orwellian world where their every instant message is intercepted, officials said.

Students, however, aren’t so sure.

“This is definitely a concern because we’ve already seen instances where wiretapping has occurred so-called unconstitutionally. Worrying about (CALEA) doesn’t just affect students but everybody who uses this type of communication technology,” said Stacy Thomsen, a senior majoring in political science.

Thomsen, executive secretary of Associated Students of OSU, said most students take their privacy for granted, and they might be concerned to learn that the Federal Communications Commission is making it easier for the federal government to snoop.

She acknowledged, however, that electronic surveillance can serve a valuable role in law enforcement, such as catching pedophiles who prey on youth via MySpace and other online sites.

Meanwhile, CALEA still requires law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant to conduct surveillance.

Federal electronic surveillance law typically requires a court order issued by a judge who must decide there is probable cause to believe that a crime has been, is being or is about to be committed. Wiretaps can also be ordered in suspected cases of terrorist bombings, hijackings and other violent activities. The government can wiretap in advance of a crime being perpetrated.

Last week, however, a federal judge in Detroit, Mich., ruled that the National Security Agency cannot continue to monitor Americans’ phone calls and e-mail to terror suspects overseas without warrants. President Bush said that his administration will appeal the ruling.

CALEA became an issue last September, when the FCC exercised a provision of the 1994 act that allows for future technological advances to be included under its purview.

The FCC decided to require colleges and universities to modify their computer networks to enhance the ability of agencies such as the FBI and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to monitor electronic communication on campus.

EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association concerned with the use of information technology in higher education, initially priced the mandated upgrades in the billions, and feared that students might be forced to shoulder some of the burden through tuition increases.

The American Council on Education contested the FCC’s interpretation of CALEA in the U.S Court of Appeals.

The court came down on the side of the FCC, but clarified that CALEA only applies to providers of public facilities-based Internet access or voice-over-Internet providers. OSU and most other universities consider themselves private networks, and therefore exempt from CALEA.

OSU owns its broadband network. Access is primarily limited to students, faculty and staff, although a few locations on campus, such as the Memorial Union and the Valley Library, have terminals where the public can go online.

CALEA could apply to OSU where the university’s Intranet and Internet meet, so OSU might have to upgrade the edges of its network. Dolan doesn’t know yet how much that would cost OSU.

Cisco Systems, the vendor that provides network services equipment to OSU and other state universities, is working with the FBI to make the necessary modifications, according to George Pernsteiner, Oregon University System chancellor.

The Network for Education and Research in Oregon, which links some OUS institutions, school districts and state agencies, might also require upgrades to meet CALEA standards by next May’s deadline.

In March, Pernsteiner sent a letter to the FCC chairman asking him to reconsider expanding CALEA’s scope.

“While the OUS recognizes the need for law enforcement agencies to investigate, as efficiently as possible, the electronic communication of criminals and terrorists, the expansion of CALEA ... creates a significant financial burden for colleges and universities,” Pernsteiner wrote.

“Installing the network equipment at OUS institutions needed to comply with CALEA requirements by April 2007 will cost tens of millions of dollars at a time when we are struggling to make higher education more affordable to prospective students.”

After the appellate court’s ruling, the price tag facing universities as they consider what — if any — modifications their networks will require has been slashed.

“This seems a much more reasonable, doable approach,” Pernsteiner said.

Mary Ann Albright covers higher education. She can be reached at maryann.albright@lee.net or 758-9518.