Government Affairs Blog
September 17, 2015
THE FTC’S AUTHORITY TO REGULATE CYBER SECURITY
A recent federal court pronouncement significantly impacted industry’s obligation to maintain cyber security. Here is what communication service providers need to know.
August 15, 2015
ANOTHER LAWSUIT BY AN INTERNET GIANT AGAINST A POLICE SEARCH OF COMMUNICATION RECORDS
Communication service providers have traditionally maintained a healthy skepticism towards law enforcement requests for subscriber information. An important part of the service provider’s job is to protect subscriber privacy.
On the other hand, certain Internet giants have increasingly refused to comply with law enforcement search warrants, subpoenas, and other instruments of due process. Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and others have raised a variety of novel objections to the legal demands and defiantly filed court appeals even after losing repeatedly before lower-court judges. They have also made a habit of filing friend-of-the-court briefs, called “amicus briefs,” in each other’s judicial battles against criminal investigators.
July 20, 2015
IMPLICATIONS OF THE LATEST ANNUAL WIRETAP REPORT
Every July the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts reports on the wiretaps conducted by the government in the prior year. The annual wiretap report makes the public aware of the surveillance performed in their name. It also provides guidance for communications service providers, whose networks facilitate the activities.
What does the 2014 Wiretap Report reveal about the communications industry’s role in the surveillance process?
June 4, 2015
IMPACT OF THE USA FREEDOM ACT ON THE U.S. TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY
On June 2nd Congress enacted the USA Freedom Act, and the president signed it into law. The purpose of the Act was to scale back the National Security Agency’s bulk domestic metadata collection program, known as the “Section 215 Program,” and subject it to stricter privacy controls. As a result, the Act will reduce industry’s burden to assist the Section 215 Program.
May 4, 2015
WHEN MAY A COMMUNICATION SERVICE PROVIDER REFUSE TO COMPLY WITH A SUBPOENA?
Communication service providers are frequently served with subpoenas from law enforcement agencies and civil litigants seeking information on communication service subscribers. A subscriber’s billing records can reveal valuable evidence about his or her activities. Generally speaking, if the subpoena validly requests records in the service provider’s possession, the provider must disclose them.
However, the recent case of Hadeed Carpet Cleaning, Inc. shows that if a service provider receives a civil subpoena in one state but maintains the targeted records in another state, it may have grounds to reject the due process request based on a lack of jurisdiction.