US VoIP, broadband must be wiretap-friendly

Today was the deadline for that compliance, as Wired's Threat Level blog points out. Universities have been especially vocal in their opposition to CALEA, arguing that it will prove incredibly expensive to install, monitor, and maintain all the required gear and software. In an effort to make it easier and cheaper, the federal government has allowed schools to route all of their traffic through a Trusted Third Party who will take care of all the monitoring issues.

The government sees this as a mere extension of its existing wiretap authority to a new medium. Criminals shouldn't get a free pass, so the argument goes, simply because they're smart enough to switch to Skype.

Judicial oversight of the taps remains in place, and a judge is still required to sign off on every wiretap, though this may come as cold comfort to those opposed to the CALEA expansion; in 2006, no judge turned down a wiretap request.