CableLabs® Issues CALEA Safe Harbor Specification for Broadband Surveillance

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CableLabs issued its Cable Broadband Intercept Specification (CBIS) recently to assist cable operators and law enforcement agencies in meeting legal mandates under the federal Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). CBIS is designed to be a “safe harbor” under CALEA. Cable operators who are compliant with CBIS are, therefore, deemed to be CALEA compliant.

“With this broadband CALEA safe harbor specification, CableLabs is enabling cable service providers to assist law enforcement in its surveillance while ensuring subscriber privacy and security under the CALEA mandate,” said CableLabs President and CEO Dr. Richard R. Green.

Under CALEA, if a voice or broadband provider is not in compliance with the law, the provider could be subject to a daily fine of $10,000 until compliance is reached. CALEA, enacted in 1994, mandates that providers of communications services, which now include VoIP and broadband services, be able to isolate, pursuant to a court order or other lawful authorization, the content of a communication as well as call identifying information.

The CableLabs CBIS initiative is cable's second CALEA safe harbor. In July 2004, CableLabs issued a similar specification creating a safe harbor for PacketCable™ digital voice. This latest broadband surveillance effort began after the Federal Communications Commission May 2006 order that broadband service providers comply with the CALEA mandate.

FBI Responds to CableLabs' Release of its Cable Broadband Intercept Specification For the Cable Industry to Comply with The Communications Assistance Law Enforcement Act (CALEA)

The FBI responded to CableLabs' release of a technical specification developed to facilitate the cable industry's compliance with the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). The Cable Broadband Intercept Specification represents the cable industry's interface specifications for broadband data communication services.

“This technical specification is an important milestone in the cable industry's efforts to effectively address court-authorized law enforcement concerns,” said FBI Assistant Director Marcus Thomas of the Operational Technology Division, responsible for overseeing the FBI's CALEA implementation efforts. “Law enforcement must be able to protect the safety and security of the American public from criminals, spies, and terrorists who misuse the cable broadband communication access services to perpetrate their crimes. The FBI will continue to work with the cable industry in the refinement of this specification and development of future comprehensive solutions to address law enforcement's court-authorized needs.”

CableLabs' effort to standardize a technical solution for court-authorized electronic surveillance of broadband data communications services was initiated shortly after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) found broadband data communications services fell within the scope of CALEA.

“Much to its credit, CableLabs recognized the importance of the issue identified by the FBI and Department of Justice in its petition before the FCC and started work on this specification almost immediately. They involved us from the outset and worked hard to address our concerns in a very timely manner,” Assistant Director Thomas added.

As the FCC envisioned, CableLabs actively sought law enforcement input into its technical standard process to ensure law enforcement's court-authorized intercept needs were effectively addressed.

The FBI will continue to work closely with the industry regarding CALEA comprehensive solutions to address court-authorized law enforcement concerns.

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