The FBI are worried. They're worried that they cant keep tabs on criminals like they used to thanks to the rise and rise of Voip technology. In the old days they could just hack your phone line on a whim, but now that is not the case, and they believe that the criminals are profiting from their inability to monitor them effectively.
This news may not sound particularly new - or surprising - as the FBI have been trying to find a way to legally listen in on online conversations for some time, but this is the first occasion when they have put forward new legislation to help them in their fight against potential crime.
The new proposal would mean a costly period of implementation for all Voice Over IP service providers, as they would need to alter their coding in order to accommodate the FBI and enable them to easily access their servers and listen in to online conversations at anytime.
But any company headaches are of trivial concern to the FBI, who will cite the importance of restricting potential criminal activity as being essential to keeping control of an otherwise un-secure and potentially threatening system that is set to be the dominant force in future communication.
The reason that the FBI have had such difficulties in previous attempts to monitor online communications is due to the intricacies involved in intercepting - and more specifically decoding - the data packets used to convert the online audio signals.
But now Voip-PAL president Dennis Chang has been granted a patent which would, in effect, enable all Voip communications to be recorded with ease, by using underlying technology to enable authorities to monitor suspected criminals via their subscriber information and username.
Based on past experiences, it seems to be a given that there will be an outcry against the proposed new legislation and pressure put on governments to withhold the public right to privacy online. This will, hopefully, delay and seriously impede the new proposals, potentially leading to a much less invasive form of legislation.
So it seems certain that at some point the legislation will be changed and our world of online communications will become a little less private. But, if there is a real threat of Voip enabling criminal factions to operate more freely, then some form of control must be introduced. Its a tough call to decide where online boundaries begin and end and there is much middle ground, but Voip is not going away and the FBI arent going to change their minds, so at some point a compromise will need to be made.
This news may not sound particularly new - or surprising - as the FBI have been trying to find a way to legally listen in on online conversations for some time, but this is the first occasion when they have put forward new legislation to help them in their fight against potential crime.
The new proposal would mean a costly period of implementation for all Voice Over IP service providers, as they would need to alter their coding in order to accommodate the FBI and enable them to easily access their servers and listen in to online conversations at anytime.
But any company headaches are of trivial concern to the FBI, who will cite the importance of restricting potential criminal activity as being essential to keeping control of an otherwise un-secure and potentially threatening system that is set to be the dominant force in future communication.
The reason that the FBI have had such difficulties in previous attempts to monitor online communications is due to the intricacies involved in intercepting - and more specifically decoding - the data packets used to convert the online audio signals.
But now Voip-PAL president Dennis Chang has been granted a patent which would, in effect, enable all Voip communications to be recorded with ease, by using underlying technology to enable authorities to monitor suspected criminals via their subscriber information and username.
Based on past experiences, it seems to be a given that there will be an outcry against the proposed new legislation and pressure put on governments to withhold the public right to privacy online. This will, hopefully, delay and seriously impede the new proposals, potentially leading to a much less invasive form of legislation.
So it seems certain that at some point the legislation will be changed and our world of online communications will become a little less private. But, if there is a real threat of Voip enabling criminal factions to operate more freely, then some form of control must be introduced. Its a tough call to decide where online boundaries begin and end and there is much middle ground, but Voip is not going away and the FBI arent going to change their minds, so at some point a compromise will need to be made.
About the Author:
Saul Saresi writes regularly about Voip systems and technology for his website which can be found here business phone previous examples of his research and writing can be found here virtual numbers
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