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VoIP, Skype get EU heat over lawful intercept
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The European Union is looking to tighten up a legal loophole in current lawful intercept (i.e. wiretapping) laws, so that European law enforcement can listen in on phone calls traveling over the Internet. With 27 members of the European Union, each member state has a different approach to data protection and Skype encryption is proving to be a technical hurdle.
Eurojust, the European Union's Judicial Cooperation Unit, will coordinate investigations requiring the use of lawful intercept for VoIP calls; Skype gets a special shout-out in the document. As the coordinating agency, Eurojust will be available to assist all European law enforcement and prosecution "authorities" in the EU, with the goal of overcoming technical and judicial obstacles to the lawful intercept of phone calls over the Internet.
The effort stems from problems Italian authorities are having with criminals using both VoIP and Skype to frustrate investigators, and Skype refusing to unlock its encryption for them: "Skype's encryption system is a secret which the company refuses to share with the authorities." For instance, law enforcement officials in Milan overheard a suspected cocaine smuggler telling one of his cohorts to switch to Skype (what an endorsement!) to get the details of a 2 kilo drug delivery. Investigators spend "millions of Euros each year" on landline and mobile phone wiretaps.
For more:
- IDG News Service through PC World. Article.
- Eurojust press release.
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Comments
Posted by Anonymous | February 23, 2009 - 11:50am
It would be much easier to just legalize drugs, tax them, defund the war on drugs and spend more time an energy on the money, and banking which has been complicit all along. Leave the encryptions and privacy alone already.
Posted by Anonymous | February 24, 2009 - 1:15am
It is not about drugs.It is about what a person feels in their daily lives. They just want to invade privacy. If you want to curb drugs and all things about drugs then do away with money as we know it and go completely digital with the monetary system. This way all transactions can be monitored as there will be no money like paper or coin in these drug deals. How would a drug buy go down unless it could be with a debit or credit card and bingo you have your answer to all drug problems if you are intelligent and can understand with no money involved like we know it paper or coin but only card or digits then it can be seen immediately and no need to intercept calls looking for drug deliveries. All they would have to do is monitor bank transactions!!!!!
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