FBI pushes for Web wiretaps

CNET reports.

The FBI general counsel's office has drafted a proposed law requiring that social networking Web sites and providers of voice over Internet protocol (VOIP), instant messaging and Web e-mail alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly.

The FBI's proposal would amend a 1994 law, called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), which currently applies only to telecommunications providers, not Web companies, ZDNet states.

The FBI is considering reinterpreting CALEA to demand that products that allow video or voice chat over the Internet - from Skype to Google Hangouts to Xbox Live - include surveillance backdoors to help the FBI with its 'Going Dark' programme.

Going Dark is a term the FBI revealed in early 2011 to describe how new technologies erode the ability of the government to conduct court-ordered intercepts of wire and electronic communications, Red Orbit says.

The FBI has been in proposal talks with the White House and senators. It has also urged tech companies not to oppose the action.