Companies like Qwest are building whole business strategies around Net-based telephony, while the amount of data traffic on public networks has soared. The FBI wants access to these Net calls, and the leading industry proposal being reviewed by the FCC allows this. But civil liberties groups warn that this access goes beyond the original law's bounds, which don't apply well to Internet communications. Over the long term this is the ability to get packet-switched data, not just voice information. The sticking point lies in the way that law enforcement gets its power to tap lines, and in the way that permission fails to translate into the world of the Internet.
Many people associate a wiretap with a listening post able to overhear the entire content of a call.
This type of tap requires a law enforcement agency to meet a fairly high standard of evidence, to show it needs access to a certain phone line. This type of access is much easier for law enforcement officials to obtain, as they don't require evidence as strong as what is needed for standard wiretaps. Once you've opened the can of worms, the whole can stays open. We just don't trust them. For its part, the FBI says it needs access to the Net calls, or criminals will be able to hide in the telecommunications loophole.