Fergie's Tech Blog

Implementing Domestic Intelligence Surveillance

Steven Aftergood writes on Secrecy News:

Upon lawful request and for a thousand dollars, Comcast, one of the nation's leading telecommunications companies, will intercept its customers' communications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The cost for performing any FISA surveillance "requiring deployment of an intercept device" is $1,000.00 for the "initial start-up fee (including the first month of intercept service)," according to a newly disclosed Comcast Handbook for Law Enforcement.

Thereafter, the surveillance fee goes down to "$750.00 per month for each subsequent month in which the original [FISA] order or any extensions of the original order are active."

With respect to surveillance policy, the Comcast manual hews closely to the letter of the law, as one would hope and expect.

posted by Fergie @ 10/15/2007 11:36:00 AM