Law enforcement and counterterrorism officials seek to overhaul the federal laws that require phone and broadband carriers to create technologies that the government can easily wiretap. Officials say these laws need to be toughened because telecommunications companies have been updating their software, making it technologically incompatible with government wiretapping devices. The Obama administration plans to submit a package to Congress next year that would update the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act of 1994. This package would incorporate Internet platforms into the legal code for the first time.
This type of policy making would be classified as a regulatory policy. According to Birkland, regulatory policies are intended to govern conduct of businesses, and telecommunications companies like AT & T fall under this category. The tools of public action that will be used in this case are unclear yet; some possibilities could be fining companies for failing to meet standards, or providing incentives for companies that are proactive in changing their technologies.
It will be interesting to see which approach the Obama administration takes. I would expect incentives to be more successful than fines, because providing rewards is more effective (people respond to awards) and efficient (providing benefits would encourage the greatest number of companies to comply). It will also depend on budget factors and which government agencies collaborate for this effort to see which tools will be more politically feasible. Which approaches would you anticipate the Obama administration to use?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/us/19wiretap.html?_r=1&hpw
Stephanie Doctrow
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