Vicky Rode wrote:
Why would it require to replace every router and every switch when my understanding is, FCC is looking to install *additional* gateway(s) to monitor Internet-based phone calls and emails. I can see some sort of network redesign happening in order to accodomate this but replacing every router and every switch sounds too drastic, unless I mis-understood it. Please, I'm not advocating this change but just trying to understand the impact from an operation standpoint.
Many reasons. One is that the law (CALEA) requires that about 10% of all circuits in a (telco) exchange be monitored SIMULTANEOUSLY. None of our equipment does that, without redirecting and recording _ALL_ of the traffic and sorting it out later. That's why the entire network would need to be redesigned -- into essentially a "treework" with monitoring built-in to each level and device. YOu may also remember that back in 1997, when the telcos were fighting this massive redesign of their systems, the FBI apparently tried to "decertify" the entire Telecommunications Industry Association. In their testimony, the TIA and carrier trade group leaders blamed the FBI and called for the deadline's revision. Flanigan told the subcommittee that the FBI attempted to "stuff" balloting on the standard and spent two months trying to revoke TIA's accreditation with a national standards group, a move he called "unprecedented." I expect the same for the IETF, NANOG, or whomever else gets in the way. -- William Allen Simpson Key fingerprint = 17 40 5E 67 15 6F 31 26 DD 0D B9 9B 6A 15 2C 32