Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part O

[CC Docket No. 97-213, DA 99-412]

Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this document the Chief, Office of Engineering and

Technology granted five requests for confidential treatment to withhold

data from routine public inspection filed by telecommunications

equipment manufacturers: Alcatel Network Systems (``Alcatel''); Lucent

Technologies Inc. (``Lucent''); Motorola, Inc. (``Motorola''); Northern

Telecom Inc. (``Nortel Networks''); and Siemens Information and

Communication Networks (``Siemens''). The material for which

confidential treatment is sought contains detailed proprietary pricing

estimates that constitute ``trade secrets and commercial or financial

information and privileged or confidential categories of materials not

routinely available for public inspection.

DATES: Effective March 29, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications Commission, Office of the Secretary,

445 12th Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rodney Small, Office of Engineering

and Technology, (202) 418-2452.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Order,

CC Docket 97-213, DA 99-412, adopted February 26, 1999, and released

March 2, 1999. The full text of this Commission decision is available

for inspection and copying during normal business hours in the FCC

Reference Center (Room TW-A306), 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington,

D.C., and also may be purchased from the Commission's duplication

contractor, International Transcription Service, (202) 857-3800, 1231

20th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.

Summary of the Order

1. On December 14, 1998, requests for confidential treatment of

data pursuant to section 0.459 of the Commission's Rules, see generally

Treatment of Confidential Information Submitted to the Commission, GC

Docket No. 96-55, Report and Order, 63 FR 44161, August 8, 1998, was

filed in this proceeding by five telecommunications equipment

manufacturers: Alcatel Network Systems (``Alcatel''); Lucent

Technologies Inc. (``Lucent''); Motorola, Inc. (``Motorola''); Northern

Telecom Inc. (``Nortel Networks''); and Siemens Information and

Communication Networks (``Siemens''). Additionally, on January 29,

1999, Alcatel filed a second request for confidential treatment of data

filed in this proceeding. We grant these requests and withhold the

associated data from routine public inspection for the reasons stated

below.

2. In the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Further NPRM), 63

FR 63639, November 16, 1998, in this proceeding, the Commission reached

tentative conclusions regarding the technical requirements of the

Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (``CALEA'') in

relation to wireline, cellular, and broadband PCS telecommunications

carriage, and sought comment on a range of related issues. The Further

NPRM was initiated in response to industry adoption of an interim

standard, known as J-STD-025, and petitions for rulemaking that were

filed challenging J-STD-025's inclusion or exclusion of certain

technical requirements. In the Further NPRM, the Commission stated that

it did not intend to reexamine any of the uncontested technical

requirements of the J-STD-025 standard but instead would make

determinations only regarding whether each of the contested

requirements meet the assistance capability requirements of section 103

of CALEA. These contested requirements are the location information and

packet-mode provisions currently included within J-STD-025, and the

nine ``punch list'' items that are currently not included but are

sought by the law enforcement community.

3. Also in the Further NPRM, the Commission stated that, in its

efforts to determine what features and capabilities fall within the

parameters of CALEA, it must consider five specific factors, pursuant

to section 107(b) of CALEA. These specific factors are that the

features and capabilities: meet the assistance capability requirements

of section 103 by cost-effective methods; protect the privacy and

security of communications not authorized to be intercepted; minimize

the cost of such compliance on residential ratepayers; serve the policy

of the United States to encourage the provision of new technologies and

services to the public; and provide a reasonable time and conditions

for compliance with and the transition to any new standard, including

defining the obligations of telecommunications carriers under

[[Page 14835]]

section 103 during any transition period. The Commission strongly

encouraged commenters to provide it with information as detailed and

specific as possible, including in particular:

detailed comment regarding the costs of adding a feature to a

telecommunications carrier's network and on what, if any, impact of

such costs will have on residential ratepayers. Commenters should

consider the costs to manufacturers in developing the equipment or

software needed to implement the technical requirement, as well as

the cost to carriers to install and deploy such equipment.

Commenters should be specific as to which entities would incur the

cost of adding particular features; e.g., manufacturers, local

exchange carriers (LECs), interexchange carriers (IXCs), or

commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) providers, etc. Commenters

should also be specific as to what costs would be incurred for

hardware, as opposed to software upgrades to carriers' networks, and

whether some of these upgrades would have other uses in the

networks. If costs are likely to be passed on to residential

ratepayers, those costs should be identified, as well as specific

mechanisms that could be used to minimize such costs.

4. In response to the Further NPRM, on December 14, 1998, Alcatel,

Lucent, Motorola, Nortel Networks, and Siemens filed specific cost data

with a request that the data be treated as confidential material

pursuant to section 0.459 of the Rules. Additionally, in response to a

request of January 26, 1999, from the Commission's staff, on January

29, 1999. Alcatel filed additional cost data with a request that the

data be treated as confidential material pursuant to section 0.459 of

the Rules. Based on our review, we find that the requestors have

complied with the provisions of section 0.459(a) that a copy of the

request shall be attached to and cover all of the materials to which it

applies and all copies of those materials, and with the provisions of

section 0.459(b) that each request shall contain a statement of the

reasons for withholding the materials from inspection and of the facts

upon which those records are based. We further find that the material

for which confidential treatment is sought contains detailed

proprietary pricing estimates that, pursuant to section 0.457(d) of the

Commission's Rules, constitute ``trade secrets and commercial or

financial information . . . and privileged or confidential categories

of materials not routinely available for public inspection, 5 U.S.C.

552(b)(4) and 18 U.S.C. 1905.'' Therefore, we grant the requests to the

extent they seek confidential treatment pursuant to the Commission's

rules.

5. Finally, we recognize that while the Commission generally has

not afforded confidential treatment to material submitted in

rulemakings, granting confidential treatment under these unique

circumstances will not deprive other interested parties of a meaningful

opportunity to review and comment on the material. Specifically, we

intend to aggregate the data, if possible, in a manner that does not

reveal the confidential information so that we may release the

aggregated data for public inspection and comment. In this respect, on

January 26, 1999, the staff requested that each manufacturer supply

clarifying information that will better enable us to aggregate the data

supplied by them. The responses to the staff's request will also be

accorded confidential treatment. In rendering our final decision, we

intend to consider only the aggregated data and not the individual data

provided by the manufacturers.

6. Accordingly, pursuant to section 0.459(d)(2) of the Commission's

Rules, 47 CFR 0.459(d)(2) (1998), it is ordered that the requests for

confidential treatment filed in this proceeding on December 14, 1998 by

Alcatel Network Systems; Lucent Technologies Inc.; Motorola, Inc.;

Northern Telecom Inc.; and Siemens Information and Communication

Networks; and the request for confidential treatment filed in this

proceeding on January 29, 1999 by Alcatel Network Systems are granted

to the extent indicated.

7. A copy of the Order will be placed in the public file in lieu of

the materials withheld from public inspection. Another copy will be

forwarded to the General Counsel of the Commission.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part O

Classified information, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Federal Communications Commission.

Bruce A. Franca,

Deputy, Office of Engineering and Technology.

[FR Doc. 99-7631 Filed 3-26-99; 8:45 am]

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