47 U.S.C. § 1001 — Definitions

Page 403 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 1001 the appropriate Federal agencies, shall determine the roles and responsibilities of the Federal agencies par- ticipating in the initiative entitled ‘National NG911 Roadmap initiative’ to carry out the national-level tasks with respect which each agency has jurisdiction. ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall develop an implementation plan to support the completion of national-level tasks under the National NG911 Roadmap initiative.’’ FINDINGS Pub. L. 108–494, title I, § 102, Dec. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 3986, provided that: ‘‘The Congress finds that— ‘‘(1) for the sake of our Nation’s homeland security and public safety, a universal emergency telephone number (911) that is enhanced with the most modern and state-of-the-art telecommunications capabilities possible should be available to all citizens in all re- gions of the Nation; ‘‘(2) enhanced emergency communications require Federal, State, and local government resources and coordination; ‘‘(3) any funds that are collected from fees imposed on consumer bills for the purposes of funding 911 serv- ices or enhanced 911 should go only for the purposes for which the funds are collected; and ‘‘(4) enhanced 911 is a high national priority and it requires Federal leadership, working in cooperation with State and local governments and with the nu- merous organizations dedicated to delivering emer- gency communications services.’’ PURPOSES Pub. L. 108–494, title I, § 103, Dec. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 3986, provided that: ‘‘The purposes of this title [see sec- tion 101 of title I of Pub. L. 108–494, set out as a Short Title of 2004 Amendment note under section 901 of this title] are— ‘‘(1) to coordinate 911 services and E–911 services, at the Federal, State, and local levels; and ‘‘(2) to ensure that funds collected on telecommuni- cations bills for enhancing emergency 911 services are used only for the purposes for which the funds are being collected.’’ CHAPTER 9—INTERCEPTION OF DIGITAL AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS SUBCHAPTER I—INTERCEPTION OF DIGITAL AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS Sec. 1001. Definitions. 1002. Assistance capability requirements. 1003. Notices of capacity requirements. 1004. Systems security and integrity. 1005. Cooperation of equipment manufacturers and providers of telecommunications support services. 1006. Technical requirements and standards; exten- sion of compliance date. 1007. Enforcement orders. 1008. Payment of costs of telecommunications car- riers to comply with capability require- ments. 1009. Authorization of appropriations. 1010. Reports. SUBCHAPTER II—TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER COMPLIANCE PAYMENTS 1021. Department of Justice Telecommunications Carrier Compliance Fund. SUBCHAPTER I—INTERCEPTION OF DIGITAL AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS § 1001. Definitions For purposes of this subchapter— (1) The terms defined in section 2510 of title 18 have, respectively, the meanings stated in that section. (2) The term ‘‘call-identifying information’’ means dialing or signaling information that identifies the origin, direction, destination, or termination of each communication generated or received by a subscriber by means of any equipment, facility, or service of a tele- communications carrier. (3) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Fed- eral Communications Commission. (4) The term ‘‘electronic messaging services’’ means software-based services that enable the sharing of data, images, sound, writing, or other information among computing devices controlled by the senders or recipients of the messages. (5) The term ‘‘government’’ means the gov- ernment of the United States and any agency or instrumentality thereof, the District of Co- lumbia, any commonwealth, territory, or pos- session of the United States, and any State or political subdivision thereof authorized by law to conduct electronic surveillance. (6) The term ‘‘information services’’— (A) means the offering of a capability for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, utilizing, or making available information via telecommuni- cations; and (B) includes— (i) a service that permits a customer to retrieve stored information from, or file information for storage in, information storage facilities; (ii) electronic publishing; and (iii) electronic messaging services; but (C) does not include any capability for a telecommunications carrier’s internal man- agement, control, or operation of its tele- communications network. (7) The term ‘‘telecommunications support services’’ means a product, software, or serv- ice used by a telecommunications carrier for the internal signaling or switching functions of its telecommunications network. (8) The term ‘‘telecommunications car- rier’’— (A) means a person or entity engaged in the transmission or switching of wire or electronic communications as a common carrier for hire; and (B) includes— (i) a person or entity engaged in pro- viding commercial mobile service (as de- fined in section 332(d) of this title); or (ii) a person or entity engaged in pro- viding wire or electronic communication switching or transmission service to the extent that the Commission finds that such service is a replacement for a sub- stantial portion of the local telephone ex- change service and that it is in the public interest to deem such a person or entity to be a telecommunications carrier for pur- poses of this subchapter; but (C) does not include— (i) persons or entities insofar as they are engaged in providing information services; and Page 404 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 1002 (ii) any class or category of tele- communications carriers that the Com- mission exempts by rule after consultation with the Attorney General. (Pub. L. 103–414, title I, § 102, Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4279.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 103–414, title I, § 111, Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4288, provided that: ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection (b), this title [enacting this subchapter and provisions set out below] shall take effect on the date of enact- ment of this Act [Oct. 25, 1994]. ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE CAPABILITY AND SYSTEMS SECURITY AND INTEGRITY REQUIREMENTS.—Sections 103 and 105 of this title [enacting sections 1002 and 1004 of this title] shall take effect on the date that is 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act.’’ SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 103–414, title I, § 101, Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4279, provided that: ‘‘This title [enacting this sub- chapter and provisions set out as a note above] may be cited as the ‘Communications Assistance for Law En- forcement Act’.’’ § 1002. Assistance capability requirements (a) Capability requirements Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this section and sections 1007(a) and 1008(b) and (d) of this title, a telecommunications car- rier shall ensure that its equipment, facilities, or services that provide a customer or sub- scriber with the ability to originate, terminate, or direct communications are capable of— (1) expeditiously isolating and enabling the government, pursuant to a court order or other lawful authorization, to intercept, to the exclusion of any other communications, all wire and electronic communications carried by the carrier within a service area to or from equipment, facilities, or services of a sub- scriber of such carrier concurrently with their transmission to or from the subscriber’s equip- ment, facility, or service, or at such later time as may be acceptable to the government; (2) expeditiously isolating and enabling the government, pursuant to a court order or other lawful authorization, to access call-iden- tifying information that is reasonably avail- able to the carrier— (A) before, during, or immediately after the transmission of a wire or electronic com- munication (or at such later time as may be acceptable to the government); and (B) in a manner that allows it to be associ- ated with the communication to which it pertains, except that, with regard to information ac- quired solely pursuant to the authority for pen registers and trap and trace devices (as defined in section 3127 of title 18), such call-identi- fying information shall not include any infor- mation that may disclose the physical loca- tion of the subscriber (except to the extent that the location may be determined from the telephone number); (3) delivering intercepted communications and call-identifying information to the gov- ernment, pursuant to a court order or other lawful authorization, in a format such that they may be transmitted by means of equip- ment, facilities, or services procured by the government to a location other than the prem- ises of the carrier; and (4) facilitating authorized communications interceptions and access to call-identifying in- formation unobtrusively and with a minimum of interference with any subscriber’s tele- communications service and in a manner that protects— (A) the privacy and security of commu- nications and call-identifying information not authorized to be intercepted; and (B) information regarding the govern- ment’s interception of communications and access to call-identifying information. (b) Limitations (1) Design of features and systems configura- tions This subchapter does not authorize any law enforcement agency or officer— (A) to require any specific design of equip- ment, facilities, services, features, or system configurations to be adopted by any provider of a wire or electronic communication serv- ice, any manufacturer of telecommuni- cations equipment, or any provider of tele- communications support services; or (B) to prohibit the adoption of any equip- ment, facility, service, or feature by any provider of a wire or electronic communica- tion service, any manufacturer of tele- communications equipment, or any provider of telecommunications support services. (2) Information services; private networks and interconnection services and facilities The requirements of subsection (a) do not apply to— (A) information services; or (B) equipment, facilities, or services that support the transport or switching of com- munications for private networks or for the sole purpose of interconnecting tele- communications carriers. (3) Encryption A telecommunications carrier shall not be responsible for decrypting, or ensuring the government’s ability to decrypt, any commu- nication encrypted by a subscriber or cus- tomer, unless the encryption was provided by the carrier and the carrier possesses the infor- mation necessary to decrypt the communica- tion. (c) Emergency or exigent circumstances In emergency or exigent circumstances (in- cluding those described in sections 2518(7) or (11)(b) and 3125 of title 18 and section 1805(e) of title 50), a carrier at its discretion may comply with subsection (a)(3) by allowing monitoring at its premises if that is the only means of accom- plishing the interception or access. (d) Mobile service assistance requirements A telecommunications carrier that is a pro- vider of commercial mobile service (as defined in section 332(d) of this title) offering a feature