A History of Listening In As the technology of voice communications has advanced, government surveillance has raised many legal issues. TURN PAGE TO BEGIN>
[milestones] 1876: Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone.
1875
A History of Listening In As the technology of voice communications has advanced, government surveillance has raised many legal issues.
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Technology
1900 1890s: Lawenforcement agencies begin tapping wires on early telephone networks.
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, 1916
1967: In the case of Katz v. United States, the Supreme Court rules that intercepting communications requires a warrant.
LAW and POlicy
September 2008
1965: Bell Labs develops the first computerized telephone switch.
1965: The first commercial communications satellite is launched.
1950
1970s: Optical fiber becomes a medium for telecommunications. 1980s: Commercial cell phone networks appear.
1975
1968: Congress passes a law providing for wiretap warrants in criminal investigations.
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1978: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) creates a secret federal court for issuing wiretap warrants in national security cases.
1990s: The Internet booms, cutting the cost of communications.
2000s: Mass-market voice-over-Internetprotocol (VoIP) services are introduced.
2000
1994: Congress approves the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), which requires telephone companies to be able to install more effective wiretaps.
2004: The FBI proposes extending the CALEA requirements to voice-overInternet-protocol services.
2007: Congress amends FISA to allow the government to monitor more communications without a warrant.
2008: President George W. Bush signs a national security directive that expands the surveillance of Internet traffic to and from the U.S. government.
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