The Internet Engineering Task Force is mulling whether to wire government surveillance into the next generation of Internet protocols, Wired reports - and it is certain to cause the most heated debate the group has yet known - with lasting effects, likely, on online (and perhaps other) privacy.
However, Wired continues, the IETF can't reach even a preliminary decision in their special meeting next month until attendees weigh whether law enforcement demands are more important than communications security and personal privacy.
"As Internet voice becomes a wider deployed reality, it is only logical that the subject has to come up," IETF chairman and Cisco engineer Fred Baker tells Wired. "We are deciding to bring it up proactively rather than reacting to something later in the game."
The wiretap issue comes as the IETF contends with another prominent privacy issue, Wired says - IPv6, the scheduled next-generation Internet protocol, including the unique serial number for each computer's network connection hardware as part of its expanded address.
Many governments, including the United States, require telephone companies to configure their networks so police can easily wiretap calls. Wired says that as more phone calls flow through the Internet, some experts predict that the FBI and similar agencies will demand additional surveillance powers.
