[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 59 (Monday, March 29, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 14834-14835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-7631]


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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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