EU and FBI Wiretap Scheme

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

This sounds like what Spook Herson admitted in his interview:

February 25, 1997

Report: Europe OKs Wiretap Rules

London (AP) -- Europe has agreed to establish international standards 
with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations to enable authorities to 
tap telephones and messages sent by fax, telex and e-mail, a London 
newspaper reported Tuesday. 

The Guardian newspaper said it obtained a preliminary agreement 
signed by European Union nations in 1995 that calls for 
telecommunications companies to provide security agencies with 
the key to codes installed in equipment sold to customers. 

The newspaper report could not be confirmed independently. 

The aim of the alliance between U.S. and EU agencies was to set a 
common standard for "international interception,'' the newspaper 
reported. 

Full details on the agreement are being drawn up by officials working 
in European Union committees, it said. 

The report said European officials drafted a memorandum of 
understanding after Britain warned that mobile telephone systems 
in the hands of organized criminals posed an international threat. 

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Thanks to D.

If anyone has the Guardian article, a copy would be appreciated.

Fax to: (US) 212-799-4003

Or scan it and send e-mail to <jya@pipeline.com>.