July 2013

[Commentary] Debate over the National Security Agency’s collection of telephone metadata is taking a dangerous turn. There’s a risk that Congress or the White House will impose ill-considered constraints on the NSA that would compromise our ability to protect the United States against the next 9/11.

The metadata acquired in this program doesn’t reveal the content of anyone’s phone calls — just the records of which numbers have dialed which numbers and when. This is transactional information that phone companies compile for billing purposes, and the Fourth Amendment does not require a warrant supported by probable cause to obtain these records. Many libertarians are quick to condemn the NSA’s collection of telephone metadata as an example of government overreach and encroachment into Americans’ private freedom. But protecting the United States from foreign attack is the core mission of the federal government, and a catastrophic failure in that mission could threaten the liberties we all cherish. Moreover, it’s profoundly unfair to tar the NSA as irresponsible or an agency run amok. In my experience, there is no more self-restrained, professional and patriotic group of federal officers than those staffing the NSA today. We should be proud of the job this agency is doing and of the effectiveness and prudent focus of its metadata program.

[Bradbury was head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel from 2005 to 2009. In 2006, he led the department’s legal effort to obtain initial approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court for the telephone metadata order.]

The Federal Communications Commission released data meant to help broadcasters get a better handle on how they may be repacked after the incentive auctions, and how the FCC intends to protect their coverage areas and signals in that process. That includes what new channels stations would be able to move to and the latest OET 69 software the FCC is using to figure out interference protections.

The country’s first nationwide wireless broadband network designed for emergency responders, being developed by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), entered a new phase on July 10 -- it announced 10 requests for information (RFIs) that will begin the process of finding the most efficient and innovative technology available, said Craig Farrill, FirstNet board member and acting CIO. The search for the best technology available, Farrill said, follows a nationwide survey of the nation’s 56 states and territories to determine what would constitute the “best” technology for the network -- technology such as network partnering and Radio Access Network provisioning, antenna systems, microwave backhaul equipment, data centers and network service platforms.

Last fall, Hurricane Sandy damaged homes, buckled boardwalks and ruined much of the infrastructure of the small vacation spot of Fire Island, just off the coast of New York. The storm also destroyed many of the island's copper phone lines. But the island's only traditional phone company has no plans to replace them.

Instead, Verizon is offering customers a little white box with an antenna it calls Voice Link. "It has all the problems of a cellphone system, but none of the advantages," says Pat Briody, who has had a house on Fire Island for 40 years. Essentially, Voice Link connects home phones to the Verizon Wireless network on the island. It has a traditional-sounding dial tone and 911 service, but that's about it. You can't use Voice Link to access the Internet. Some businesses can't process credit card transactions. Many alarm systems and health monitors won't work with Voice Link. "I don't think there's anyone who will tell you Voice Link is better than the copper wire," says Steve Kunreuther, the treasurer of the Saltaire Yacht Club. But Fire Island and a few other communities hit hard by Sandy have no other choice, even if residents don't like it.