47 U.S.C. § 229 — Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act compliance

(a) In general. The Commission — the Federal Communications Commission — must write the rules needed to carry out the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. (b) Systems security and integrity. These rules must require common carriers (phone and communications companies) to: (1) set up policies controlling which employees can turn on wiretaps or access call information, and prevent anyone else from doing so; (2) keep accurate, secure records of every time a wiretap or call-information access happens, whether authorized or not; and (3) send the Commission the policies the carrier adopted to follow these two requirements. (c) Commission review of compliance. The Commission must review the policies carriers submit and can order a carrier to fix any policy that does not meet Commission rules. The Commission can investigate carriers as needed to make sure they are following these rules. (d) Penalties. If an officer or employee of a carrier breaks the carrier's own policy, or breaks a Commission rule made under subsection (a), that counts as the carrier itself breaking a Commission rule under this chapter. (e) Cost recovery. A carrier can ask the Commission for permission to raise its rates to cover the cost of the equipment or service changes it made to comply with the wiretap-assistance law. The Commission can approve this, with or without changes, if it decides the costs are reasonable and that allowing recovery serves the public interest. The Commission must also set up a joint federal-state board to recommend rule changes for how these costs get recovered.