What are wiretaps? By definition wiretap is any interception of a telephone transmission by accessing the telephone signal. It is related to the term "electronic eavesdropping" and involves the use of an electronic transmission or recording device for the purpose of monitoring conversations without the permission of the parties involved. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) is a United States wiretapping law passed in 1994.

Professional wiretap transcription services are offered by transcription companies and involve listening to these recorded conversations and converting them into transcripts for the concerned authorities so that they can be used as evidence in court. Usually it is the Federal law enforcement officials who can tap telephone lines/ Internet by obtaining a court order to detect unlawful activity. It is the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court conducts a secret proceeding before giving the permission.

What are the different types of telecommunication carriers according to CALCAE? They are,

• Common telecommunication carriers
• Broadband Internet access providers
• Interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers

According to the federal law, recording of phone calls is possible only with the consent of at least one of the party to the call. This is the standard adopted by most states in the US. But there are few states that require consent from both the parties. Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, all US states have passed laws to increase their wiretapping authorities.

All telecommunications companies are by law, obliged to cooperate in this matter for law enforcement purposes and are also duly compensated for the same. Managed Outsource Solutions (MOS) is a US based legal outsourcing pioneer with specialisation in all types of legal transcriptions like wiretap transcription, verbatim transcription, court proceedings transcription, trial transcription, legal letter transcription and hearings transcription to clients in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.

Labels: affordable legal transcription, CALCEA, electronic surveillance, legal wiretap transcription, wiretaps

In the US wiretapping or telephone tapping refers to the monitoring of the telephone or the Internet by a third party usually in a hidden way. The United States Foreign Intelligence Court of Review can authorize any federal agents to wiretap the telephone and Internet for use as evidence in court (better known as lawful interception) which is usually approved only when other ways of detecting criminal activity is not possible. The wiretapped recorded conversation on the phone is often transcribed (converted into text form) by a professional transcriptionist and the typed transcripts later becomes a legally authorized documents that can be produced in court during litigation and trial. It is believed that it was wiretapping and intercepting of phone calls to his second wife in Beirut that led to locating the hideout and arrest of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Wiretap on a computer network was first ordered in 1996 when a hacker tried to enter the Harvard University and US military websites and computers. Recently there was a controversy after the Bush administration authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to used legalized but warrant-less surveillance of suspected international Al Qaida terrorists within and outside the US. Even though wiretap as evidence has been used in the US since many years, in the UK the government has only recently started considering the introduction of wiretap as court evidence after its latest review of antiterrorism legislation.

Besides wiretap transcription there are many other types of specialized legal transcription services that are offered by professional legal transcription companies like,

• Court proceedings transcription
• Verbatim transcription
• Testimony transcription
• Trial transcription
• Legal letter transcription
• General correspondence transcription

Managed Outsource Solutions (MOS) is a US based legal outsourcing company that offers a wide range of legal services including legal transcription, legal coding, legal research, litigation support, law firm web design and legal animation to its clients in the US, Canada the UK and Australia.

Labels: lawful interception, legal, telephone tapping, transcription, transcription services, wiretaps