By Ben King, 5 December 2000 17:29
NEWS A 1998 telecoms Act forces Dutch ISPs to make their networks accessible for monitoring by the police and security services. The Government has set the deadline of 15 April for ISPs to comply with the legislation. NLIP, the association of Dutch ISPs, has recently obtained the first estimates for the cost of the systems which will make this possible. They range from E250,000 (£153,000) for a small ISP to E750,000 (£450,000) for a larger one or a cable company. NLIP sees this as a major threat to its members' futures. "If it gets to the point that they actually have to implement this, it will lead to several ISPs going bust," says NLIP director Hans Leemans. NLIP is exploring several ways to avoid the costs. One possibility is for NLIP to buy the equipment itself, and provide it to members as required. They are also pressing for the Dutch standard to be adopted Europe-wide, hoping that greater demand for wiretapping equipment will drive down costs. A draft convention in front of the Council of Europe already proposes similar legislation.
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