Dutch ISP Asks Government To Pay For Wiretap Costs

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

10 March 2005

Dutch internet service provider, XS4ALL, announced on Monday that it has launched a court case against the Dutch state, seeking compensation for the cost of making its network ready for wiretaps.

In a statement, the firm announced that:

"Since the end of 2001 XS4ALL has invested about half a million euro to comply with the requirements for lawful interception, a significant percentage of the net profit. Because of the rapidly increasing customer-base and the even stronger increase in the volume of Internet usage, XS4ALL will have to make many new high investments in the near future to comply with wiretapping legislation."

"XS4ALL considers it unreasonable that these costs are not reimbursed, since these investments are made purely in the general interest of law enforcement and do not benefit the providers in any way."

Under current Dutch law, the government is only obliged to reimburse the administrative costs of executing a specific wiretap order, not the investments in the purchase and maintenance of the equipment. This is in contrast to the situation in the United States and in many other European countries, where wiretapping costs are fully reimbursed.

However, in the subpoena filed on Monday, the ISP's attorney, Remy Chavannes observed that:

"If the costs of wiretapping do not outweigh the benefits in the form of more effective law enforcement, that is an indication that wiretapping powers should be used more sparingly, not an indication that the costs should be shifted to providers."

According to XS4ALL, in addition to seeking reimbursement for the expenses incurred in making its network wiretap ready, it is looking to set a precedent regarding the division of the costs of law enforcement demands between the government and ISPs.

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