FCC wins this round:

A U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that upheld the FCC’s decision to apply digital wiretapping rules to VoIP providers probably won’t significantly affect wireless carriers’ broadband wiretap capabilities, according to a CTIA representative.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia this afternoon upheld an FCC decision to require broadband VoIP providers to have wiretapping capabilities in place for law enforcement use.

The decision ostensibly would apply to wireless broadband services, says Mike Altschul, senior vice president and general counsel at CTIA, but wireless carriers already are covered by the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). VoIP providers haven’t been classified as telecom carriers, so the rules are new to them.