If the Federal Communications Commission gets their way, the government will soon be able to monitor San Francisco State University and other public Internet networks.

The FCC, a government agency that regulates radio, television, wire, satellite and cable, has ordered universities to comply with the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act which will require any internet providers such as schools and libraries, to rewire and install new programs to secure computer networks from hackers.

This new security will allow the government to wiretap university computer systems to pin down any suspicious and/or illegal acts. According to the report released by the FCC, this change will “enhance public safety and ensure that the surveillance needs of law enforcement agencies continue to be met as Internet-based communications technologies proliferate.”

Jack Tse, Director of Network & Operations Services in the Division of Information Technology at SF State, is unable to disclose any security issues with the university’s computer networks but assures that SFSU does have an “extensive security practice.”

“Universities have been in the vanguard by provisioning state-of-the-art networking and information technology solutions to students," said Tse. " SFSU and the entire CSU are leaders in this wider effort. The issue is to ensure that universities, including SFSU, continue this trend to effectively provide the services along with the appropriate security.”

The cost for this advancement may be as much as $7 billion and will not be supplemented by the government, but by the students themselves, adding another $450 to the tuition price tag.

“I do think that if the system is vulnerable to hackers, then it might be would be worth it to pay a little extra," said computer science major, Mark Mizubayshi. "If someone could get into the school system and get access to everyone social security numbers this will just hurt everyone in the end.”

He added that he does not mind spending a little more money for security, especially since he is already in so much debt for his education.

Stan Osborne, a professor in the Department of Computer Science, admits to problems with the predominant technologies in use and said it is easy to eavesdrop on personal communications that use these them.

But despite these vulnerabilities, he said that the FCC is requiring the university to install equipment that will not be used often, and would have to be protected from abuse by hackers and potential illegal use by officials.

“These new requirements from the FCC will encourage people to switch to using communication tools based on strong encryption (which) will make eavesdropping impossible," said Osborne. "Once everyone switches to using encryption technology all the time, the FCC mandated enhancements won't help and the cost of installing them will have been a waste of time and money.”

Since announcing the required changes, the FCC has received a lot of scrutiny from technology and privacy groups whom have asked the federal appeals court to overturn this decision. If federal appeals court chooses to allow the expansion of the CALEA Act, universities and other internet providers must meet the terms within 18 months starting Nov. 14.