The Obama administration wants to force all communications companies to make their networks compliable with wiretapping orders from law enforcement, a change that would primarily affect the likes of Facebook, Skype, BlackBerrys and similar encrypted systems.

Phone and broadband companies already are required under the 1994 Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act to ensure their operations can allow for eavesdropping by police and federal agents. But more recent communications like BlackBerrys, which encrypt emails, make it difficult for the government to intercept messages that may involve terrorist plots.

-Noel Brinkerhoff