The Federal Communications Commission has asked universities to accommodate new wiretap laws, which could cost campuses $7 billion overall and $450 more in tuition for each student, according to estimates from the American Council on Education.

The new regulations, issued in August, are a modification of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act from 1994. The federal law ensures that law enforcement agencies receive access to conduct court-ordered wiretaps. The order will make CALEA applicable to Internet phone traffic, and broadband Internet access providers, which includes universities.

While there is an FCC-mandated 18-month deadline for compliance, the process could be slowed down by a lawsuit filed by Educause, a nonprofit organization, and A.C.E. A.C.E. has already taken the lead in legal action against the government and filed the initial papers that reserve its right to sue, according to Educause Vice President Mark Luker.

“In filing suit, we hope to convince the FCC that colleges and universities can provide the same access through alternative approaches without the need to incur the $7 billion expense of revamping our computer network systems,” A.C.E. Vice President Sheldon Steinbach stated in a press release. “This alternative approach also would make it more efficient for law enforcement. When you evaluate efficiency versus the incredible cost of compliance, we just don’t think it makes a lot of sense.”

While FCC spokesman Mark Wigfield declined to comment about the lawsuit, he said that the agency is currently considering an exemption to educational institutions.

A.C.E.’s calculation for the cost of implementing the new system was derived from the FCC’s requirements.

“Drafts of the standards … strongly suggest that a campus will be required to provide access points [for lawful surveillance] deep into the network, requiring extensive replacement and reconfiguration of network equipment.

“This fact, and the large number of campuses in higher education, drive the overall size of the A.C.E. calculation,” Luker said.

Although Wigfield also declined to comment about the actual cost of installing new wiretap systems, the potential financial impact is a major concern for UCSD and would be a “bottleneck” in meeting the FCC’s requirements, according to Academic Computing Services Director Tony Wood.

“What we’re concerned about is the expense,” Wood said. “If it requires a lot of money to do something we never have to, we don’t want it.”

Although ACS is uncertain of the technological specifications of the wiretap regulations, there are two scenarios of how the new system will be installed, Wood said.

“It’s uncertain how much it would cost because we haven’t seen what [installing new systems] would require,” Wood said.

According to Wood, there can be either an inexpensive or more costly approach.

“[The inexpensive method] would enable a device that would watch ingoing and outgoing Internet traffic. An analogy would be tapping a telephone switchboard.”

The pricier method would involve replacing hundreds of internal switches and approximately 30 to 40 routers, which are devices that relay computers to the Internet.

The 18-month deadline is not enough time to comply with the requirements if the expensive method is implemented, Wood said.

“Tapping requires a court order, which are very specific to a person or location and can only be obtained by a law enforcement officer,” Wood said. “Campuses have been responding to wiretaps for years. It’s not something that is done often, but we respond to it because it is a legal obligation. This order is to prepare ourselves for a request.”