So much for activist judges. A federal appeals court sided with the Bush administration Friday in an electronic surveillance case, making it easier to tap into Internet phone calls and broadband transmissions.

The primary sponsor of the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, called the court's decision contrary to congressional intent, saying it stretches a law written for "the telephone system of 1994 to cover the Internet of 2006," according to the Associated Press account.

Jim Dempsey, policy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a private group, said the decision "threatens the privacy rights of innocent Americans as well as the ability of technology companies to innovate freely."

The court ruled 2-1 in favor of the Federal Communications Commission, which says equipment using the new technologies must be able to accommodate police wiretaps under CALEA.

In dissent, Judge Harry Edwards said the FCC gutted an exemption for information services that he said covered the Internet and broadband. He said the FCC "apparently forgot to read the words of the statute."

Education groups challenged the FCC rule because they said the requirements would impose burdensome new costs on private university networks, arguing that broadband Internet access is an information service beyond the reach of CALEA.