Comment by jauer

Lawful Intercept isn't a blanket government back door per se. It's a featureset that allows the operator to configure what is effectively a remote packet capture endpoint. That endpoint is disabled by default and requires operator configuration to be enabled.

It just happens that every ISP/telco in the US needs this capability to comply with CALEA so it's manufacturers responding to market forces. Juniper supports it, A Latvian router manufacturer supports it (http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/CALEA), there's even open source code to do it (https://code.google.com/p/opencalea/) if you're building your own routers.

There's a place to focus your ire over wiretapping. The manufacturers aren't it.