The Carnivore system monitors ISP traffic in order to intercept
information contained in the e-mails of criminal suspects.
Carnivore can reportedly scan millions of e-mails each second and
is capable of providing law enforcement agents the ability to
intercept all of an ISP's customers' digital communications.
Questions have been raised in Congress, in the media and among
privacy groups concerning the legality of Carnivore and its
potential for abuse.
On Wednesday, EPIC asked US District Court Judge James Robertson
to order the FBI to release information concerning the Carnivore
surveillance system no later than 1st December. In a lawsuit filed
by EPIC, Judge Robertson had ordered the FBI to establish a
timetable for release of the information. The FBI identified 3,000
pages of relevant material and set a release date for the first
batch of documents in 45 days, followed by batches of the remaining
documents at 45 day intervals. However, neither the Justice
Department nor the FBI gave any commitment to release any specific
number of pages in each interval, hence EPIC’s claim that “the
proposed schedule is far too open-ended.” EPIC says the process
could drag on for years.
The government argues that delayed release is necessary to avoid
disclosure of trade secrets obtained from companies during the
monitoring of communications.
