Pubdate: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 Source: CNN (US Web) Copyright: 2001 Cable News Network, Inc Contact: cnn.feedback@cnn.com Website: http://www.cnn.com/ ......Author: Jennifer Jones

HOUSE LEADER WANTS INVESTIGATION OF CARNIVORE

A powerful house lawmaker asked the FBI to re-examine the extent to which its e-mail sniffing tool, Carnivore, infringes on privacy.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey in a letter asked Attorney General John Ashcroft to take a look at Carnivore in light of a recent Supreme Court case involving privacy and police technology.

The nation's highest court on Monday ruled that thermal imaging devices "erode the privacy guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment," according to the case "Kyllo v. United States."

"It is reasonable, then, to ask whether the Internet surveillance system formerly known as Carnivore similarly undermines the minimum expectation that individuals have that their personal electronic communications will not be examined by law enforcement devices unless specific court warrant has been issued," Armey wrote.

The FBI has sought to distance its e-mail sniffing capabilities from the term "Carnivore" and has informally changed the system's name to DCS 1000. The acronym "DCS" does not stand for anything, according to an FBI spokesman.

The FBI in congressional testimony last year stressed that it intercepts communications traveling over the Internet only when it has court orders permitting it to do so.

FBI representatives added that there are rare "emergency" cases where the system was used without such orders.

However, Armey's letter Thursday argues that there are now "serious constitutional questions" surrounding Carnivore.

The nation's founding fathers "quite clearly decided to sacrifice [some] efficiency for the sake of protecting citizens from overly intrusive government," Armey wrote.

Armey also indicated in his letter that he is unsatisfied with the review of Carnivore conducted by an Illinois university under the Clinton Administration.

Privacy groups also unhappy with the earlier review of Carnivore asked Ashcroft in early May to revisit privacy concerns surrounding the use of the system.

EPIC ( Electronic Privacy Information Center ), the American Civil Liberties Union, the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, and others co-signed the May 2 letter.

EPIC and others advocate a scenario in which the FBI turns over its Carnivore sniffing capabilities to participating ISPs to conduct e-mail searches prescribed by court orders.

The FBI is currently awaiting a report due out of the Department of Justice on Carnivore, the spokesman said.

Pubdate: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company Contact: letters@nytimes.com Website: http://www.nytimes.com/

COUNTRIES THAT TRACK INTERNET ACTIVITY

Web filtering is just one method of restricting access to the Internet. Here are some countries that have tried to control or track their residents' online activities, according to Reporters Without Borders, a French advocacy group.

SAUDI ARABIA The government filters all traffic through a central server and recently issued regulations banning access to sites considered subversive, contrary to the state or its system, or damaging to the dignity of the heads of state.

BURMA Except for some government officials and businessmen, few people in this military-controlled country have access to the Internet. A colonel was jailed after visiting an opposition political site.

CHINA Internet service providers must install Internet filters that block the Web sites of many Western media outlets, Taiwanese and Hong Kong newspapers, human rights groups and Falun Gong, the banned spiritual movement. The government has set up a special Internet police unit.

BRITAIN Last year the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act extended police phone-tapping privileges to the Internet. If asked, companies and individuals would have to help law enforcement officials decode lawfully obtained data.

RUSSIA The government has instituted an Internet surveillance system that requires I.S.P.'s and telephone operators to reroute data traffic to local law enforcement headquarters, allowing authorities to monitor phone calls or e-mail.

AUSTRALIA The government does not filter the Net, but the Broadcasting Services Act, which took effect last year, defines forbidden online content, including specific representations of sexual acts, and information on crime, violence and the use of certain narcotics.