An International pattern of criminal deception? Benjamin T. Moore, Jr., Private Detective/Body Guard, Writer and Jazz Musician (Tenor Sax) The very existence of "Carnivore" poses a conundrum most profound. It was not long ago that FBI Director Louie Freeh sat before the Congress of these United States, lamenting the wide spread use of encryption on the Internetand specifically PGP. According to Director Freeh, PGP - Pretty GoodPrivacy - made it possible for terrorist, criminals, pedophile and averitable garden salad of riff raff, to plot and plan the destruction of our "free state" with impunity. According to Director Freeh, without the Congress mandating either the outlawing of PGP or the inclusion of a back-door into PGP and all other strong encryption - mandatory key escrow -doom would befall the American people without the FBI being able to protectus. ENTER CARNIVORE Now comes this same FBI with a device that will in effect be a permanentfull time wiretap on all Internet communications. *IF* Director Freeh's assertions were correct before Congress, Carnivore is useless for catching criminals, terrorist or pedophile, who according to Freeh all use unbreakable encryption. Thus, one must ask, who is Freeh actually after? Or, does Director Freeh know something that none of us are aware of? Has PGP already been cracked? Do they have access to real quantum computers? The very development of "Carnivore" makes no sense *IF* what Director Freeh testified to before the Congress was correct. If on the other hand, Director Freeh was lying in his testimony before Congress, again we must ask why and to what end? *IF* PGP has already been compromised, what better way to give those using it a false sense of security than to have the Director of the FBI in essence give it a glowing endorsement? Yet, according to some of the brightest minds in the private sector, the assertions of Director Freeh were absolutely correct! PGP does in fact use unbreakable encryption. Could it be as we've always suspected? The FBI is more interested in going after innocent citizens than it is in going after the real criminals? Carnivore is basically a tool that throws a wide net and filters everything from everybody. It violates the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. It violates due process - 5th and 6th Amendments - it is not only the camel's nose under the tent, it's sliding down the slippery slope and off the precipice and into the yawning chasm! *IF* Carnivore is allowed to be activated, it will set a precedence there percussions of which will be lasting and damning! It has the potential to end our way of life. The internet is really the beginnings of a global telephone system. It is terrifying to those in power who feel the need to control populations via information deprivation. Want to know what's really happening in Kosovo? Log on and talk to somebody actually there. Did the US bomb a bio-warfare factory in Iraq? Or was it really a hospital? The major media gets it's news from White House press briefings with "B-Roll" from specially selected sites made available to them by the US military. Is this really *NEWS*??? No, the internet is a very frightening thing to those fearful of losing power. "Carnivore" would be like having a permanent wire tap on your home telephone with a tape rolling at all times. Have you ever had a conversation over the phone with a friend wherein you spoke negatively of the President of the United States? Would you have said the same things if you knew the Secret Service was listening in? Have you ever had a conversation with a friend around April 15th and spoke negatively of the IRS? Maybe you referred to them as being "organized crime incarnate?" Did you fear being audited because you expressed a negative opinion? Would you have expressed the same feelings if you knew the person who could have you audited was listening in? The very notion of "Freedom of Speech and expression," implies privacy. Without privacy the 1st Amendment becomes meaningless! What price safety? More and more cameras are going up in public and not so public places. The justification has always been the public safety. How a camera prevents someone from *committing* a crime is beyond me. There were cameras in the school in Columbine on that fateful day. The cameras recorded the carnage. They didn't stop it. They didn't even give law enforcement the needed information to move in quickly enough to prevent several persons from bleeding to death. Cameras like "Carnivore" only provide information useful *AFTER* the fact. The simple truth is, nobody can live in the United States of America without breaking numerous laws everyday. You just don't realize you're breaking them. Farmers have lost their property because a "black footed gerbil" decided to take up residence in one of their fields. A federally protected species seems to take precedence over voting tax payers. From speeding to J-Walking, if you were fined or imprisoned each time you fractured a law, you'd be bankrupt in 60 days. Throw in the draconian conspiracy laws, and you could be arrested at anytime for almost anything. If you have too much cash on you, it can be confiscated under the drug laws without you ever being charged for any crime. You'll spend more in attorney's fees to get it back than it was worth in the beginning. Have too little cash on you and you can be arrested for vagrancy. What's the right amount of cash to carry? Well, that depends on your race and where you are. To conclude, we need "Carnivore" like we need another hole in our heads! By the FBI's own admission, "Carnivore" is not going to catch criminals. This means if you're not a criminal, you soon will be. Benjamin T. Moore, Jr. btmoore@iname.com Home Page: http://ind.cioe.com/~btmoore Page me on the WWW at: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/8159114 Use your Web Browser to get my PGP Public Keys from: http://ind.cioe.com/~btmoore/_private/MyKeysDSSRSA.txt