------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 20:44:57 -0400 (EDT) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Release: Carnivore Hearing From: Libertarian Party Announcements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- =============================== NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100 Washington DC 20037 World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org =============================== For release: July 24, 2000 =============================== For additional information: George Getz, Press Secretary Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222 E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] =============================== Americans can speak out against Carnivore, thanks to Monday's Congressional hearings WASHINGTON, DC -- The decision by Congress to hold hearings Monday on "Carnivore"-- the FBI's newly revealed e-mail spy scheme -- provides a perfect opportunity for Americans to demand the abolition of the program, Libertarians say. "Now that Carnivore has been dragged out into the open, it's time to move in for the kill," said Steve Dasbach, the party's national director. "This outrageous spy-on-everyone scheme deserves a quick burial, not a routine hearing." Carnivore is a hardware/software device the FBI secretly developed at its lab in Quantico, Virginia. Dubbed Carnivore because of its ability to find "the meat" among millions of e-mails, the device scans every incoming and outgoing e-mail message on a network looking for certain words or names, and saves those messages for later retrieval by law enforcement. "This is the electronic equivalent of having FBI agents scan every letter addressed to your home, or listen in on every one of your phone calls, just in case one comes from a criminal," said Dasbach. "Your right to privacy doesn't evaporate just because the FBI has found a high-tech way to violate it." Carnivore has caused a wave of outrage ever since it was publicly disclosed in a July 11 Wall Street Journal article. Consumer privacy organizations, Internet service providers (ISPs), and ordinary Americans have all raised objections to the industrial-strength e-mail monitor, which can scan millions of messages a second. "In an attempt to quell the controversy, a panel of the House Judiciary Committee has pledged to hold a hearing on Monday," said Dasbach. "But Libertarians don't believe politicians should be debating whether the FBI has the right to read your e-mail just in case you're committing a crime. "This spy-on-everyone scheme is un-American as well as unconstitutional. That's why we don't want to rein in the Carnivore or put a leash on it. We want to cut off its head and kill it -- and we're asking Americans to help us." To launch the anti-Carnivore campaign, the Libertarian Party has conducted a series of talk radio interviews and sent out a "Kill the Carnivore" action alert to a list of 150,000-plus Americans who helped kill the FDIC's so-called Know Your Customer bank spying scheme last year, said Dasbach. "Carnivore and Know Your Customer have a lot in common," he said. "Both involve hi-tech government monitoring of millions of innocent people. In both cases, bureaucrats were attempting to quietly impose the program on an unsuspecting public. And in both cases, Americans have an opportunity to stand up for their rights." The party will also be working with the ACLU and other pro- privacy groups in Washington, DC to lobby against the program, and has set up a special website section to provide periodic updates and information about the campaign. In response to the public outcry against Carnivore, the FBI promised they will use it only to seek data on criminal suspects, noted Dasbach. "The problem is that according to the government, there are only two kinds of Americans -- criminals and criminal suspects," he said. "The fact is that 99% of Americans have never committed a crime and never will, and having an e-mail account doesn't constitute 'reasonable suspicion.' That's why this spying device is clearly a violation of the Fourth Amendment's protections against unreasonable search." Carnivore has already been installed in dozens of ISPs' offices around the country -- which is why people need to speak out against it immediately, said Dasbach. "Americans should rise up and kill this Carnivore, before it devours our freedom and privacy," he said. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBOXyxvNCSe1KnQG7RAQFyTQQAizcxLzk3G7On72gho32wtrUtR4i5RD/7 emIqghtzL4oFqqGcTite5MTjS8sWE1FpPwY0YXEf0713DelDqgD7mgtt92+Ml30q n2AiC5L82m8RIyaD0OB6f8MuNB/sgW69V7auU+w1WQWuX3CpNWzBveU8RcLeSXFk ppc4qv9EI5Y= =tTx7 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/ 2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008 Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at: http://www.lp.org/action/email.html Alternatively, you may also send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with just the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the subject line. ------- End of forwarded message ------- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
