EPIC Obtains FBI Reports to Congress on Carnivore

Through the Freedom of Information Act, EPIC has obtained FBI reports
to Congress stating that the law enforcement agency did not use its
DCS 1000 Internet monitoring system -- formerly known as Carnivore --
during fiscal years 2002 and 2003. The reports were prepared in
accordance with the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations
Act, which requires the FBI to report annually to Congress on its use
of DCS 1000 or later versions of the program.

The existence of Carnivore first came to light in 2000. Reports
indicated that the system could be installed at the facilities of an
internet service provider and monitor all traffic moving through the
ISP. The FBI argued that Carnivore merely "filtered" data traffic and
ensured that investigators collected only those "packets" they were
lawfully authorized to obtain. However, because the details of the
system remain unknown, the public has long been left to trust the
FBI's characterization of the system and -- more significantly -- the
FBI's compliance with legal requirements.

The first report obtained by EPIC states that the FBI used
commercially available software -- rather than its own DCS 1000 system
-- to conduct court-ordered electronic surveillance five times in
fiscal year 2002. According to the FY2003 report, the FBI used
commercially available software to conduct court-ordered surveillance
eight times. The FBI reported that it did not use DCS 1000 to conduct
surveillance during either fiscal year.

The reports suggest that the FBI's need for Carnivore-like Internet
surveillance tools is decreasing, likely because ISPs are providing
Internet traffic information directly to the government.

FBI reports to Congress on use of DCS 1000:

http://www.epic.org/privacy/carnivore/2002_report.pdf

http://www.epic.org/privacy/carnivore/2003_report.pdf

For more information about Carnivore, see EPIC's Carnivore FOIA
Litigation Page:

http://www.epic.org/privacy/carnivore

To see more documents about Carnivore, see EPIC's Carnivore FOIA
Documents Page:

http://www.epic.org/privacy/carnivore/foia_documents.html

(Bolding and italics for emphasis mine - Pete)