Interesting People mailing list archives
IP: Put Carnivore on a proper diet, cryptogrpahers say
From: David Farber <dfarber () fast net>
Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 20:31:08 -0400
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Warren" <jwarren () well com>
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,37728,00.html Giving Carnivore a Proper Diet by Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com) 3:00 a.m. Jul. 22, 2000 PDT WASHINGTON -- A pair of prominent cryptographers has some advice for the FBI: Make the Carnivore surveillance system open-source. AT&T Research's Steve Bellovin and Matt Blaze write in a short essay that revealing the innards of the spyware is the only way to make sure Carnivore isn't snacking on more information than it should.<...> It is certainly possible that the FBI et al are resisting disclosure of their source code *because* it may disclose all of the "OTHER LAWFUL AUTHORIZATION(s)" for covert electronic surveillance of American citizen in the USA. It is crucial to remember that the CALEA (Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, HR 4922, enacted by the Democratic majority in 1994) requires that -- quoting from the statute -- every public and private wired and wireless, "telecommunications [common] carrier shall ensure that its equipment, facilities, or services ... are capable of - (1) expeditiously isolating and enabling the government, pursuant to a court order or other lawful authorization, to intercept ... all wire and electronic communications S concurrently with their transmission ...; delivering intercepted communications and call-identifying information to the government ... such that they may be transmitted by [government equipment] to a location other than the premises of the carrier." In other words, perform the wiretap in a phone company switching center, under remote control, and automatically transmit it to some other location for the comfort and convenience of the snooper scooper. The FBI tauts that it only does wiretaps under court order. But WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE *OTHER* "LAWFUL AUTHORIZATIONs"?! Incidentally, the bill defines "government" as, "the government of the United States and ANY agency or instrumentality thereof, the District of Columbia, S AND any State or political subdivision thereof authorized by law to conduct electronic surveillance." In other words, ever podunk constable, omnipotent sheriff, politicized district attorney and ill-controlled cop stalking a girl friend or ex-spouse, all have this same access -- such as the coven of Los Angeles Police who were discovered not long ago, routinely conducting wiretaps WITHOUT *any* court order. --jim, Jim Warren; jwarren () well com Contributing Editor & technology public-policy columnist, MicroTimes
Magazine
Also GovAccess list-owner/editor; 345 Swett Rd, Woodside CA 94062 voice/650-851-7075; fax-disconnected-"for"-spam [self-inflating puff: Hugh Hefner First-Amendment Award, Playboy
Foundation;
Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award (in its first year); James Madison Freedom-of-Information Award, Soc.of
Prof.Journalists-Nor.Calif
founded InfoWorld; the Computers, Freedom & Privacy Conferences; blah blah blah] By the way, the CALEA had substantial penalties for any phone company that failed to grant this Orwellian access to remote control access to all their customers' phone conversations. However, it had nary a word of penalty for law enforcers caught violating the law!
Current thread:
- IP: Put Carnivore on a proper diet, cryptogrpahers say David Farber (Jul 23)