It's Unconstitutional: The Constitution is largely a document of limits- limits on the ways in which Government may interfere with our lives. The Bill of Rights (the first ten Amendments to the Constitution) is a short list of specific aspects of our lives which Government may not interfere.

The 4th Amendment clearly prohibits such sweeping invasions of privacy and property as Carnivore commits:

"The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Internet communications would qualify as our "papers and effects"- the

And even the actual suspects of FBI investigations are having their rights violated by Carnivore. Again, the 4th Amendment states that "no Warrant shall issue" except that which "particularly describ(es) the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." In a Carnivore investigation, the "things to be seized" are not able to be particularly described

This is not a case of someone having documents in their house which may incriminate them, or of stolen goods which are part of a crime. A Carnivore warrant, when issued, is a warrant for documents which may or may not exist in the future- letters which have not been written. In Internet terms, the "place" which is being search cannot be "particularly described."

If a suspect is surfing a website that is hosted in California, California is the "place" of that information- the place where the activity occurred, or the document's location, if it's a website. If the FBI's Carnivore system is installed at the suspect's ISP, in New York for example, how could the warrant include a search in California, or any of the other locations where the suspect's activity may take place? When seeking a Carnivore-based warrant, the FBI has no way of knowing or describing the "places"  to be searched, or the "things" to be seized.

Like it or not, our 4th Amendment prohibits broad-based Internet investigations, such as those conducted by the FBI's Carnivore system.

Go on to -->Reason #2: It Threatens the Internet

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