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It Threatens Freedom and The Internet: The best thing about the Internet, the thing which has allowed it to prosper as much as it has, is lack of centralized control. An while there are those who would use this lack of control to their criminal advantage, it would be a far worse consequence to give up the "chaos" in favor of stringent control. All of the wondrous possibilities that the Internet offers us come at the price of it having no central control or governing body. To impose that type of control will be at the expense of the freedoms which have made the Internet what it is today. For 30 years, Government control stifled and suppressed the growth of the Internet. We must not allow such a fate to be reinstated. The vast majority of Internet traffic travels through U.S. servers. Most users, designers, hosts and ISPs are located in the U.S. If Carnivore were to be installed at all U.S. Internet servers (which is a logical outcome of its deployment), the FBI would possess a "valve" or "filter" through which almost all of the world's digital information will pass. It will be in their power to intercept of interfere with the transmission of data, in the most specific ways, and in the most general. (For more on this, see What Can Carnivore Do? on this site.) In the fight against pornography, the FBI could block the viewing of any images with certain suspicious filenames, or block access to pornographic domains. In the fight against drugs, the FBI could shut down legalization advocacy sites, educational information about safe drug use, and information explaining the manufacture, use, or distribution of "illegal" drugs. (There is a bill before Congress right now which would give them legal authority to do this. Carnivore would give them the ability to enforce it.) Additionally, they would be able to scan everyone's e-mail for drug references, and monitor everyone's surfing to find "offending" sites. In the fight against hackers and terrorists, the FBI could seize control of any portion of Internet traffic, under the guise of national security or investigative need, shutting off accounts, ISPs or even cities or regions to "contain" whatever it is they are investigating. In the fight against "hate crimes" and "damaging" speech, the FBI could literally remove such "offensive" terms from our communications. They will hold a virtual big black marker which can be used to block "dangerous" or "threatening" ideas and images from our tender and innocent eyes and minds. Do you think that the FBI would not dare to snoop where they shouldn't or needn't be snooping? Remember, this is the same FBI that kept extensive files on Martin Luther King, Jr., Marylin Monroe, and John Lennon, not to mention countless celebrity "communists" and dissidents. Do they still keep those kind of files? You tell me. Would Carnivore help widen the range, scope, and frequency of frivolous violations of privacy such as those? Absolutely. Do you think that your Government would never allow such blatant and reckless behavior from one of its Agencies? This is the same Government that drove the Branch Davidians to their deaths. (The same Government which is trying to pass three different laws, all containing certain duplicate clauses, which would outlaw the drug-related information I spoke of above. One of these laws is a bankruptcy bill!) The same Government that fed LSD to unsuspecting black military personnel. The same one that corralled Japanese-Americans during World War II, persecuted "communists" in the 50's, beat hippies and burned Vietnam in the 60's and 70's, sold weapons to our enemies in the 80's, and beat the crap out of Rodney King but let O.J. Simpson walk free in the 90's. Our Government does not always follow rules that make sense; nor does it uniformly respect our rights. Not by a long shot. While Government does seem to be trying to pursue good for all, it has shown itself more than willing to destroy the rights of some, in pursuit of protecting the rights of others. Carnivore will give Government the power to do that in such a way as we have never seen before. Remember, this is the same Government that fed LSD to unsuspecting black soldiers, with the goal of better protecting us. You've been warned. Go on to: --> Reason #3: It Sets a Bad Precedent
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