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It Sets a Bad Precedent: What if the FBI said they wanted to monitor all telephone calls, for information about suspected criminals? What if they wanted to intercept all postal mail, to check and see if any of it was related to any of their suspects? What if they wanted to do a "profile" of the average marijuana user, by scanning huge amounts of electronic data, and compiling the marijuana-related communications? What if they wanted keys to everyone's houses, in case they had to get inside to investigate a crime? Use of the Carnivore system plants the seeds for all of those types of developments, and many more frightening ones. No, the FBI will not be asking for permission to intercept all postal mail anytime soon. But the majority of non-verbal communication already takes place over the Internet, and that portion grows every day. A time will come when postal mail is an insignificant factor in our communications. By that time, the FBI may already have the "keys" to all the rest of our communications, via tools like Carnivore. It is only a matter of time before our telephone, satellite, and television communications are intricately intertwined with the Internet. The time will come, sooner rather than later, when your ISP will be your phone company and your cable company and your cellphone provider and your long distance provider. Your banking, shopping, and other financial dealings will mostly take place through the Internet. Eventually, your home appliances, your car, your town's streetlights, and even perhaps your medications will all be affected or controlled to a certain degree by the Internet. Like it or not, that is the path that we are heading toward. You will only be able to avoid it for so long- eventually it will be like avoiding use of roads or electricity or telephones- nearly impossible, and only possible by severe estrangement from mainstream society. Carnivore is a bad precedent because it places Government at the hub of all of this coming technology. It gives the FBI (and by extension, every Government agency) a "backstage pass" into our global communications- and, in almost every case, without our knowledge or consent. (In fact, there is another bill before Congress which would make it a felony to notify you if you are being investigated through a wiretap warrant.) Eventually, all of our communications except for face-to-face conversations will pass by the ears and eyes of the Federal Government. The majority of what we say, watch, and do will be available to federal agents at their discretion. As frightening as it may be, this is the precedent that is being set through continued use and tolerance of the Carnivore ISP spy tool. If it is not stopped, it will grow. As it grows, our right to privacy and freedom shrinks. Go on to: --> Reason #4: It Will Harm Innocent People
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