Washington lawyer Robert Corn-Revere told a House of Representatives subcommittee how an ISP was asked to allow the government to install the Carnivore system. The FBI says that they need Carnivore to keep pace with the internet Apart from the technology, ISPs find themselves in an awkward position under present law with respect to investigations and user privacy. Under present law, ISPs are civilly liable if they reveal subscriber information or e-mail to the government without first requiring a warrant, court order or subpoena. In addition, the government told the ISP that the Carnivore system would be capable of capturing much more information than authorised under the court order, but that they would programme the system to target only information from a suspect's account. The system came to light during congressional testimony James Dempsey from the Centre for Democracy and Technology said that what is even more unsettling is the secrecy surrounding the device.
Nobody knows how it works and how it can be targeted.
Mr Dempsey has called for the FBI to release Carnivore's specialised sniffer software to the public, allowing experts to examine and understand it. He also said that ISPs should be responsible for collecting the information, not the government. The service provider sits like a buffer.