[Southack]

"He might have gone further, letting federal law enforcement track what content a person accesses over the internet, and, in his boundless desire to have unlimited authority over ordinary people, he might have required a lower standard of proof than probable cause. Maybe the only requirement would be that it's relevant to an investigation."

In the 1960's, a federal agency known as DARPANET created the original internet connection backbone with public taxpayer funds. As universities and later corporations later clamored for access to this system, contracts were signed (voluntarily) which continued to treat data traffic on this backbone as open, public information (traffic originating from an ISP that is connected to one gateway isn't prohibited from view by the other gateways or backbone repeaters - and in fact the very nature of reading the address that is encoded on each TC/PIP "packet" REQUIRES that every piece of data on the internet be reviewed by every piece of equipment which the data passes over/through). Today, this internet backbone connects all internet gateways (ISP's connect to the gateways).

Thus, learned people consider internet data traffic to be public information. The situation of Carnivore is therefor similar to police officers watching public traffic on freeways, except that Internet traffic can be encrypted by those who desire privacy to prevent searches with far better accuracy than can be done with cars.

Of course, there will always be the Chicken-Littles of the world crying that the sky is falling on the bill of rights whenever a police officer watches traffic on either an interstate freeway or an internet information super-hiway...

[A.J.Armitage]

In the 1960's, a federal agency known as DARPANET created the original internet connection backbone with public taxpayer funds. As universities and later corporations later clamored for access to this system, contracts were signed (voluntarily) which continued to treat data traffic on this backbone as open, public information (traffic originating from an ISP that is connected to one gateway isn't prohibited from view by the other gateways or backbone repeaters - and in fact the very nature of reading the address that is encoded on each TC/PIP "packet" REQUIRES that every piece of data on the internet be reviewed by every piece of equipment which the data passes over/through). Today, this internet backbone connects all internet gateways (ISP's connect to the gateways).

I know all of this. Your point?

Thus, learned people consider internet data traffic to be public information. The situation of Carnivore is therefor similar to police officers watching public traffic on freeways, except that Internet traffic can be encrypted by those who desire privacy to prevent searches with far better accuracy than can be done with cars.

Source.

Of course, there will always be the Chicken-Littles of the world crying that the sky is falling on the bill of rights whenever a police officer watches traffic on either an interstate freeway or an internet information super-hiway...

Free government is founded on suspicion, not confidence.