FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, August 2, 2000 LAWSUIT SEEKS IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF FBI CARNIVORE DOCUMENTS WASHINGTON, DC -- The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) today asked a federal judge to order the immediate public disclosure of information concerning the Federal Bureau of Investigation's controversial "Carnivore" surveillance system. In an application submitted to U.S. District Judge James Robertson, EPIC charges that the Department of Justice and the FBI have violated the law by failing to act on a request to expedite the processing of a Freedom of Information Act request EPIC submitted to the FBI on July 12. The Carnivore system monitors traffic at the facilities of Internet service providers (ISPs) in order to intercept information contained in the electronic mail of criminal suspects. Carnivore can reportedly scan millions of e-mails each second and is capable of providing law enforcement agents the ability to intercept all of an ISP's customers' digital communications. Serious questions have been raised in Congress, in the media and in the privacy community concerning the legality of Carnivore and its potential for abuse. In response to the public uproar over Carnivore, Attorney General Janet Reno announced on July 27 that the technical specifications of the system would be disclosed to a "group of experts" to allay public concerns. But according to EPIC General Counsel David L. Sobel, "There is no substitute for a full and open public review of the Carnivore system. The only way that the privacy questions can be resolved is for the FBI to release all relevant information, both legal and technical." EPIC's FOIA request, which is the subject of today's legal action, seeks the disclosure of "all records" concerning Carnivore, including the underlying software and legal analyses addressing the limitations, if any, that have been placed on the use of the system. A similar request for access to Carnivore material was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. In a detailed submission to the Justice Department shortly after it transmitted its request to the FBI, EPIC asserted that its Carnivore request concerns "a matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government's integrity which affect public confidence" -- one of the legal standards that qualifies a request for "expedited processing." Despite a ten-day time limit to answer requests for accelerated processing, the Department failed to respond to EPIC's request. Sobel said, "If there was ever a request that qualified for expedited treatment, this is it. It's hard to believe that the Justice Department is unable to recognize the high level of public concern that Carnivore has generated. The FBI should be working overtime to make public as much information as possible." A court hearing on EPIC's request for emergency injunctive relief is likely to be held within the next few days. EPIC is a frequent FOIA requester and litigant, and previously sought the disclosure of information from the FBI on the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) and from the National Security Agency on the Clipper Chip and U.S. encryption policy, among other subjects. The legal memorandum in support of EPIC's motion for a temporary restraining order is available at: http://www.epic.org/privacy/litigation/carnivore_TRO.pdf- 30 -