FBI may be required to report on Net wiretaps

From...

By Stacy Cowley

(IDG) -- The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation requiring that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report annually to Congress detailed information about its use of the DCS 1000 e-mail and Internet surveillance system. DCS 1000 is more commonly known as "Carnivore," the system's former name.

The legislation is part of H.R 2215, the "21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act," which sets forth funding for the department. The section of the bill relating to DCS 1000 requires officials to disclose:

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• The number of times DCS 1000 was used during the preceding fiscal year, and the number of times the FBI petitioned for its use.
• Which U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials, and which courts, approved each use of the system.
• Which statute was relied on each time to authorize use.
• The process and criteria the DOJ uses to review and approve requests for the system's use.
• The offense that provoked each requested DCS 1000 use.
• Any information gathered that was not authorized by the court.

The legislation will provide accountability and is a "(step) in the right direction," said House Majority Leader Dick Armey, a Republican from Texas in a statement on his Web site. Armey has been a vocal DCS 1000 critic. One year ago, he joined 31 other members of Congress in signing a letter asking then-Attorney General Janet Reno to suspend development and use of Carnivore (as the system was then named) "until the serious privacy issues involved have been satisfactorily answered. "

The House bill, which passed by a voice vote, will now be sent to the U.S. Senate for consideration.