FBI Rep To Speak

scroe writes "aztcs.org in Tucson Arizona is having a guest speaker, "Special Agent Thomas Liffiton of the F.B.I.'s National Infrastructure Protection and Computer Intrusion Program" regarding "carnivore". From the site :"The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation recently came under fire for its use of a new, highly secret e-mail sniffing tool known as "Carnivore." Come hear how the Bureau intends to make use of this tool and others in its never-ending war against crime in cyberspace, and the continuing struggles among privacy, protection, and enforcement in the age of the computer-connected home." Also, Michael McNulty of Brown and Bain will be there regarding the subject of copyrights and licenses. I'd like input from the community for thoughtful comments and questions to ask, as I'm hoping there will be a Q/A. I'm trying to round up the local 2600, maybe distribute some MPAA flyers as i doubt i can resist wearing my DVD/CCA shirt."

Comments

Re:Wrong place

[titus-g]

Not to mention the fact that by protesting an unrelated subject you risk being moderated as offtopic and dissapearing from public view!

Re:Wrong place

[po_boy]

You'll just come off as a zealot

Plus, you'll look like (more of) an idiot.

Qs

[gunner800]

It's too bad this never showed on the main page; this would make a good pseudo-interview thingy.

Some questions you might consider asking:

• Ask him to prove every claim about what it does and doesn't do, and suggest that revealing the source is the only real proof.
• How does Carnivore intercept a suspect's e-mail without also accessing e-mails of innocent parties?
• (After some soothing claims) Has the U.S. Government ever lied to its citizens before?

Above all, I hope you can maintain a calm, polite interaction. This is the best way to help the locals see your cause as something other than a hair-brained paranoid fantasy, and it will encourage the FBI agent to take you seriously (rather than to jail ;)


My mom is not a Karma whore!

*sigh*

[don_carnage]

Carnivore has finally made it to the island of misfit stories and will soon join Echelon, Napster, DeCSS singing "I'm just such a mis-fit..."

--

Carnivore and source and PR and stuff...

[Vuarnet]

I dont think that the FBI would send to this event one of his Geeks in Black, who knew the way Carnivore really works. If it were left to me, I'd just send someone who knew how to do some good Public Relations, in order to improve Carnivore's image to the public.

Don't ask him anything. Just DO something about it

[human bean]

like offer to teach people how to encrypt thier email so that what they have just heard about won't bother them.

Be sure to explain to the crowd at large that while the FBI is collecting the email of the bad guys, they are also having a good chuckle reading the other folks as well.

Use the postcard analogy, that is that this technology will make the FBI just like the postman who reads all of the postcards, of course, it means that all of the public's mail will be about as secure as a postcard.

Be sure to explain to the nice men in the suits that you are just trying to be helpful...

I don't think this is the wrong place to talk

[eclectro]

about DVD/DeCSS.
The question you need to ask is, "Will Carnivore be used to monitor those people who are 'emailing' (i.e trafficking) the now illegal source code DeCSS if Judge Kaplan ruling holds???

another great question is;
Has the MPAA approached the FBI to help in their effort to in finding those who are working with DeCSS???

Or maybe you could get a general question in like "How often does the MPAA contact you concerning pirated movies on the net???

If he wants to clam up about the MPAA, you can ask "Can Carnivore be used to monitor those who are emailing illegal programs???

Or will Carnivore be used on people sending MP3's to enforce copyright???

So these questions are just off the top of my head. I bet that if it was given some thought you could really "probe" alot better.

Entirely appropriate to show up. Wear some penguines.

Re:I don't think this is the wrong place to talk

[eclectro]

I take that back. Do wear you DVD/CCA shirt.