JMD (202) 514-2007WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SELECTS TEAM TO REVIEW CARNIVORE SYSTEM
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice has selected and entered into a contract with the IIT Research Institute (IITRI) to complete the independent technical review of the computer-based Carnivore system. IITRI is an independent, not-for-profit contract research and development organization associated with the Illinois Institute of Technology.
"The Department is pleased that IITRI will conduct the independent review of the Carnivore system," said Assistant Attorney General for Administration Stephen R. Colgate, who led the selection team. "This organization has both the technical expertise and the dedication to the project to provide the most thorough, independent and timely review."
IITRI's review team also includes senior faculty members from the Chicago-Kent College of Law to aid in the technical review. The team will begin the review immediately and is scheduled to complete the review in December 2000, when a report will be made available for public comment. The review schedule also calls for delivery of an interim draft report, which will be made available for public comment, in late November. The team will be reviewing the Carnivore system's design, function and method of use and, as described on the Request for Proposals, will evaluate the performance of the Carnivore system in each of several model scenarios that are intended to reflect those most likely to be relevant in actual practice.
"The review team will have full access to any information they need to perform their review of the Carnivore system," said Colgate. The Carnivore system is a computer-based investigative tool that is designed to allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in cooperation with an Internet Service Provider (ISP), to comply with court orders requiring the collection of certain information, ranging from merely "to/from" information to full content concerning e-mails or other electronic communications to or from a specific user identified as part of an investigation.
Compensation under the contract with IITRI is based on time and materials with a total estimated cost of nearly $175,000. This amount is subject to change based on the requirements of the review.
Eleven proposals were submitted in response to the Request for Proposals posted on the Department's website on August 24. This included proposals from: Alterion; Evident Solutions, Inc.; IIT Research Institute; Infonition; National Software Testing Laboratory; Progressive Network Services, Inc.; Puffenberger and Company, LLC; University of California, Davis; and Westlake Consulting Group, Inc., as well as two other bidders who have requested their names not be released. The Department met with several applicants on September 14 to discuss the proposals, and received final revised proposals on September 20. The Attorney General was briefed and approved the final selection late Monday, and the contract was signed today.
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