Reply #47: Carnivore was a selective packet sniffer. Not the same thing.

[boppers]

Basically, Carnivore was tcpdump with some granular filters.... something that most network/sysadmin types have been using since, well, we've had networks and sysadmins.

For the non-geeks, Carnivore basically just watched internet traffic, and grabbed important bits.... not phone calls, faxes, etc., because those usually don't go through an ISP.

That being said, we have basically the same snooping capabilities as everybody else does, as globalization of IT leveled the playing field across every place that has electricity, and a literate populace, and a non-censored internet.

However: What matters is how, and when, and why, snooping is used. In this case, (government run) media is selectively broadcasting (government run telephone system) phone calls, which seems to have the goal of embarrassing the (current government's) opposition.