December 17, 2002 (Tuesday)
- Congo's government, rebels and opposition parties signed a peace accord to end four years of civil war and set up a transitional government to lead Africa's third-largest nation to its first democratic elections since independence in 1960.
- The Bush administration announced it will begin deploying a limited system to defend the United States against ballistic missiles by 2004.
- ElcomSoft is found not guilty on four counts of DMCA violations, in the first important test case involving the controversial law.