Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
9. FBI Seizes Server From Progressive Internet Service Provider
Tue Apr 24, 2012, 09:17 PM
Apr 2012
http://truth-out.org/news/item/8642-fbi-seizes-server-from-progressive-internet-service-provider

In an attack on our infrastructure, our movement and the democratic Internet, the FBI seized a server yesterday from one of our cabinets in a colocation facility. The server is owned by our sister organization, Riseup, and is managed by ECN, a progressive technology provider in Italy. While the seizure of any equipment is pernicious and damaging, the pointlessness of this seizure suggests an inclination toward extrajudicial punishment and an attempted crackdown on the very possibility of anonymous speech online.

The FBI has told us they are investigating bomb threats targeting the facilities and people at the University of Pittsburgh. They appear to believe that one of the servers used to transmit these threats was an anonymous e-mail server operated by ECN. Anonymous remailers have no logs or traces of who used them, so the FBI will not get any useful information from the stolen machine. Seizing this machine serves no useful purpose in tracking down or stopping the bomb threats, but it has many serious negative implications. Anonymous e-mail is an important part of the Internet. One of the benefits of Internet technology is the ability to communicate world-wide, and this communication is fundamental to the struggles of the world's people to address many of the world's ills. In a period in which our society has seen massive losses of privacy in which just about everything we do on-line can be tracked, logged, studied and used for all kinds of purposes, anonymous Internet-based communication tools provide shade from the intrusive searchlights of ubiquitous surveillance.

Insiders who reveal government and military malfeasance, corporate whistleblowers, critics within institutions, organizers who fear police repression, and others involved in liberatory struggle can and do use anonymous e-mail. Anonymous e-mail is one of the critical tools of the democracy movement unfolding worldwide, including the Middle East. Without anonymous communications, such movements would have had even greater difficulty organizing and would face greater risks and repression. Without anonymous communications, our already-constrained knowledge of what government and corporations actually do in our name and against our interests would be even more limited. Without anonymous communications, the Internet becomes little more than a caricature of its potential as a tool for building a just global society.

When authorities forcibly remove a computer from an anonymous communications network, they weaken that network and set a precedent for attack on anonymity in general. If we lose anonymous e-mail, we effectively lose the Internet as a tool for organizing and change. The use of anonymous communications for bomb threats is horrible. We at MF/PL have never condoned threats of violence or the use of Internet technology to harm people. Such use runs counter to our vision of the reason the Internet exists and its proper use. We are deeply saddened by the pain caused so many people by these sociopathic activities. However, we cannot stop malicious anonymous e-mail without also destroying the ability to use anonymous e-mail for beneficial purposes. In the other hand, according to the news, the bomb threats continue to arrive at University of Pittsburgh after this outrageous seizure. There is no positive outcome to this action by the FBI...MORE
41 Views, and Not a Single Post (Only 3 Recs?) Demeter Apr 2012 #1
We support her.... AnneD Apr 2012 #49
Is high public debt harmful for economic growth? Demeter Apr 2012 #2
Michael Hudson: Productivity, The Miracle of Compound Interest, and Poverty MUST READ Demeter Apr 2012 #3
Setting the Record Straight: The Housing Bubble Lie ANOTHER MUST READ Demeter Apr 2012 #4
The Real Foreclosure Fraud Story: Corruption of the Land Title System Demeter Apr 2012 #25
‘Tainted,’ but Still Serving on Corporate Boards (SHAME!) Demeter Apr 2012 #5
MF Customers Press J.P. Morgan for Funds Demeter Apr 2012 #6
$1.6 billion in missing MF Global funds traced Demeter Apr 2012 #10
Bonuses ruled out for MF Global chiefs (LOUIS FREEH GETS HANDS SLAPPED!) Demeter Apr 2012 #27
Obama Had 10 Times More Money Than Romney for Campaign (APRIL) Demeter Apr 2012 #7
Judging by Ireland, Spanish banks to take a lot more credit writedowns Demeter Apr 2012 #8
How to construct a 'fiscal club' for the eurozone Demeter Apr 2012 #11
FBI Seizes Server From Progressive Internet Service Provider Demeter Apr 2012 #9
Hey Fudd Po_d Mainiac Apr 2012 #12
Bill Proxmire's Golden Fleece awards? n/t Tansy_Gold Apr 2012 #14
Yup..U win! Po_d Mainiac Apr 2012 #17
Here, catch! Fuddnik Apr 2012 #56
Calling Dr. Phool calling Dr.Phool..... AnneD Apr 2012 #62
CFPB Scrutinizing Bank Overdraft Fees Demeter Apr 2012 #13
The Burgeoning Student Debt Problem Demeter Apr 2012 #15
Randy Wray: The Job Guarantee and Real World Experience Demeter Apr 2012 #20
Jamie Galbraith on Inequality and Instability Demeter Apr 2012 #16
Bank of America Accord in Lawsuit Is Challenged By GRETCHEN MORGENSON Demeter Apr 2012 #18
Europe’s Lunatics Rise Demeter Apr 2012 #19
What a Hollande Victory Would Mean for Merkel Demeter Apr 2012 #22
Hollande seeks wider EU fiscal pact Demeter Apr 2012 #28
'Berlin Is Running Out of Allies in Euro Crisis' Demeter Apr 2012 #32
You can see from the charts just when Helicopter Ben Took Off Tuesday Demeter Apr 2012 #21
U.K. Returns to Recession in First Quarter on Building Slump girl gone mad Apr 2012 #23
Jeffrey Sommers: No Exit in EU Demeter Apr 2012 #24
Walmart senior executive quits MetLife board Demeter Apr 2012 #26
Wal-Mart took part in lobbying campaign to amend anti-bribery law Demeter Apr 2012 #44
Sequoia Fund Manager Campaigns Against Goldman Board Member, Former Fannie CEO Jim Johnson Demeter Apr 2012 #57
Wells Fargo, Terrified to Face Its Victims, Locks Shareholders Out of Annual Meeting Demeter Apr 2012 #29
bankers hunkered down inside DemReadingDU Apr 2012 #34
Protest over GE tax payments erupts at company's shareholder meeting From The Detroit News: http:// DemReadingDU Apr 2012 #66
DeAnne Julius - Get set for one of the shortest recessions on record (UK--HUMOR, UNINTENTIONAL) Demeter Apr 2012 #30
YVES' ROUNDUP ON THE LOUISIANA MERS LAWSUIT Demeter Apr 2012 #31
The downfall of MERS could go a long way Tansy_Gold Apr 2012 #33
Somehow Po_d Mainiac Apr 2012 #37
Perhaps Tansy_Gold Apr 2012 #54
$20B Package of Bank of America MSRs Still Hasn't Traded Demeter Apr 2012 #35
The American Conservative: "Extractive Elites" and "Macro-Corruption" Demeter Apr 2012 #36
Britain in recession, intensifying government woes xchrom Apr 2012 #38
U.S. Creates New Spy Service (Because 16 Intelligence Agencies is Not Enough) Demeter Apr 2012 #39
+17 kickysnana Apr 2012 #63
Very Funny Demeter Apr 2012 #65
+++++++++++++++++ DemReadingDU Apr 2012 #67
You made me Tansy_Gold Apr 2012 #70
morning... xchrom Apr 2012 #40
Morning, X! Demeter Apr 2012 #47
the only thing that the 'wealthy' have that i envy xchrom Apr 2012 #50
Why Wall Street Hates President Obama —By Kevin Drum Demeter Apr 2012 #41
COMMENT FROM DELONG'S POST Demeter Apr 2012 #42
Caterpillar 1Q profit jumps 29 pct, boosts outlook xchrom Apr 2012 #43
Jon Corzine Is the Original George Zimmerman MATT TAIBBI Demeter Apr 2012 #45
US orders for long-lasting goods plunge in March xchrom Apr 2012 #46
The Real Bad Guy in the E-Book Price Fixing Case Demeter Apr 2012 #48
Ford faces threat of first strikes since 1970s xchrom Apr 2012 #51
TARP: Billions in Loans in Doubt Demeter Apr 2012 #52
THE MODEST PROPOSAL AND THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT (eurozone and EU) Demeter Apr 2012 #53
George Washington: 2 Years After the BP Oil Spill, Is the Gulf Ecosystem Collapsing? Demeter Apr 2012 #55
The most telling story..... AnneD Apr 2012 #68
Mark Gongloff SEC, CFTC Retreat On Swap Dealer Regulation Demeter Apr 2012 #58
Today's Economic Reports (Durable Goods) >>>> Roland99 Apr 2012 #59
Bank of America Faces Bad Home-Equity Loans APRIL 18 Demeter Apr 2012 #60
Romney cites 'vast left wing conspiracy' Demeter Apr 2012 #61
Fresh reports show little evidence of housing rebound xchrom Apr 2012 #64
Well, I'm Bushed Demeter Apr 2012 #69
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Economy»STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wed...»Reply #9