US seizes independent media sites
 

The FBI has shut down some 20 sites which were part of an alternative media network known as Indymedia.
A US court order forced the firm hosting the material to hand over two servers in the UK used by the group.

Indymedia says it is a news source for the anti-globalisation movement and other social justice issues.

The reasons behind the seizure are unclear but the FBI has reportedly said the action was taken at the request of Italian and Swiss authorities.

Legal action

The servers affected were run by Rackspace, a US web hosting company with offices in London.

It said it had received a court order from the US authorities last Thursday to hand over the computer equipment at its UK hosting facility.

"Rackspace is acting as a good corporate citizen and is cooperating with international law enforcement authorities," said a statement by the company.

It said it was responding to an order issued under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. Under the agreement, countries assist each other in investigations such as international terrorism, kidnapping and money laundering

The reasons behind the action against the Indymedia websites are unclear.

The group said the servers affected had hosted the sites of more then 20 local collectives and audio streams for several radio stations, as well as several other projects.

"Indymedia had been asked last month by the FBI to remove a story about Swiss undercover police from one of the websites hosted at Rackspace," said the group in a statement.

"It is not known, however, whether Thursday's order is related to that incident since the order was issued to Rackspace and not to Indymedia."

'Intolerable and intrusive'

A FBI spokesperson told the AFP news agency that it was not an FBI operation, saying the order had been issued at the request of Italian and Swiss authorities.

The seizure has sparked off protests from journalist groups.

"We have witnessed an intolerable and intrusive international police operation against a network specialising in independent journalism," said Aidan White, general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists.

"The way this has been done smacks more of intimidation of legitimate journalistic inquiry than crime-busting."

The UK site of Indymedia is back up and running but several of the other 20 sites affected are still offline.

In the US, the civil liberties group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said it was working with Indymedia over how to react to the seizures.

"The constitution does not permit the government unilaterally to cut off the speech of an independent media outlet, especially without providing a reason or even allowing Indymedia the information necessary to contest the seizure," said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3732718.stm

wonder if cardomain.com was with them:glugglug

that sucks, i dont see how the us can take their servers in england.

bastards :feels-hot

I can

:(

one of my friends really kicked off about this in the pub the other night

"......at the request of Italian and Swiss authorities......"

crazy i wonder what the reasoning is behind this if it was really all about just a news story they posted on one of there sites or it was more than that... definately more than that

But of course. Some other country tells you to do something and you immediatly follow their orders? A few weeks later they'll be shutting down websites at the request of the Castro government :)

The least they can do is give a reason why. Is it too much to ask nowadays?

The problem here is Rackspace they are USA based so they can get their business shut down if they don't help USA government.

They need to stop raping the constitution.

wrong, KARL ROVER seized all their computers not the fbi :Graucho

the other point people are missing - this is why UK webmasters need to follow 2257.

not just UK webmasters and it's not just 2257.

A bunch people are in for a rude awaking.

I dont know how clear i can make this for everyone, but

DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS CASE NOW.

It would only take a small portion of your day to make a few simple calls

#1 call rackspace
usa/canada
1-800-961-4454

Europe
+44 20 8897 4717

Tell them you will pull all your hosting if they cant legally protect your files. Tell them there is a right way to seize files ( a court order ) , and theres a wrong way ( theft deception corruption )

#2 call your local f.bi. field office and complain complain complain.


#3 call your local news tip line, give them a link to this story and tell them to run it ( wardialer it if you can )

Of course not but as I am in the UK and 2257 has been an issue much debated in the European community it is worth noting.

I just cancelled the servers I had with rackspace and told them exactly why. This is horseshit. So much for even the illusion of a free press.

They can take them because os a mutual assistance agreement. that agreement exists between most rational countries in the world.

:)