The story below has large implications for the GPO’s Future Digital System. What would happen if the FBI wanted to look over the server log files of a centralized, government-controlled system of government information? The FBI wouldn’t even need a subpoena. They would already have the information they needed and users would be none the wiser.
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On Thursday, October 7, 2004, two Independent Media Center (IMC or Indymedia) Web Servers were seized from the US-owned web hosting company Rackspace operating in London (UK) by the US Justice Department acting at the request of Italian and Swiss authorities.
Eectronic Frontier Foundation last week won a motion that allows EFF access to sealed court documents about the disappearance of two web servers used to host news websites for Indymedia. The unsealed documents reveal that the government never officially demanded the computer servers, but requested only the server log files from the Rackspace.
By providing the government more data than it requested, Rackspace clearly violated the privacy of indymedia and other journalists whose information was hosted on the server.
EFF press release (includes the documents of the Commissioner’s subpoena, the order unsealing the documents etc.)
Indymedia Server Seizures (provides backbround of litigation)
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