p2pnet.net News:- A site on the Independent Media Center (IMC) network of collectively run media outlets last month carried a story that included photographs of undercover Swiss investigators posing as anti-globalization activists.

Now, following FBI demands based on ‘requests’ from two foreign governments, more then 20 IMC collectives are offline.

IMC servers are managed by Rackspace, based in Texas, and according to the FBI, subpoenas were issued for the hardware at the request of Italian and Swiss authorities.

"The servers (ahimsa) host the sites of more then 20 local collectives, radio streams for several radio stations, BLAG (a Linux distribution as well as miscellanous other projects," says IMC, going on that it had no warning and still doesn’t know why the servers were taken, or where they are now.

"The last few months have seen numerous attacks on independent media by the US Federal Government," it says in a post. "In August the Secret Service used a subpoena in an attempt to disrupt the NYC IMC before the RNC by trying to get IP logs from an ISP in the US and the Netherlands. Last month the FCC shut down community radio stations around the US.

"Two weeks ago the FBI requested that Indymedia takes down a post on the Nantes IMC that had a photo of some undercover Swiss police and IMC volunteers in Seattle were visited by the FBI on the same issue."

Now acting for the journalists, the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) says, "The FBI can’t pull the plug on more than 20 news websites – our modern printing presses – based on a secret proceeding at the request of a foreign government …The government can’t shut down the New York Times, and it can’t shut down Indymedia."

The EFF says it’s contacted the FBI to demand the return of the IMC’s "illegally seized servers" and is preparing for legal action in the event negotiations with the FBI fail.

It’s also calling on Rackspace to challenge, "the government’s illegal seizure," it says, adding:

"If Rackspace stands behind its claim of providing ‘Fanatical Support’ to its customers, it will go to bat for Indymedia, one of its biggest customers, and demand that the FBI return the seized Internet servers," says Eff lawyer Kurt Opsahl.

"Rackspace should also fight for its own rights and challenge the gag order preventing it from sharing its side of the story."

===================

See:-

anti-globalization activists – FBI Seizes IMC Servers in the UK, IMC, October 7, 2004

modern printing presses – EFF Challenges Secret Government Order to Shut Down Media Websites, EFF, October 12, 2004

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 12th, 2004 at 10:54 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

HOME

Viewed 2100 times