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General News    H3'ed 2/22/10

Feds Wanted Private Data on Visitors to Liberal News Site

By Written by Adam Armstrong Media Feb 19, 2010  Posted by Bia Winter (about the submitter)       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   12 comments
Message Bia Winter
Heads Up, People!
This could be happening to OEN someday!

A Justice Department subpoena requested that Indymedia.us hand over any information the website had on visitors who viewed the website on June 25, 2008. Indymedia is an independent left-leaning news website that addresses controversial issues such as gay rights. The website was targeted as part of a crime investigation by the state of Indiana. In addition to asking for identifying information such as IP addresses, email addresses, and bank account numbers, the Justice Department ordered Indymedia to keep quiet about the subpoena. Indymedia ultimately won the right to not hand over the information requested, which it said it did not have because it does not store visitor information for that long to protect the privacy of its visitors. The incident has raised a number of concerns from civil libertarians and privacy watchdog groups. The subpoena was a blatant violation of Indymedia's Constitutional rights, since the company was unable to consult an attorney due to the Justice Department request that the subpoena be kept secret. The subpoena also violated the rights of Indymedia visitors, as many interpret the Constitution to guarantee Americans the right to read the news anonymously.

Sources:

"Feds demanded identities of news site's readers" J.D. Tuccille, Examiner, November 10, 2009

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Bia Winter Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Bia Winter is an Artist/Writer from Maine, and has been an activist and letter-writer since the 60's. In 2004 she received the Roger Baldwin Award from the Maine American Civil Liberties Union for furthering Democracy after she got a Resolution (more...)
 
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