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Correspondence with UK government over server seizures

Yakoub Islam | 21.12.2004 13:53 | Indymedia | Repression | Oxford | Sheffield

Correspondence between Yakoub Islam, director of the Tasneem Project website, and the UK government regarding FBI seizure of Indymedia servers this October.

Tony Blair, PM
10 Downing Street,
London,
SW1A 2AA

October 11, 2004

Dear Prime Minister

I am writing to draw your attention to recent alarming events affecting the Independent Media Center (IMC).

On Thursday, October 7th, I understand a court order under the context of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty forced an ISP to the IMC to surrender two servers used by the group. This caused the loss of IMC websites services in 17 countries, including the service set to provide streaming coverage of the European Social Forum 14-17th October 2004.

Some sites have lost months of articles and coverage. In effect, the writing of history from below has been silenced.

The seizure of the servers occurred without any notification and a spokesperson for the FBI (the seizing authority) has stated that the subpoena was authorized at the request of the Swiss and Italian authorities.

The IMC is a network of collectively run grassroots media that presents an important alternative news service, in a world where corporate media interests frequently dictate news agendas of little relevance to the needs and concerns of ordinary people.

The people at IMC work as part of their commitment to a better, more peaceful world. Whilst I understand that, post-9/11, governments may feel the need to limit freedom of speech in some instances, I believe the aforementioned actions of the FBI have seriously impeded free speech far beyond what is justifiable on security grounds.

I am therefore calling on you to monitor this situation so that security agencies are held accountable, investigations are rapidly concluded and the servers are thus returned at the earliest possible time.

Sincerely

Yakoub Islam

RESPONSE...

Home Office
50 Queen Anne's Gate
LONDON
SW1H 9AT

Dear Mr Islam,

Thank you for your letter dated 11 October 2004 addressed to the Prime Minister regarding Indymedia. Your letter has been passed to the Home Office as the government Department responsible for such matters and I have been asked to reply.

It is standard Home Office policy neither to confirm nor deny the existence or receipt of a mutual legal assistance request. However, I would like to provide information on the process of mutual legal assistance.

Mutual legal assistance treaties are not just restricted to cases of international terrorism, kidnapping and money laundering. They can cover all types of crime or be crime specific. For example many states have treaties that relate solely to the issue of combating drug trafficking. Others have all crime treaties, which provides a basis for mutual legal assistance generally. The treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States is an all crimes treaty and is not limited to just serious crime.

The procedure for MLA requests is as follows: Requests are issued from one state and may be acceded to by the requested state provided that the request is in conformity with domestic law of that requested state. In the case of the UK, the Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003 sets out the general framework for acceding to requests from overseas jurisdictions for the provision of evidence for their investigations or proceedings.

Unfortunately, I am not in a position to comment in detail on this particular matter, but I can provide general information. In this case it would appear that, pursuant to a US Commissioner’s subpoena, Rackspace US accessed its servers in London from the USA. No UK law enforcement agencies were involved.

Yours sincerely

Stuart Blackley
Deputy Head - Central Authority

Yakoub Islam
- e-mail: plimfix@btopenworld.com
- Homepage: http://www.bayyinat.org.uk/index.html

Comments

Hide the following 8 comments

Poor response from the "Home Office"

21.12.2004 15:10


This is the same poor response which I received from the "Home Office".

Write again, insisting that they reply properly explaining the reasons for the server seizure and the person or organisation who ordered the seizure...

nowar


Obsfucation?

21.12.2004 18:10

"No UK law enforcement agencies were involved."

Were any "Agencies" involved?

Addison


FAX YOUR MP

21.12.2004 20:52

www.faxyourmp.com

-
- Homepage: http://www.faxyourmp.com


FAX YOUR MP

21.12.2004 20:52

www.faxyourmp.com

-
- Homepage: http://www.faxyourmp.com


yes, it was simply a US matter...

22.12.2004 11:44

...whether or not Rackspace were legally obliged (under US law, as they are based in the US, and the order was served by US authority's to a US company) to comply regarding their London operation, I don't know, thats a matter for the lawyers. Perhaps if they didn't the directors of Rackspace would now be facing a lengthy court case. But perhaps not. What exactly is the lagal situation on this matter? Did Rackspace ask their lawyers...or did they just panic at the sight of the FBI and comply?

However it does appear that the US authorties were doing this for a third party (the Swiss undercovercover cop pic's that apparently upset them so much). As regards this legal situation, which treaties, if any were innvocked, again, I don't know.

It's possible that all their (authority's) actions were technically illegal.

...Maybe all the professed info is a blag...and the real reason was plain old intellgence gathering (in general) and hassasment, and attempts to block Indymedia...essecially seeing as this seizure, and disablement of the UK Indemedia server, occured at the time of the European Social Forum. 'They' hate events that foculise inter-communal peaceful consciousness.

Why do they hate this...

 http://www.suite101.com/discussion.cfm/ritual_abuse/111339/latest/1

(this is how 'the beast' was/is made)

...because 'they' (primarly on a energy level rather than individuals per say) are completey and perverted insane.

Allah Akbar

King Amdo.

King Amdo


right ..

22.12.2004 23:43

thanks Dodo ... we'll have to think about that :)

Awesome Sky


Second attempt at a comment, formerly 'Global sensorship'.

23.12.2004 15:27

So, in other words, any foreign country can sensor our media without our elected representatives lifting a finger to stop them. This they call 'democracy'?

Doug.


So the sky is awesum?...

30.12.2004 22:05

..try taking a look at what's happening on the ground egosing idiot.

Blessed be.

King Amdo