Here is the latest from the register about the arrest related to the latest imc server seizure. The arrested man is a sys admin who hosted several servers including the indymedia server. Apparently this is enough to get you held for 8 hours and bail conditions. But the comments get it - 
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/10/indymedia/comments/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/10/indymedia/comments/
Police bail sysadmin in animal rights extremism probe
Colo contract prompts Serious Crime Act arrest
By Chris Williams
Posted in Law, 10th February 2009 15:01 GMT
A Sheffield man has been released on police bail after being questioned in connection with comments posted to the activist news website Indymedia, which included the personal details of a prominent High Court judge.
The man, in his 40s and thought to work as a systems administrator, was arrested on Monday and questioned for about eight hours. He has been bailed without charge to appear at a police station in May. His home was searched and computer equipment and paperwork seized.
The comments at the centre of the investigation were critical of Mr Justice Neil Butterfield for the landmark blackmail sentences he handed down to seven animal rights extremists last month. One posting encouraged other Indymedia users to use the personal information to contact Butterfield and "to let this friend of [animal testing firm Huntingdon Life Sciences] know exactly what you think about him".
Indymedia administrators deleted the personal information soon after it was posted, but they were contacted by Kent Police the following day requesting the IP addresses of the posters. The Kent force carried out the original investigation that resulted in the blackmail sentences handed down by Butterfield.
Indymedia told Kent Police it does not record IP addresses. The same day the force seized a server belonging to Indymedia and hosted at Manchester-based colocation provider UK Grid.
The Register understands that the man arrested was not responsible for either of the comments and is not an Indymedia activist or administrator. Rather the server was hosted by UK Grid under a contract in his name, along with several others on behalf of unrelated clients.
He was arrested under sections 44-46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, which came into force on October 1 last year. The relevant sections criminalise "intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence", "encouraging or assisting an offence believing it will be committed" and "encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed".
A spokeswoman for Kent Police confirmed the man was arrested on "suspicion of incitement" under the Serious Crime Act.
Indymedia has a long-standing policy of not retaining IP address logs to preserve anonymity, and the hard drive of the server taken from UK Grid was encrypted, as were the drives taken from the man's home. It's understood police did not use Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) powers to demand he turn over any encryption keys.
Refusing to provide encryption keys is an offence under section 49 of RIPA and carries a prison sentence of up to five years.
Colo contract prompts Serious Crime Act arrest
By Chris Williams
Posted in Law, 10th February 2009 15:01 GMT
A Sheffield man has been released on police bail after being questioned in connection with comments posted to the activist news website Indymedia, which included the personal details of a prominent High Court judge.
The man, in his 40s and thought to work as a systems administrator, was arrested on Monday and questioned for about eight hours. He has been bailed without charge to appear at a police station in May. His home was searched and computer equipment and paperwork seized.
The comments at the centre of the investigation were critical of Mr Justice Neil Butterfield for the landmark blackmail sentences he handed down to seven animal rights extremists last month. One posting encouraged other Indymedia users to use the personal information to contact Butterfield and "to let this friend of [animal testing firm Huntingdon Life Sciences] know exactly what you think about him".
Indymedia administrators deleted the personal information soon after it was posted, but they were contacted by Kent Police the following day requesting the IP addresses of the posters. The Kent force carried out the original investigation that resulted in the blackmail sentences handed down by Butterfield.
Indymedia told Kent Police it does not record IP addresses. The same day the force seized a server belonging to Indymedia and hosted at Manchester-based colocation provider UK Grid.
The Register understands that the man arrested was not responsible for either of the comments and is not an Indymedia activist or administrator. Rather the server was hosted by UK Grid under a contract in his name, along with several others on behalf of unrelated clients.
He was arrested under sections 44-46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, which came into force on October 1 last year. The relevant sections criminalise "intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence", "encouraging or assisting an offence believing it will be committed" and "encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed".
A spokeswoman for Kent Police confirmed the man was arrested on "suspicion of incitement" under the Serious Crime Act.
Indymedia has a long-standing policy of not retaining IP address logs to preserve anonymity, and the hard drive of the server taken from UK Grid was encrypted, as were the drives taken from the man's home. It's understood police did not use Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) powers to demand he turn over any encryption keys.
Refusing to provide encryption keys is an offence under section 49 of RIPA and carries a prison sentence of up to five years.
Comments
Hide the following 6 comments
this is intended to change Indymedia's policy
10.02.2009 23:18
I'm sure no charges will be filed against this person, but that is irrelevant, the damage is already done.
Expect more like this from Big Brother in the future.
Practical solutions anyone?
anon
re: whats going on
11.02.2009 01:43
I have no inside knowledge, this is just what I get from reading the reports:
a) The guy who was arrested was just someone who has several servers on his account at UK Grid, one of which happens to be Indymedia's. He's just like a middle-level ISP who sorts out servers on behalf of customers.
b) Most websites store IP logs for every single page hit. Indymedia doesn't, it just temporarily stores the IP address that posts stories as they come in. This is essential otherwise it makes it easy for spammers or political opponents to post thousands of junk stories.
Anyway, if you want your privacy, you shouldn't rely on Indymedia, whatever they say or are doing. Someone else said it only takes one infiltrator in the right place and your privacy is toast.
Work on the assumption that your IP address will be logged, and will be visible to the police (even though that is probably not true). Use Tor (
anon
solutions
11.02.2009 01:51
?
all credit...
11.02.2009 11:14
Fighting Fit
Agree
11.02.2009 16:34
anon
IM & El Reg challenge
11.02.2009 17:32
Danny