Indymedia Server Raided by FBI

[flyingfysh]

This was reported at Slashdot, see http://slashdot.org for more details and discussion. Here is one quote: "Nobody's exactly sure why or how the FBI got warrants to take Indymedia's HDs, but their speculation tends to center around the fact that the Feds were spooked by the fact that Indymedia was able to publish RNC delegate names."

More details can be found at http://nyc.indymedia.org/feature/display/126066/index.php

[Radius]

1. They

hosted information stolen from someones server, including admin password.

I remember seeing the page and thinking they really should pull it, they left it.

Plans to hack gop servers, faxes, and email systems before the rnc were on the page. Not a good thing to host on a domestic server.

It stayed up for hours. It varies from state to state I believe but hosting stolen information is a felony.

[MGKrebs]

2. Hmmm. I hope for your sake they

are not also looking for witnesses!

[Radius]

4. Web Caches

make better witnesses.

Just saying some content is obviously illegal to host.

If I posted the vpn password and client info for the gop site as well as the server(s) admin accounts and DU did not pull it, that could cause a problem.

Activisim good, hosting stolen information is not wise. Especially on a server that resides in the US.

[JackieO]

14. USA: World Police?

Micah of the global imc-tech collective said:

"We suspect it has to do with an FBI request that we take down a post on the Nantes IMC that had a photo of some undercover Swiss police. They claimed there was threats and personal information, but there was nothing of the sort. The undercover police that were photographed on the page were photographing protesters. Rackspace is a US company, but have colocation in the UK where these servers are (err, were) located. So this is about Swiss police, on a French site, on a server in England, taken away by American federal police... can I be the first to say WTF?!"

[makhno]

28. Radius is right

They really shouldn't be doing any activist work on machines in the US or US allies in the war on infoterror.

[MsMagnificent]

37. You know, there IS a thing called Interpol...

Additionally I do believe that the FBI is internal to the United States. If one of our agencies were to do anything, wouldn't it then be the CIA?

This smells verrrrry fishy to me! I second JackieO! :)

[6th Borough]

50. IIRC, Interpol a collaborative organization of its 182 member countries

It isn't quite a police force unto itself; actual "policing" by Interpol is handled by the law enforcement organizations of its member countries, including the FBI.

I could be wrong, but that is my understanding of how Interpol works. I don't think anyone has had a person wearing an Interpol badge show up at there door.

[crossroads]

31. Wow!

:dem:

[MsMagnificent]

36. Um -- so where do the Swiss & Italian police fit in?

[6th Borough]

3. Hmm...wonder if they ever raided FR for hosting an "Enemies List"

Complete with names and addresses, at the very least.

[Demeter]

5. You Got Hopes

They couldn't do anything about the doctor killers, even. Wasn't politically expedient.

[6th Borough]

6. Wouldn't. Be. Prudent.

:puke:

[Radius]

9. Those people had their site shutdown, hit list(nt)

[bowens43]

7. The march toward fascism continues....

[flying_blind]

34. RE: "The march toward fascism continues...."

It started when the government, in the midst of a worldwide economic crisis, received reports of an imminent terrorist attack. A foreign ideologue had launched feeble attacks on a few famous buildings, but the media largely ignored his relatively small efforts. The intelligence services knew, however, that the odds were he would eventually succeed. (Historians are still arguing whether or not rogue elements in the intelligence service helped the terrorist; the most recent research implies they did not.)

But the warnings of investigators were ignored at the highest levels, in part because the government was distracted; the man who claimed to be the nation's leader had not been elected by a majority vote and the majority of citizens claimed he had no right to the powers he coveted. He was a simpleton, some said, a cartoon character of a man who saw things in black-and-white terms and didn't have the intellect to understand the subtleties of running a nation in a complex and internationalist world. His coarse use of language - reflecting his political roots in a southernmost state - and his simplistic and often-inflammatory nationalistic rhetoric offended the aristocrats, foreign leaders, and the well-educated elite in the government and media. And, as a young man, he'd joined a secret society with an occult-sounding name and bizarre initiation rituals that involved skulls and human bones.

Nonetheless, he knew the terrorist was going to strike (although he didn't know where or when), and he had already considered his response. When an aide brought him word that the nation's most prestigious building was ablaze, he verified it was the terrorist who had struck and then rushed to the scene and called a press conference.

"You are now witnessing the beginning of a great epoch in history," he proclaimed, standing in front of the burned-out building, surrounded by national media. "This fire," he said, his voice trembling with emotion, "is the beginning."
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0316-08.htm

[KoKo]

8. Well...they've got my e-mail addy here in NC..then...when are they showing

up at the door "kicking it in and" saying "come out with your hands raised?"

[JackieO]

10. press release

FBI Seizes IMC Servers in the UK

Press Release

7 October 2004

FBI Seizes IMC Servers in the UK

US authorities issued a federal order to Rackspace's office in the US ordering them to provide Indymedia's hardware located in London to the requesting agency. Rackspace is one of Indymedia's web hosting providers with offices in the US and London. Rackspace complied, without first notifying Indymedia, and turned over Indymedia's server in the UK. This affects some 20+ Indymedia sites worldwide.

Since the subpoena was issued to Rackspace and not to Indymedia, the reasons for this action are still unknown to Indymedia. Talking to Indymedia volunteers, Rackspace stated that "they cannot provide Indymedia with any information regarding the order." ISPs have received gag orders in similar situations which prevent them from updating the concerned parties on what is happening.

It is unclear to Indymedia how and why a server that is outside the US jurisdiction can be seized by US authorities.

At the same time a second server was taken down at Rackspace which provided streaming radio to several radio stations, BLAG (linux distro), and a handful of miscellanous things.

The last few months have seen numerous attacks on independent media by the US Federal Government. 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. On the other hand, Indymedia and other independent media organisations were successfull with their victories for example against Diebold and the Patroit Act. Today however, the US authorities shut down IMCs around the world.

The list of affected local media collectives includes Ambazonia, Uruguay, Andorra, Poland, Western Massachusetts, Nice, Nantes, Lilles, Marseille (all France), Euskal Herria (Basque Country), Liege, East and West Vlaanderen, Antwerpen (all Belgium), Belgrade, Portugal, Prague, Galiza, Italy, Brazil, UK, part of the Germany site, and the global Indymedia Radio site.

End press release

[bicentennial_baby]

12. Western MA?

Wtf? I'm a member of WMA Indymedia....

[kayell]

19. WTF? Have we finally turned the UK into a US colony?

How can the FBI force a company to turn over hardware in another country than the US?

[saigon68]

21. THE US ALREADY HAS A POODLE THERE

With the end of POODLES'S Leash being held by President Cheney.

[Sophree]

23. It's Oceana.

We are a continuation of the British Empire. That's why Blair and Bush have to do what they're told. Same (blue) bloodlines.

Orwell warned us.

OCEANA.

http://www.orwelltoday.com/orwellvision.shtml

[murdoch]

11. Indymedia

When the Nicaraguan government used to close a newspaper up for a day, Reagan would start screaming how they were totalitarian and needed to be invaded. Yet, the FBI shuts down Indymedia like the FSLN may have, hey, no big deal.

Indymedia usually doesn't have server logs so such raids are pointless in that regard, although not pointless if you want to harass and shut it down. It is an open newswire, and people do post information the government declares you can't (and if it's illegal, Indymedia almost always takes it down, although I think they sued over Diebold documents), but then again, usually by the time information shows up on Indymedia it's all over the web and net anyway. As the government at the behest of its corporate backers declares more and more bits and information private property, secret and whatnot, more and more of net communications becomes "illegal".

[Sophree]

24. You're exactly right.

It's started. They're going after the alternative (open) media now.

Wasn't there a guerrilla radio station in this country raided last week as well? (in Portland or San Fran?)

[Say_What]

27. Raided last week: Radio Free Santa Cruz & First Amendment Radio

http://www.freakradio.org/

http://www.tnimc.org/feature/display/2762/index.php

[Radius]

39. Pirates?(nt)

[tinanator]

13. those pussies

it was public info, with nothing illegal about it. But if they would just post a reward, im sure somebody would roll over on the culprit.
:P

[JackieO]

15. A "courtesy" to the Swiss?

The FBI's latest anti-free-press actions began at the beginning of October when they visited Indymedia's ISP demanding the removal of identifying information from photographs of undercover police officers that was posted on the Nantes Indymedia website. When asked what the US government was doing requesting the removal of information from a French-run website that contained information about Swiss police actions, the FBI stated that this was a "courtesy" to the Swiss government. The FBI agents stated that no laws had been broken, and no crimes had been committed. However, because no identifying information was posted on the website in question, it was unclear what actions the FBI was requesting.

The article in question is/was posted here:

http://nantes.indymedia.org/article.php3?id_article=3910

On Tuesday October 5th, Indymedia received the following message from Rackspace:

"I apologize for the delay in responding. I have been trying to get a hold of the FBI agent I spoke with before, but haven't been able to at this time. As the request originated with the Swiss police, I can only speculate on what they saw or what they were concerned about. However, at this time, I have received no further communications from either the FBI or the Swiss authorities, so I feel like we can close this issue."

Today the FBI seized Global Indymedia servers; however it is unclear if this is related to the Nantes issue or is a second FBI concern within the past week.

(14:20) Rackspace has issued a "no comment" response concerning the FBI's actions.

(16:10) Rackspace has issued the following comments:

I have been in contact with the regional director responsible for the federal order. He has stated that I can not provide any information regarding the order. I am going to follow up with our law enforcement liason to verify this, however.

Regards,

Jennifer O'Connell Rackspace AUP

***

Unfortunately, we have received a federal order to provide your hardware to the requesting agency. We are complying at this time. Our datacenter technicians are building you a new server which will be online as soon as possible. Your account manager will notify you once the new server is online and available.

I apologize for abruptness of this. However, we are required to comply with all federal orders of this nature.

Please let us know if there is anything that we can do to make this easier on you.

Regards,

Jennifer O'Connell AUP Administrator Rackspace Managed Hosting

***

(16:55) Original photos are now available here:

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/mtoups/nantes/copsinnantes.htm

More information can be found at http://www.indymedia.org/de/2004/10/111987.shtml and http://www.ucimc.org/feature/display/20764/index.php



from: http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/10/07/4704631

[Karenina]

16. ....

:wow:

[Swamp Rat]

17. What's G. Gordon Liddy been up to?

[Robb]

18. Reading the comments at slashdot is fascinating

...If for no other reason than to remind us that not all the really bright people are at DU.






...Nor are all the idiots at FR. ;)

[Sven77]

20. remember how they jailed the "Raise the Fist" guy

http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2002/02/580.shtml

The US Patriot Act, passed after 9/11, enshrines in law the Big Brother State like no other Act before it… Sherman Austin felt its sting when he was sentenced to one year in prison and 3 years probation for creating an anarchist website, “Raise The Fist”.

http://www.freesherman.org/

i think i saw somewhere he said someone posted bomb making information on his message board, and a specific target. sounds like a setup. maybe protestwarrior got him.

[nolabels]

22. I canceled my newspaper subscription

Guess I did that just in time,
wouldn't want them Gee-Men bustin down my door because I read something that was detrimental to the GOP :scared:

[JackieO]

25. IFJ Statement

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the global organisation representing over 500,000 journalists worldwide, today called for an investigation into the action by police in Britain in co-operation with other agencies that led to the temporary closure of 21 of the more than 140 Indymedia web sites worldwide.

"We have witnessed an intolerable and intrusive international police operation against a network specialising in independent journalism," said Aidan White IFJ General Secretary. "The way this has been done smacks more of intimidation of legitimate journalistic inquiry than crime-busting."

The IFJ believes that the authorities may have abused their powers in carrying out the action, which is said to have been carried out at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States.

Yesterday police seized two web server computers in London used by the Indymedia network. The servers were located on the premises of the Rackspace company, which is now not giving out any information.

Initial reports suggested FBI officers themselves had seized the servers. The seizure follows visits by the FBI to Indymedia personnel in the US inquiring about the publication on the French site Indymedia Nantes of photographs of Swiss undercover police photographing protestors. The photographs remain available on other websites.

Indymedia sites, which provide challenging and independent reporting, particularly of political and social justice issues, are open forums where any member of the public can publish their comments.

The IFJ believes the seizure may be linked to a September 30 court case in San Jose California, in which Indymedia San Francisco and two students at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania successfully opposed an application by Diebold Election Systems Inc to remove documents claiming to reveal flaws in the design of electronic voting machines which are due to be used widely in the forthcoming US Presidential election.

Although Indymedia UK was back in operation within hours, several of the other 20 sites affected remain silenced today.

"The seizing of computers and the high profile nature of this incident suggests that someone wanted to stifle these independent voices in journalism," said Aidan White. "We need a full investigation into why this action took place, who took part and who authorised it.”

[MatrixEscape]

26. O'Brien Continues ...

'And remember that it is for ever. The face will always be there to be stamped upon. The heretic, the enemy of society, will always be there, so that he can be defeated and humiliated over again. Everything that you have undergone since you have been in our hands -- all that will continue, and worse. The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. It will be a world of terror as much as a world of triumph. The more the Party is powerful, the less it will be tolerant: the weaker the opposition, the tighter the despotism. Goldstein and his heresies will live for ever. Every day, at every moment, they will be defeated, discredited, ridiculed, spat upon and yet they will always survive. This drama that I have played out with you during seven years will be played out over and over again generation after generation, always in subtler forms. Always we shall have the heretic here at our mercy, screaming with pain, broken up, contemptible -- and in the end utterly penitent, saved from himself, crawling to our feet of his own accord. That is the world that we are preparing, Winston. A world of victory after victory, triumph after triumph after triumph: an endless pressing, pressing, pressing upon the nerve of power. You are beginning, I can see, to realize what that world will be like. But in the end you will do more than understand it. You will accept it, welcome it, become part of it.'

- 1984, George Orwell

[JackieO]

29. Is this newsworthy?

Zero coverage by US media outlets? So far the only "mainstream" news coverage has come from the Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/08/1097089554894.html?oneclick=true

Gee, that's pathetic.

[struggle4progress]

30. Internet company turns over servers to government (AP)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN ANTONIO -- A Texas Internet company said Friday it gave U.S. government officials the hard drives from a pair of its Web servers leased to online journalists and others.

San Antonio-based Rackspace Managed Hosting said it turned over the equipment after receiving a court order under an international treaty governing investigations of crimes such as terrorism, kidnapping and money laundering.
Officials from the Independent Media Center, whose London office leased the Web servers for affiliates in more than two dozen countries, says it has been kept in the dark about what the U.S. investigators might be looking for.

"We don't know what court made the order or why, and we don't know the (federal) agency involved," said Hep Sano, an IMC spokeswoman in San Francisco. <snip>

http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20041009/topstories/10352.shtml


Italy and Switzerland Requested Indymedia's Server Seizure
Posted: 10/09
From: IndyMedia

Today, October 8, 2004, Indymedia has learned that the request to seize Indymedia servers hosted by a US company in the UK originated from government agencies in Italy and Switzerland. More than 20 Indymedia sites, several internet radio streams and other projects were hosted on the servers. They were taken offline on October 7th after an order was issued to Rackspace, Inc., one of Indymedia's web hosting providers. <snip>

According to Italian news agency reports and an Agence France-Presse (AFP) interview with FBI spokesman Joe Parris, the FBI acted on Italian and Swiss requests. "It is not an FBI operation," Parris told AFP. "Through a legal assistance treaty, the subpoena was on behalf of a third country." (1)

Earlier today Rackspace published a statement that they turned over the servers in response to an order under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). The MLAT establishes procedures for countries to assist each other in investigations regarding international terrorism, kidnapping and money laundering. The court prohibits Rackspace from commenting further on this matter. <snip>

By taking down 2 servers more than 20 Indymedia sites were affected in different countries globally as well as several unrelated projects. Indymedia considers this extremely invasive operation a serious threat to the Freedom of Speech worldwide. <snip>

http://mathaba.net/x.htm?http://mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=75983


Feds Seize Media Servers on Behalf of Foreign Gov't
By IPR, with additional online research by Ken Anderson
Oct 9, 2004, 12:05

<snip> The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is currently assisting Indymedia investigate possible responses to the seizure of their information. <snip>

Rackspace contends that a court order prevent then from providing a copy of the subpoena, confirming which court issued the order, or the government agency who served the subpoena. <snip>

<snip> A French Indymedia site last month posted photos of what it believed to be undercover Swiss police officers photographing protesters at a French event. Indymedia received a request from the FBI to pull those photos down, as they "revealed personal information" about the undercover police, said Indymedia press officer Hep Sano. <snip>

Indymedia said yesterday's raids were part of a wider pattern of "attacks" against independent media outlets by the US Federal Government authorities over recent months. Last month the Federal Communications Commission shut down community radio stations around the US. <snip>

http://magic-city-news.com/article_2243.shtml

[struggle4progress]

32. <snip> The last few months have seen numerous attacks on independent ...

... media by the US Federal Government. 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. On the other hand, Indymedia and other independent media organisations were successfull with their victories for example against Diebold and the Patroit Act. Today however, the US authorities shut down IMCs around the world.

The list of affected local media collectives includes Ambazonia, Uruguay, Andorra, Poland, Western Massachusetts, Nice, Nantes, Lilles, Marseille (all France), Euskal Herria (Basque Country), Liege, East and West Vlaanderen, Antwerpen (all Belgium), Belgrade, Portugal, Prague, Galiza, Italy, Brazil, UK, part of the Germany site, and the global Indymedia Radio site. <snip>

Indymedia Servers in U.K. Seized + UPDATES
Original Press Release from Indymedia
FBI Seizes IMC Servers in the UK
07 Oct 2004 22:00 GMT
http://www.unobserver.com/layout5.php?id=1954&blz=2

[flying_blind]

33. Fascism Anyone?

In "Fascism Anyone?," Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, identifies 14 characteristics common to fascist regimes. His comparisons of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto, and Pinochet yielded this list of 14 "identifying characteristics of fascism."

oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm

[JackieO]

35. from the Register:

From the UK Register, which seems to be doing the only real reporting on this matter:

The US seizure of two Indymedia servers in London last Thursday is likely to have needed the approval of UK Home Secretary David Blunkett, but Blunkett may have acted on tenuous legal grounds, according to a Statewatch analysis. Statewatch considers that the seizure is likely to have been made under a US-UK Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) of 1996, but it seems doubtful that the Indymedia request could have been justified under even the broad terms of this treaty.

...And even if there were something far more serious involved than just a couple of photos, the procedure ought to send shivers down the spine of every publishing organisation on the Internet. It is clearly perfectly possible for their operations to be crippled without warning, without their being told what it is they've done, and without explanation. Depending on whether the authorities (under the international MLAT regime this could be many, many authorities) want something you've got or just want to stop you doing something, the crippling could be pretty extensive and pretty long term. If they want you to stop doing something then they'll quite likely want your backups as well, and if you've no servers, no backups, and no idea when/if you're getting them back, two photos is going to be the least of your worries.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/11/home_office_fbi_mlat_request/

[Just Me]

38. ,..."spooked by the fact Indymedia was able to publish RNC delegate,...

,...names."

Speculation about photos of "undercover police officers".

Geez,...I would think that Indymedia has numerous bases to move to quash that subpoena.

This is really weird actions by our "feds".

[Radius]

40. They published

information stolen from another server. Including its root pwd. I saw the page and posted to it.

They left it up for hours. Freedom of speech and stupidly breaking federal and state computer laws are different.

And by doing this you open yourself up to counterattack by hackers, as well as federal search and seizure.

[Just Me]

42. Are not delegate names easily accessible to anyone?

It was okay for certain members of the RNC to intrude into the computers of certain Democrat representatives. Ugh!!!

I agree that "stealing" PROTECTED information and exposing its "root pwd" is not acceptable. What I do find strange is that the information which was posted (e.g. delegates' names) was easily accessible via other sources.

The circumstances are weird. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

[Radius]

44. I work

with computer systems and really dislike the idea of destroying someones system is distasteful. Even if you disagree with them.

That is not all that was published, see 43. If they seized the machine and backup media they are in deep shit. The information I saw was certainly illegal, and was mirrored across servers worldwide.

Even if it was deleted information can be recovered from disk or tape.

[proud patriot]

41. The Feds better do they same with protestwarrior.com

protest warrior actually advocates the killing
of American Citizens . Why are the feds leaving
protestwarriors alone ?

Fair is fair after all :mad:

[Radius]

43. That

is whose server they published the root password and stolen data from.

I posted to the thread and contacted the admin. Pull this now. It stayed for hours.

In my state this is a felony. Really stupid thing to do.

Publishing data stolen from someones server is a bad idea.

[lostnfound]

48. Is the implication to encourage hacking, or perhaps identities of users?

When you say 'password' I would assume that's some kind of password to allow manipulation of the other server.

When you say 'data' I would wonder what the issue is with 'stealing data'. 'Stealing data' that is showing on a website (i.e., copy & paste) is obviously not what you mean, so I guess you must be talking about data that is not visible on the website, such as user information?

So you aren't putting credence in the guess that it was related to photos of undercover Swiss agents?

[6th Borough]

52. Not copy/paste, ALL data stored on the server is compromised.

If what Radius says is correct, the security of the server was completely breached.

Breaking in at the root is akin to getting admin access. Nearly all data on the server could be stolen or modified. The intruder would have read/write access...he/she could do just about anything he wanted to.

I've never visited Protest Warrior, but websites operated by far-right groups aren't usually known for their great design, to say the least. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't take much more than a copy of Nmap and the most basic networking knowledge.

[Just Me]

45. Is that true,..."protest warrior actually advocates the killing of,...

,...American Citizens."

Geez. Which is the greater evil: publishing a list or advocating murder?

[Radius]

46. They are fuckwits

for sure, but publishing info stolen from their servers is really stupid.

[JackieO]

47. Indymedia press release

Hands Off Our Websites

Evidence is beginning to mount that the authorities of at least four countries (Switzerland, Italy, U.K. and U.S.A.) are involved in last week's seizure of two of Indymedia's servers that brought down more than 20 of the Indymedia network's web sites and several internet radio streams. Indymedia has yet to receive any official statement or information about what the order entailed or why it was issued.

An FBI spokesperson, Joe Parris, confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the FBI issued a subpoena to the provider who hosted the Indymedia servers in the U.K., but that it was "on behalf of a third country." Daniel Zapelli, senior federal prosecutor for Geneva (Switzerland), confirmed that he has opened a criminal investigation into Indymedia coverage of the 2003 G8 Summit in Evian. Zapelli will provide details of that investigation at a press conference on Tuesday.

Federal prosecutor of Bologna (Italy) Marina Plazzi stated that she is investigating Italy Indymedia because it may "support terrorism." Plazzi says she will provide more information on Thursday, October 14th.

Meanwhile international journalist associations have come forward in support of Indymedia. "We have witnessed an intolerable and intrusive international police operation against a network specialising in independent journalism," said Aidan White IFJ General Secretary.

Indymedia is consulting with the Electronic Frontier Foundation on how to retrieve its servers and prevent further government attacks on free speech. "EFF is deeply concerned about the grave implications of this seizure for free speech and privacy, and we are exploring all avenues to hold the government accountable for this improper and unconstitutional silencing of independent media.," said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl.

As of Monday, October 11, five of the downed websites have been restored, including Brasil, Euskal Herria, Poland, UK and Nice. Indymedia volunteers are working around the clock to restore the remaining sites, however at least four of them - Uruguay, Italy, Western Massachusetts and Nantes - have suffered data loss as a result of the governments' action.

"This FBI operation gives us even more reason to continue with what we have been doing for several years," says an activist from Italy Indymedia. "Uruguay has a long history of media repression. We don't have the money to pay for web hosting, and so we rely on the solidarity of other countries. Actions like the seizure of the servers make the whole world insecure for free media," says Libertinus, an Indymedia volunteer from Uruguay, one of many Indymedia web sites that was caught in the FBI actions as a bystander. "Uruguay's national elections will take place on October 31st. It's a bad time for this to happen."


For more information see: http://www.indymedia.org/en/static/fbi

[tinanator]

49. omg

http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/10/1699208.php

[6th Borough]

51. It's not just the U.S. Do you expect European governments to hold WTO...

/IMF/World Bank protesters in any higher regard then ours?