Hosting Provider Shut Down By FBI

An Anonymous Reader writes: "An 80-strong U.S. FBI agents raided the Texas-based host of Arabic Web sites, including that of the Arab world's leading independent news channel, prompting charges on Thursday of an 'anti-Muslim witchhunt.'" The Reuters story is at Yahoo! as well. Did you know there was a North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force, or that it would be shutting down ISPs?

Comments

CNN probably has stuff too

[trance9]

Imagine if an FBI raid on CNN resulting in the broadcaster going off the air for a few hours, or the website being shut down.

I think there's some bias here.

Sure, they probably have a search warrant. Sure, it's probably warranted. But this wouldn't be the first news organization had some information the police wanted or needed, and didn't hand it over. Journalists have these crazy ideas about protecting their sources, and don't always willingly give the police what they want.

But still, if it were a western mainstream media organization the police would be careful not to disrupt operations.

I think there must be some bias here.

Can you say 'Freedom of Press'?

[Bonker]

While the fourth amendment may not have been violated due to the fact that there was a valid search warrant, this kind of tactic sounds like classic 'silencing' to me. The warrant was sealed, right? Why were the offices raided? The quote in the reuters story from the owner indicated that he seemed to think that his news outlets were being targeted for being related to terrorist groups. There was *no* firm reason for the raid given.

Sounds very totalitarian, doesn't it?

As a Texan, I'm rather upset that we have a 'anti-terrorism force' at all! Hevean help me if I started to express anti-American views on my website!

Re:They were *NOT* shut down.

[Patrick13]

Actually, I think that if you read the Yahoo article carefully, it says

"...many of the sites were able to start up again on other servers, while the task force continued to copy computerized information on Thursday. The office remained sealed off by FBI agents."

Starting up on another server is not nearly the same as "coming back online, fair and square".

Quick news hunt.

[BrookHarty]

Found some news clips.

Anti-terrorism agents raid Texas Internet business

FBI Raids Muslim Businesses, Charity Organizations

FBI Raids Dallas-Area Web Business

local news links

[Emrys]

Since people are mentioning lack of real detail on the "why" of the raid, and I live down here in Dallas, I guess I'll be a karma whore:

http://www.wfaa.com/wfaa/articledisplay/0,1002,310 13,00.html
http://www.wfaa.com/wfaa/articledisplay/0,1002,311 20,00.html

Deja Vu All Over Again

[1alpha7]

This reminds me so much of the Steve Jackson Games raid of a decade ago. Yes, the warrant was valid. And sealed. The effect was to nearly silence a voice the SS didn't like.

1Alpha7

sealed warrant? wtf?

[bat'ka makhno]

What bothers me the most is the continuous stream of legal obfuscation perpetrated by government agencies. How many times in the past couple of years have we heard of defense lawyers denied critical information allegedly out of "greater state interest." Some guys who were allegedly linked to the World Trade Center bombing were kept in jail, without being charged, for several years, until even the DA or whoever decides those things decided not to prosecute the case, since the government just didn't have one.

What kind of shit is this? If you're going to be violating people's property and impeding commerce, you'd better have a damn valid reason that will stand up to public scrutiny. Otherwise, we might as well get rid of trial by jury, the pesky fifth amendment or the obligation to prove one's guilt before issuing a sentence. Yeah, that's the ticket, just like in those documentaries about the Third Reich that must be the talk of the town in Quantico nowadays.

This makes me sick.

What amazes me...

[gamgee5273]

...is that the Muslim community in this country actively supported George W. Bush in the presidental campaign because they were scared of Gore's choice of Lieberman. However, when you look at the record and the campaign statements, Bush continually expressed views that were anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian, while both Gore and Lieberman were clearly on the side of following Clinton's aggressive stance on helping the peace agreement. And they're surprised that the FBI, under an Attorney General who holds some really antiquated political views, have taken these actions.

Frankly, this doesn't surprise me. George W. Bush and his administration have no problem with you being a different skin color, economic/social class, sexual orientation, etc. as long as you act like them. I'm not saying the Dems are better, but at least there's some indicator from them that you don't have to goosestep to their march exactly the way the Republicans do...

I'm seriously thinking of moving to Canada until the Shrub presidency is over if this type of action is going to become commonplace. I definitely don't want to raise my children (who will be European/Filipino) in an environment that the Bush Clan seems to think ideal if that environment means silencing dissent and allowing banks to close accounts based on religious views...

Some big differences

[L-Train8]

The Hindu Unity website incident is a very different situation. The site had some strong anti-Muslim views, particularly towards Muslims in India. Stuff that could be interpereted as a call for violence against Muslims in India (the current home page has a cartoon of Muslims stabbing to death a Hindu mother). And people complained to the ISP, who told the organization to take their business elsewhere. Here is an article.

The case of the ISP in Texas involves the government shutting down, albeit temporarily and as an incidental consequence of searching for evidence, lots of websites without explanation, only a sealed warrant. This includes one of the most prominent sites news of the middle east that is not controlled by a government of the region.

People get up in arms about controversial websites, like porn sites, hate sites, spammer sites, radical anti-abortion sites, etc, all the time. And sometimes, complaints to the ISP are effective in forcing the site to move to an ISP that is less concerned about complaints from the public. That isn't really news.

The government shutting down 500 mostly arab-related websites without explanation should be considered more newsworthy.