Judge Rules Twitter Data Fair Game In Wikileaks Investigation

Wired reports that "The Justice Department is entitled to records of the Twitter accounts used by three current and former WikiLeaks associates, a federal judge ruled Thursday, dealing a victory to prosecutors in a routine records demand that turned into a fierce court battle over online privacy and free speech. ... The Justice Department has been seeking the Twitter records under 18 USC 2703(d), a 1994 amendment to the Stored Communications Act that allows law enforcement access to non-content internet records, such as transaction information, without demonstrating the 'probable cause' needed for a full-blown search warrant." Jacob Appelbaum, one of the three, was also detained on his re-entry to the U.S. last August (as well as on numerous other occasions) and had his email records seized as well. The others are Birgitta Jonsdottir (a member of Iceland's parliament) and Dutch businessman Rop Gonggrijp.

Comments

Fourth Amendment down the drain

[k6mfw]

eom

Hey Governments

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't want something to leak out? Then don't do something where you can get caught with your pants down.

This just shows how free the common man really is.... not.

Fourth Amendment Abuse

[rabidmuskrat]

This really seems like quite the abuse of the fourth amendment. The whole lack of a need for probably cause is extremely troubling.

A nasty blow to privacy.

Like the guy said.

[AftanGustur]

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

--Abraham Lincoln

Re:Like the guy said.

[the linux geek]

Coming from him, that's pretty damn funny.

Habeas Corpus?

[Quila]

Lincoln ignored a court's ruling that his detention of people without habeas corpus was unlawful since the Constitution reserved the power to suspend habeas corpus to Congress alone.

Congress later approving the action does not make it right. He did what was at the time blatantly unconstitutional.