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FBI Caught On Camera Returning Seized Server
sunbird writes "As previously covered on Slashdot, on April 18th the FBI seized a server located in a New York colocation facility shared by May First / People Link and Riseup.net. The server, which was operated by the European Counter Network ('ECN'), the oldest independent internet service provider in Europe, was seized in relation to bomb threats sent to the University of Pittsburgh using a Mixmaster anonymous remailer hosted on the server (search warrant). The FBI's action has been criticized by the EFF. Predictably, the threats continued even after the server seizure. On April 24th, the FBI quietly returned the server, without notifying either Mayfirst / People Link or riseup, and were caught on video doing it."
Due process and transparency?
This is borderline "coverup" activity.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
I think the concern stopping them from using the server now is the fear that the FBI modified "something" to log or report on traffic going through the server.
Absent the implementation questions of whether there will be anything useful in the logs, when someone takes you equipment and returns it later without comment, it is not unreasonable to assume that something happened to it.
(Note: I have participated in DoJ forensic training. The FBI procedures should be similar.)
As to the validity of the concern: Investigators are not usually allowed to mount storage media in read/write mode. If they do so, any evidence obtained from that media will no longer be admissible in court. While many labs do have non-forensic connectors for storage media, they are usually not used for fear of accidentally tampering with the evidence.
Investigators will make copies of media and manipulate the copies, but the originals will never be changed.
This does not say that there is no way from them to put some kind of logging software/firmware/hardware on the server, but it is pretty unlikely.
How is this a "coverup"? There was a properly adjudicated warrant to seize the server in the first place (whether or not it was over-broad, and whether or not someone agrees with the reasoning). Law enforcement is not obligated to make public announcements — and this story was covered widely.
For the people saying this is a Fourth Amendment violation, do people really think the FBI just routinely rolls onto private property without a legal justification for doing so? Again, saying "we weren't notified of the server's seizure or return" has nothing to do with the legality of either action.
In the first discussion, many were lamenting the possibility that the server may not be returned for months, if ever; now it's been returned (probably after having its drive(s) imaged) in a timely fashion and that's a bad thing, too? The issue of notification or announcement is irrelevant to the law.
What I would be concerned about is if the FBI entered private property without permission and without a legal basis — for example, via continuing coverage by one or more warrants to enter the property. Notice that is not what is being alleged here, just what some people are assuming...
Normally, in a free society, any interactions with Law Enforcement would be above board and you would be notified.
Riseup and May First/Peoplelink weren't notified. They also didn't own the server or the space. Nothing says that the FBI didn't notify ECN.