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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."
So, they returned a server. Isn't that good?
Maybe I don't understand the issue here.
If I were the people who ran the server, I'd go over the hardware with a fine-toothed comb, and wipe/rebuild the software. There's no telling what (legal or illegal) tracking crap the FBI put in it, if they're giving it back without a huge fight.
Sure it was heavy handed -- in about the same way as shutting down traffic for a major accident is heavy handed. You know we have the ability to just plow that wreckage off our highways and get on with our lives but noooo the police want to find out who was at fault and make sure everyone is okay. Even though it inconveniences thousands of people every day and, predictably, the accidents keep happening despite the police officers' efforts.
Predictably, the threats continued even after the server seizure
That's gotta be the stupidest part of this summary. The idea wasn't to stop the threats but to trace them! If logging wasn't turned off on that server, the FBI would have been able to trace it. That being the only thing they could do, they did it. I mean, if I was a student or parent, I would be really upset if the FBI said "Well, we could confiscate that server and mildly interrupt e-mail service for 300 people but it will only tell us who is doing it if logging is turned on and it's probably not so we're just going to go ahead and let this all continue to happen."
... with the safety and lives of hundreds of other people at the university in mind when it happened.
Yeah, hundreds of people were inconvenienced when their e-mail was disrupted
Big bad FBI, trying to follow the only lead they have on some sick pervert who gets off to bomb threats. Shame on them! Sometimes I think law enforcement is damned if they do, damned if they don't.
My work here is dung.
It never kept any log files or other personal identifying data, so they could probably make some serious coin auctioning it off to whoever wants to pay the most to get a first-hand look at the lastest guvernment spyware.
Let's call it what it is, Anti-Social Media.
The server, which was operated by the European Counter Network ('ECN'), ... was seized in relation to bomb threats sent to the University of Pittsburgh using a Mixmaster anonymous remailer hosted on the server.
Given their recent activities - Terrorist Plots, Hatched by the F.B.I. - I wouldn't be surprised if the FBI e-mailed that bomb threat themselves so they could legally seize and search the ECN system - brilliant.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Try reading the Bill of Rights sometime. The FBI broke the 6th law in that document (also known as the 4th amendment) which requires obtaining a search warrant from a judge prior to entrance.
You mean something like this? The warrant that was linked to not only in the article but also the summary?
And yes sometimes the bad guy gets away.
That would be a hilarious motto for any law enforcement agency! I'd opt for "We do everything within our legal rights to catch the bad guy."
That is preferable to harassing innocent people & treating them like criminals (example: patting down their breasts and crotches)
You are confusing the FBI and TSA.
(example: randomly searching through cars)
You are confusing the FBI and ... your local law enforcement? Who require probable cause?
(example: arresting people who publish anti-war pamphlets)
The FBI might have done that in the past during Vietnam but it was probably for other trumped up bogus charges and luckily today we have the EFF/ACLU to take up those cases when that happens. Got any recent examples or really any citations at all for this entire post?
(example: rounding-up asian-Americans & tossing them in jail cause it's world war 2)
Wow, dude, that was six decades ago ... yeah it was horrible and I think it's been publicly recognized as horribly racist and is a reason for public shame to the United States. I do not think that's happening today.
(example: assassinating Americans because you SUSPECT they might be terrorists)
Again, I think you're confusing the FBI with some other agency ...
(example: strip-searching old people before they can fly)
But you repeat yourself ... that's the TSA, not FBI. The TSA definitely has no purpose and needs to be dissolved.
(example: forcing a breast-feeding mom to stand in a glass jail for an hour, rather than let her take her pumping equipment home to her newborn kid)
What the hell? Citation?
INFORM yourself of what's happening in the world.
Yep, I'm the misinformed one here, got it. Hey, since all government actions are from the same people (you cross state and federal levels several times there) why don't you go tell your local county clerk to stop murdering Afghan children? Makes about as much sense as the rest of your rambling post ...
My work here is dung.
Anyone with a brain would go over that system with a fine-toothed comb to look for such things, and then wipe the system and restore from a known-good backup, and diff update.
Trash the server, it's the only way to be sure. In fact, since they appear to have been in the datacenter, just nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
There's no place like