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."

Comments

So, they returned a server

[G3ckoG33k]

So, they returned a server. Isn't that good?

Maybe I don't understand the issue here.

Re:So, they returned a server

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Due process and transparency?

This is borderline "coverup" activity.

Re:So, they returned a server

[Anonymous Coward]

Probably because they didn't make a public statement about it.

Anytime a government agency does something, ideally they should state publicly wtf they're doing.

Re:So, they returned a server

[Anonymous Coward]

Returned what server? That server was always there.

Re:So, they returned a server

[PRMan]

Normally, in a free society, any interactions with Law Enforcement would be above board and you would be notified. That would be known as due process. This would be called an unreasonable search and seizure by the Founding Fathers of the US.

Re:So, they returned a server

[PRMan]

Actually, the organization is called May 1st. They seized it in late April and returned it after May 1st. Coincidence?

Re:So, they returned a server

[yakatz]

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.

Re:So, they returned a server

[hoboroadie]

TFA stated that the server would not be re-used.
From my personal experience, I can't imagine those evil, lying bastards having the slightest inclination to return anyone's property without a court order from very high jurisdiction, or some tricky and expensive new hardware that their tech accomplices want to try out.

Re:So, they returned a server

[Intrepid imaginaut]

They're long dead my friend, even if their dreams and ideals live on. Its up to the people of today to persevere and embody those ideals, and if that's not happening maybe its time to ask why not.

Re:So, they returned a server

[Dahamma]

I assume you are joking? They are investigating criminal activities (rather ineffectively, apparently, but still investigating), so of course they are not going to state every action they take publicly.

Re:So, they returned a server

[bluemonq]

Apparently now they need to get a return warrant.

Re:So, they returned a server

[CanHasDIY]

I know people here like to cast "The Man" in the worst possible light,

The feds don't need our help in that, they do a fine job all on their own

Re:So, they returned a server

[Dahamma]

Well, they had a warrant to seize the server and enough reasonable cause (the actual bomb threat email came from that server). So it was due process, and done according to the Constitutional requirement for a warrant.

Now, if they knew anything about anonymous remailers (which shouldn't be that hard, doesn't the FBI have any technical staff??) they should have known it was a useless action that just cost everyone time and money with no results...

Re:So, they returned a server

[a90Tj2P7]

The threats continued after the server seizure. So one might expect the FBI to return the server with a courteous "Sorry, my bad" apology, maybe.

Why? They had a valid warrant, and the server isn't owned by Riseup or May First/Peoplelink. Why should they have to apologize to them, or notify them? In fact, according to Riseup's press release, this server didn't even contain any of their info.

Re:So, they returned a server

[daveschroeder]

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...

Re:So, they returned a server

[a90Tj2P7]

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.

Re:So, they returned a server

[jklovanc]

It looks like you really need to understand some definitions before you use spout off.

Due Process is basically that law enforcement must follow the law. Show me where there is a law that requires law enforcement to inform everyone involved as to what they are doing. Considering that to put the server back the colocation company had to know about it as they had to let them in. Does it really matter if the FBI or the colocation compant told the server owner it was back?

Unreasonable search and seizure; It might have been iff they did not have a search warrant signed by a judge in accordance with Fourth Amendment.

Re:So, they returned a server

[TheCarp]

Fuck legality. They took these people's server, they were informed and even should have known it was pointless to do so. Fuck, it would have taken all of how many minutes of google searching to determine what fucking mixmaster was.

This was incompetence. Besides that.... simple fucking common courtesy says you inform people and appologize. Fuck the law, this is about decency and about serving the public, rather than just acting like a bunch of no account thugs.

Honestly, someone should be fired for such gross negligence on their part, and there should be appologies and compensation.

Re:So, they returned a server

[AmiMoJo]

The guys who installed the camera (May First / People Link) are claiming that they were not notified when the server was seized or when it was replaced.

Re:So, they returned a server

[million_monkeys]

Probably because they didn't make a public statement about it.

Anytime a government agency does something, ideally they should state publicly wtf they're doing.

Absolutely! They're spending our tax money, they ought to be telling us how their using it. If someone returns a server, I want to know about. Send out a press release, that way camera crews can be there to ensure it's done properly. And the FBI agent files sends a memo about the return, send out a press release. Then we'll all be able to sleep well knowing that there's no out standing paperwork.

This should really apply to all government agencies. How else are we to know that our money is being well spent? Do you know how much money gets blown on "black" programs by the CIA? I think it'd be better for everyone if they told us what they were doing in all those projects. That agency is sorely in need of some more transparency and openness. With all the money they are spending, they ought to be sending out press releases all day long telling us what they're up to.

The benefits go beyond keeping track of taxpayer money. Think of the bin Laden raid. If they had sent out a press release about it the week before, news agencies could have sent reporters over to interview bin Laden to find out how he felt about his impending demise. And then they'd have film crews there to record the action as it happened. With a week's notice, Osama's crew probably could put together some Bollywood number to perform during the raid while the SEALs were taking a timeout to update their facebook status letting us know they were blowing up that crashed helicopter.

Re:So, they returned a server

[EasyTarget]

"Why should they have to apologize to them"

One of the ways society identifies shit people, and their fanbois, is by the way they never apologise or show any signs of remorse.

Re:So, they returned a server

[WrongSizeGlass]

I was wondering the same thing. I know people here like to cast "The Man" in the worst possible light, but are they really just bitching that the FBI didn't jump up and down and wave their arms so that people would know that the server was back?

The FBI re-installed the server without telling May First / People Link. They just put it back in the rack and reconnected it (and presumably turned it on). Who knows what they added to the server? I certainly wouldn't trust the FBI in this situation. If they had nothing to hide they would have returned the server to the facility operators so it could be re-install but the facility's personnel. This looks like the FBI were trying to sneak it back in.

Re:So, they returned a server

[Ohrion]

Did they also have a warrant to enter the premises and install a now untrusted server back onto a private network without even alerting owners of said network? It sucks to have your stuff seized. It also sucks to have your stuff tampered with.

Re:So, they returned a server

[Anonymous Coward]

No, I think he/she had a point.

Re:So, they returned a server

[CanHasDIY]

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.

First, according to TFA:

Neither May First/People Link or Riseup was not notified that the server was being replaced. It was never notified that the server was taken in the first place.

In order for a warrant to be "properly adjudicated," it is required that the law enforcement agency serve the warrant to the property owner. By not notifying the property owner of the warrant, they violated the 4th Amendment.

The link to the warrant is down, but if the scope is beyond the specific "place to be searched, and property to be seized" then it, again, was not a legal warrant as per the Fourth Amendment.

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?

The FBI has a long history of blatant violation of civil rights, as well as literally making criminals for the sake of "busting" them, thus justifying their existence (which, in government doublespeak, translates to "budget"). That said, it would be more surprising to me to find out that the legal rights of the property owner were honored.

Again, saying "we weren't notified of the server's seizure or return" has nothing to do with the legality of either action.

Again, for a warrant to be legal, it has to be served to the property owner (i.e., they must be made aware that their property is to be searched, and what property is to be seized). So actually, it has everything to do with the legality of the 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.

Considering the history of the FBI, as well as recently passed legislation that greatly (and unconstitutionally) expands the power of federal agencies, I think a little paranoia is appropriate. If the feds had honorable intentions, why wouldn't they notify the property owners? What possible justification would they have for putting the server back in place without telling anyone, if not for nefarious purposes?

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...

Trespassing is illegal; any evidence gained illegally cannot be admitted in court; therefore, if the FBI did indeed trespass, then any case they may have had is now dead by their own hand.


Of course, all my words are based on the assumption that the Constitution still matters, and is actually followed by law enforcement, which we all know damn good and well isn't the case.

Re:So, they returned a server

[DeadboltX]

It would be more like this:

You go into 7-11, pay for a frozen burrito, then proceed to the customer-use microwave to warm up your afternoon treat. While you wait for your snack to warm up: 2 FBI agents walk into the store, identify themselves to the manager, walk over to the microwave (with your burrito in it), unplug it, walk out the door with it, and drive away.

Now you're thinking, hey those 2 guys just stole a microwave and my burrito. In reality they had a warrant to seize the microwave and its contents, and properly identified themselves to the establishment housing the microwave.

Re:So, they returned a server

[the eric conspiracy]

Do they even need a warrant for that? After all, that's neither search nor seizure.

How do you know they didn't call up ECN and say "hey we are done with that server want it back, we'll drop it off at the colo for ya"?

Re:So, they returned a server

[Myopic]

Maybe it's because, having thought really hard about it, the people of today decided that they can come up with ideals which are even more ideal than the ideals of the founding fathers. You know, progress and all that.

Or, hey, maybe it's because the founding fathers lived during the pinacle of human thinking, and everyone born since then is a fucking stupid idiot who should just do exactly what what was wanted by fifty white land-owning males in the 1700s in New England.

Or, hey, maybe that's all a big false dichotomy.

[This comment is not an attack on you, Intrepid, because what you said in that comment is fair and reasonable.]

Re:So, they returned a server

[Darth]

First, according to TFA:

Neither May First/People Link or Riseup was not notified that the server was being replaced. It was never notified that the server was taken in the first place.

In order for a warrant to be "properly adjudicated," it is required that the law enforcement agency serve the warrant to the property owner. By not notifying the property owner of the warrant, they violated the 4th Amendment.

Well, if they were renting space on a server owned by the hosting provider, informing the hosting provider is probably sufficient as they are the property owner for the server that was taken. I don't know if that's the case, but it is possible that this particular item is not a 4th amendment violation.

The FBI has a long history of blatant violation of civil rights, as well as literally making criminals for the sake of "busting" them, thus justifying their existence (which, in government doublespeak, translates to "budget"). That said, it would be more surprising to me to find out that the legal rights of the property owner were honored.

I would say, even without a pretty well documented history of the FBI abusing its power, it is generally a good thing for people and organizations to watch and question the actions of any law enforcement organization; especially if something looks amiss. It keeps them from getting lazy and it keeps us from getting caught napping by those whom we give power.

Trespassing is illegal; any evidence gained illegally cannot be admitted in court; therefore, if the FBI did indeed trespass, then any case they may have had is now dead by their own hand.

Actually, I don't think this is entirely true. In 2009, in Herring v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court held that illegally obtained evidence could be used in court as long as it wasn't deliberate, reckless, or grossly negligent conduct that led to the evidence being illegal. (that case was about a man who was arrested on a warrant that was left active by a clerical error. When arrested he was found to have drugs on him. The court ruled the drug evidence could still be used against him even though they had no proper cause to search him and find it in the first place.)

I expect you will argue that in this case it meets the deliberate, reckless, or grossly negligent conduct requirement; and that may be true. I am not saying their actions wouldn't invalidate any evidence they collected. I'm just saying that there is an avenue for them to argue to keep the evidence, even if it was determined they had violated the 4th amendment in collecting it.
 

Re:So, they returned a server

[bmo]

Such a simple step would probably save large sums of money in litigation; a lawyer once told me that in his experience, most litigation is the result of bad manners.

I forget where, but I saw a study or a news report of a study that if doctors who make mistakes apologized for their mistakes, malpractice suits would plummet.

Google to the rescue.

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/healthcare/doctorsnurses/2010-08-20-medical-errors-malpractice_N.htm

--
BMO

Re:So, they returned a server

[NemoinSpace]

It was a burrito dammit!.
Way to misrepresent the facts to make your case.
You know damn well nobody would make a fuss over a bag of chips.

Re:So, they returned a server

[maxwells_deamon]

Not sure the details in this case but I would not want to have a server returned without notice and plugged in.

so imagine you are an admin, Server "yoyo" is gone so you set up a replacement server using a backup. We call the new server "yoyo" as well. you tweek it as needed and life is good.

A few days later both servers are now online. Both called "yoyo" One is out of date perhaps but they both have the same name. try to serve the same requests perhaps. Do backups to the same network location

The possiblities for excitement and fun are limitless.

Re:So, they returned a server

[rtb61]

I think this whole thing is tied to the Lulzsec fiasco, where after months of committing crimes under FBI control and direction they ended up with no more people than they started with and due to messy entrapment issues now might end up losing the majority of them.

The FBI are desperately trying to capture thousands of 'Anonymous' agents that the FBI convinced the government and media existed, this huge infamous organisation that managed to make fools out of the FBI by convincing them and others that 'Anonymous' was a huge infamous organisation (basically preyed upon the idiosyncrasies of the professionally paranoid). This and other recent similar server seizures as well as raids on journalists is all a fishing expedition for 'Anonymous' as the FBI teams involved try to rebuild credibility by capturing lots of 'Anonymous', ohh umm, terrorists.

They are digging themselves deeper and deeper while hoping it will all just go away. Everyone kept saying 'Anonymous' was just an activism meme but the FBI kept insisting they were some huge computer terrorist organisation and that in turn all driven by private for profit security organisation trying to create the new security bogey man 'Anonymous'. Kind of silly when for quite a few months the majority of computer crimes committed by 'Anonymous' were actually being committed by the FBI and all those government trolls posting on slashdot about naughty members of 'Anonymous' should have been really criticising the actual criminals behind it all the FBI.

Re:So, they returned a server

[kilfarsnar]

Why should you have to apologize for something you didn't do?

Because you're married? Zing!

Rarity

[lannocc]

From TFA (emphasis mine):

The footage, taken by a small surveillance camera MF/PL technologists installed after the FBI seizure of the server, is a rare glimpse of what appears to be an FBI operation.

The FBI has returned equipment? Rare indeed!

So What Was the FBI Supposed to Do?

[eldavojohn]

This is sort of awkward since I donate ~$50 to the EFF and wear their shirts around town but ... what was the FBI supposed to do? Throw up their hands and say "Nothing can be done" to the parents and students at the University. It's not like they went through an inappropriate channel to seize this server. What law was broken? On top of that, April 18th to May 3rd is a much faster turnaround than what I would credit the FBI.

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."

Yeah, hundreds of people were inconvenienced when their e-mail was disrupted ... with the safety and lives of hundreds of other people at the university in mind when it happened.

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.

Re:So What Was the FBI Supposed to Do?

[Anomalyst]

Howzabout mirroring the switch port and logging/filtering the traffic thru snort to grab the IP addresses of inbound SMTP connections before the remailer scrubs them. What a bunch of networking maroons. The keystone Kops got nothing on this bunch of "investigators:.

Re:So What Was the FBI Supposed to Do?

[StuartHankins]

According to TFA, there was no notification to the customers, the people renting space on the server:

On April 18, 2012, a Riseup server located in MF/PL's [May First/People Link] colocation cabinet and managed by ECN, a progressive provider in Italy, was seized by the FBI. MF/PL found out about the seizure when Riseup reported that there was no response from the server. Technologists visited the server location and found that the machine had been removed.

That makes me wonder exactly what procedures were not followed. You can't just go around removing servers at will.

Re:So What Was the FBI Supposed to Do?

[Hentes]

what was the FBI supposed to do? Throw up their hands and say "Nothing can be done" to the parents and students at the University.

Yes. There is no way to stop anonymous threats from happening. But you aren't required to evacuate every time a 12 year old kid calls you.

um..how did they get in?

[who_stole_my_kidneys]

On April 24th, the FBI quietly returned the server, without notifying either Mayfirst / People Link or riseup, and were caught on video doing it. what kind of no security operation are they running at this datacenter? The last place i worked , to get in the datacenter required a thumb reader, to get into the clean room, that then detected if more than one person had entered and would not let you past that door untill the other door was closed and no other people were in the clean room, and it was ALWAYS staffed to see people coming and going. For just random people to come in , take a server, then put it back later with out any one knowing is some where i would never store my server.

Re:um..how did they get in?

[hoggoth]

These aren't 'random people' wandering around a data center. This is the FBI. They flashed some badges, made some threats, and when they were done they zapped everyone with a neuralizer just to be sure.

Re:It's a trap?

[jdastrup]

RTFA - they are not going to use the returned server.

Re:Anonymous mails to send bomb threats.

[Anonymous Coward]

in other news, the local keystone cops returned a section of highway in the middle of the night, hoping to avoid being noticed...

that particular section of highway was used by a group of bandits to threaten passer-byes.

after that section was removed at great inconvenience to everyone involved, the bandits simply moved down the highway a couple of miles...

Re:Noobs much?

[PRMan]

There were no cameras when they took it. May 1st secretly installed cameras after the original theft (a seizure requires notification).

Re:wipe and dump

[Barbara, not Barbie]

I sincerely hope the server owner and users consider tne equipment hopelessly compromised, and quickly and completely dispose of it.

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.

Re:Noobs much?

[ShaunC]

The camera that caught the action was actually installed inside the rack, by MayFirst. You can see the FBI agent looking at it several times, so it apparently wasn't as surreptitious as MayFirst had hoped.

Cached video here

[sl4shd0rk]

http://ia601208.us.archive.org.nyud.net/32/items/FbiReturnsRiseupServerToMayFirstpeopleLinkCabinet/fbi-returns-seized-server.ogg

Ah, Yes, the Tinfoil Hat Game!

[eldavojohn]

As you pointed out, this is a VERY fast turn-around ... almost like they hope that people will use it in a "business as usual" fashion ... like a honeypot?

Not even telling them that it was back so that the owners could decide if they even wanted to risk leaving it in place? VERY suspicious.

The FBI also left a dolly to move the server. Unfortunately the dolly is filled with microphones and wi-fi packet recorders. The FBI also left a fruit basket as an apology. Unfortunately the fruit is laced with mind control chemicals. The FBI also left an apology note. Unfortunately the text is interlaced with words that activate their sleeper agent inside the company.

I mean I can play the conspiracy game all day, yeah if they installed spyware on it, the FBI are pieces of shit. At least have the decency to request the compliance of the company and let them decide to help you track down a scofflaw. At least you could then tell the parents and students that this company won't comply with your investigation so your hands are tied until further leads.

I mean, come on, you think that the FBI is that savvy? You think that any two bit network or systems engineer wouldn't be able to pick up on weirdness in network traffic or processes running from/on the machine phoning home to the FBI? Any company worth its salt that accepts a server or hardware back from anybody proceeds to rebuild it from scratch. Flash or upgrade the firmware if you want! It's so hilariously convenient that law enforcement is a barrel of bumbling idiots when they're supposed to be helping us and when they're trying to help us they are seventeen steps ahead of us and already have infiltrated my underwear drawer. In this story they go straight from idiots who can't understand that logging is turned off on this server to installing honeypot software/devices in two weeks into a device they just got. Right. VERY suspicious. And let's face it, this bomb threat guy has already moved on to another remailer and he's not going to return to this remailer that he has inconvenienced.

Re:Ah, Yes, the Tinfoil Hat Game!

[element-o.p.]

I mean, come on, you think that the FBI is that savvy? You think that any two bit network or systems engineer wouldn't be able to pick up on weirdness in network traffic or processes running from/on the machine phoning home to the FBI?

Google "covert channels."

You can't know what was done to the server while it was gone. Ergo, you cannot trust that server again.

While I agree that most likely all the FBI did is image the drive so they could look for information on where the e-mails originated, you can't know that. Yes, even a marginally competent network admin could look for unusual traffic to unusual domains/IP addresses, but if you are dealing with a server used by hundreds of strangers (even if they are customers), it can get pretty difficult to separate the signal from the noise. Then there are the covert channels I referenced earlier. It can be impossible to ferret those out without inside information because literally ANYTHING can be a carrier for information. And quite frankly, while I often question my government's judgment and ethics, I sincerely hope that their cryptography and security experts are more knowledgeable in those fields than I am, considering the information (nuclear and biological weapons tech, for example) that they are tasked with protecting.

Re:Ah, Yes, the Tinfoil Hat Game!

[Barbara, not Barbie]

They returned it without telling the owners that it was returned. What if it had sat there for a month, reporting on every packet passing through it?

It's not that they returned it so quickly, but that they hoped the owners wouldn't realize it was up and running again.

The right thing to do would have been to say "Okay, we're done, where do you want us to drop it off?" Not covertly stick it back in the rack and hook it up.

Re:Ah, Yes, the Tinfoil Hat Game!

[rhizome]

This is exactly it. The FBI aren't the ones responsible for reinstalling the machine into the rack. They took it on themselves for some reason, and avoiding attention was evidently part of it.

Re:Who broke slashdot?

[Anonymous Coward]

Me too, they should get their new Business Intelligence team on it.

You Need to Slow Down

[eldavojohn]

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 ...

Re:Yes you are

[Mordermi]

I agree with this. Also, my girlfriend works there and I would much rather them evacuate than my girlfriend get blown up because they ignored a threat by "a 12 year old kid" that turns out to be real.

Re:I guess I don't understand ...

[jklovanc]

Congratulations on being taken in by yet another misleading sensationalistic summary. It is just as likely that the walked up to the facility, presented their credentials and warrant (which they had) and took the server as stipulated in the warrant. Where in any of the articles is there any indication that the FBI kicked down any doors.

The "caught on tape" phrase is also misleading in that it implies that the FBI agents were sneaking around. It is just as likely that they came to the front door, presented their credentials and stated they were returning the server. They then went into the server room and returned the server to where it belonged. Where in any of the reports is there any statement that the agents were sneaking? Sure they didn't call the server owner or the colocation company telling them what they were doing but that is very different than "sneaking around". If you watch the video you will notice that the agent in front of the rack looks directly at the camera at least three times. He didn't care there was a camera there because they were not sneaking around.

So?

[geekoid]

They got a warrant, took it. When done the replaced it.

Wow..yeah.. stop the presses...

Some people are trying too hard to find a reason to be angry.

Re:Why mess with the software? why not addl hardwa

[darkpixel2k]

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.