CryptoSeal Shuts Down Consumer VPN Service To Avoid Fighting NSA

sl4shd0rk writes "CryptoSeal Privacy, a VPN provider, has closed down its consumer VPN service. The company says it has zeroed its crypto keys, adding, 'Essentially, the service was created and operated under a certain understanding of current U.S. law, and that understanding may not currently be valid. As we are a US company and comply fully with U.S. law, but wish to protect the privacy of our users, it is impossible for us to continue offering the CryptoSeal Privacy consumer VPN product.' The announcement ends with a warning: 'For anyone operating a VPN, mail, or other communications provider in the U.S., we believe it would be prudent to evaluate whether a pen register order could be used to compel you to divulge SSL keys protecting message contents, and if so, to take appropriate action.' Sounds like another victim of FISA-endorsed NSA activity."

Comments

This NSA crap is much too much, and ungentlemanly

[Austrian Anarchy]

Back in the old spy days, the gentlemanly thing to do was crack the other guy's encryption, NOT beat his keys out of him. This is just cheating, pure and simple.

Time to start

[ugen]

Sounds like it's high time time to start a VPN provider in SeaLand (or what do we have left that's not firmly in jurisdiction of governments with grubby hands and long noses)?

Re:Time to start

[PopeRatzo]

Sounds like it's high time time to start a VPN provider in SeaLand

This, though maybe not in SeaLand.

The first country that offers verifiably secure email and VPN services to the world will enjoy an economic boom and the love of billions. And if it's a country like Iceland, it could go a long way toward making them wealthy. And if the US decides to invade Iceland, then at least the gloves can come off and the world can declare the United States a rogue state. But I don't see that happening, because at some point, if the rest of the world really starts to turn sour on the US, you'll start to see things change over here. But as long as we have to cover of the EU and Asia as our allies, the US spymasters can pretend that all is well. But with every week there's a new revelation about a president of a free country having their email hacked by the NSA, maybe we're closer to a worldwide shunning than we think.

I'd gladly pay for secure email that I knew was beyond the reach of the upskirting creeps in the NSA. And I would love to be able to pay a place like Iceland, Finland, etc for that privilege.

No one who values freedom, economic, social or just the freedom to not be watched, should be quiet about this. Me, I've become a one-issue voter thanks to the revelations about what the NSA is up to. Any legislator who voted against reining in those bastards is now on my list to support any opponent who will vote to put a stop to ubiquitous surveillance in the US.

Re:Time to start

[__aaltlg1547]

What the hell? Why would I trust ANY country, or for that matter ANY third party with my encryption codes? I generate them myself, keep them to myself and never disclose them to the government or to any business.

Sad

[Anonymous Coward]

We've got technology businesses shutting down their services because they are now afraid of (i.e.: terrorized by) their own government?
Did the terrorists actually win this war on terror?

Re:Sad

[adolf]

It doesn't matter if I still fly or not.

One used to be able to board an airplane without a pat down, porno-scan, or a strip-search. One cannot do that now, because we've been terrorized into requiring these procedures.

That's a win.

Re:DoS?

[LordLucless]

The effect of this is to remove secure competitors from the market and force users onto overseas services.

Fixed that for you.

anyone anywhere

[YesIAmAScript]

For anyone operating a VPN mail or other communications in any country you should consider that your government can compel you to produce information.

This intellectual exercise has been done a long time ago by those who looked a little deeper than you. It's why there were crazy ideas such as offshore data havens.

In the end, you can't really do anything about it. The government your company is under (at the very least, maybe other entities too) can compel you. So now it's just a matter of which government you're least worried about.

Re:Sorry...

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

You are not going to have much advanced IT business left over there soon if this goes on.

I think we are witnessing the (not very) slow disintegration of the principals and reality of the American Internet. Whether the internet itself will survive this is another matter.

Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid

[jschrod]

For European companies, the NSA reading their data equals their competitors reading their data. This has been known here since at least the early 90s, when Echolon data was used for commercial advantage of US companies.

Some European companies really don't care. But some do. That's why there was always a healthy mistrust in competetive European companies concerning their crucial data out of house, and why cloud computing has a slower uptake here than in the US. (Their unimportant data, they could care less about, even if it's personal data and against the EU privacy laws. That's life.)

Re:Sorry...

[houstonbofh]

Nothing to see here, move along.

Plenty to see here. Mainly, that businesses now have yet another reason to offshore.

Re:This NSA crap is much too much, and ungentleman

[asmkm22]

The end result seems to be in line with general terrorism. Cause enough fear and confusion in your enemy until they change or give up.

Re:A different objective?

[duke_cheetah2003]

As a side to this.. at least it tells us something...

they can't break the crypto.

Re:Sorry...

[Fjandr]

It's a secret warrant issued by a secret court, binding the recipient to secrecy under pain of imprisonment, and with no way to contest the warrant. And since it's the NSA, you can't even see evidence used against you because it's obviously in regards to national security...even if it isn't.

Re:Sorry...

[Anonymous Coward]

As an outsider, I really don't freakin' understand how Americans are willing to ignore the most outrageous problems to defend their chosen party. Republican, Democrat, it doesn't make any sense. You can have someone who is a Democrat defending a baby slaughtering program(merely an example) for the sole reason that it isn't what the Republicans support. You guys are sooooooo weird! It's like your identity as a person revolves around which party you voted for.
If one started the program and the other continues it - they're both at fault and both just as wrong.

Re:This NSA crap is much too much, and ungentleman

[Jane Q. Public]

"This is just cheating, pure and simple."

It is illegal, pure and simple.

Since several crypto companies have in fact closed down, affecting thousands (at least) of people, we can come to some basic conclusions.

First, we have proof that the NSA spying has had the effect of chilling otherwise legal, free speech.

Second: we now have thousands of people who have provable legal standing to sue the government over it.

Re:This NSA crap is much too much, and ungentleman

[thexfile]

No internet based company should be headquartered in the US.

Re:This NSA crap is much too much, and ungentleman

[TheLink]

Fighting against your own government/leaders who are enemies of your country, is not the same as fighting against your country. It's still fighting for your country.

To me it is more patriotic than killing people in some other country.

If more people around the world did that sort of thing there would be much less need to kill people of other countries.

That said I'm not a big fan of patriotism. Seems to cause more harm than good.