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Justice Department Demands 1.3 Million IP Addresses Related To Anti-Trump Website (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: In a blog post today, online web hosting provider DreamHost disclosed that it has been involved in a months-long legal battle with the Justice Department over records on visitors to an anti-Trump website. The dispute focuses on a Justice Department demand for information on data related to disruptj20.org, which describes itself as a group of activists "building the framework needed for mass protests to shut down the inauguration of Donald Trump and planning widespread direct actions to make that happen." DreamHost is taking issue with a warrant issued by the department for "all files" related to the website, which DreamHost says would compel them to turn over electronic data like visitor logs. That would include IP addresses and other information that could be used to identify anyone who visited the site. "The request from the DOJ demands that DreamHost hand over 1.3 million visitor IP addresses -- in addition to contact information, email content, and photos of thousands of people -- in an effort to determine who simply visited the website," the company said in its blog post. The warrant, DreamHost argues, would also require it to hand over any communications that are even tangentially related to the website.

"In essence, the Search Warrant not only aims to identify the political dissidents of the current administration, but attempts to identify and understand what content each of these dissidents viewed on the website," the company said in a legal filing arguing against the warrant. A hearing on the situation is set for Friday in Washington, DC Superior Court.

15 of 392 comments (clear)

  1. And so it begins.....correction... continues by sp4ni3l · · Score: 4, Insightful

    However: Would like a little bit more background here. Too much conspiracy theory going on now..

    1. Re:And so it begins.....correction... continues by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How much more of this nonsense does any remaining GOP member need before they really understand the insanity they foisted on America.

      The GOP members of congress aren't going to turn until the Trump-supporting voters in their districts turn.

      Until then it's Heil Trump!

      To these cowards, re-election is more important than anything else.

    2. Re:And so it begins.....correction... continues by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 5, Funny

      (remember, the rally was to save a historic monument from being erased)

      Ah, so that's what those scumbags waving Nazi flags and chanting "Jews will not replace us" were trying to do.

      Thanks for clarifying, Anonymous Coward.

  2. Fishing expidition... by wbr1 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    On its face this warrant seems overly broad. If you are looking for bad actors who actually threatened or cause physical harm/disruption - then use regular police work to fid that out.

    Simply sniffing out all who disagree with the current administration (raises hand), and would protest it (raises other hand), stinks of police state tactics.
    Now, why are both my hands in the air again?

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
    1. Re:Fishing expidition... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Appeal to child porn. You lost all credibility.

    2. Re:Fishing expidition... by MickyTheIdiot · · Score: 3, Informative

      Conflating people who show up for peaceful protest and people who are attracted to those protests to riot isn't illegal, but it is stupid.

  3. Yeah... by Kierthos · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This clearly isn't an incredibly broad overreach by an administration that shows that it hates being questioned or criticized at all.

    Oh shit, did I have sarcasm enabled?

    --
    Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
  4. Re:The Rise of the Violent Left by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, that's a valid excuse for this abuse of Executive power? This dragnet?

    Yeah, let's ignore the violent right wing assholes in Charlottesville.

    And let's ignore the fact that you are using violence as an excuse for the implication of eradication of our rights - the weapon of the right wing. "Oh noes!! Terrorists - violence! Let's eliminate our civil liberties!!"

    Keep in mind sir, that as we chip away at the First and Fourth amendment, it weakens the Second - the Second is just for show now. The government KNOWS everyone who got the guns . The storm troopers from the DOJ will raid the houses with the guns, take them, and good luck in the courts.

    And as far this issue is concerned, you can bet good money that the courts will eventually side with the government - they usually do - even in "liberal" areas.

  5. Some Progress by Drethon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    At least sometimes now, when the justice department trounces on our rights, we hear about it.

  6. Watch this space by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Trump administration is collecting the names of these people so he can finally prove there were actually 1,3 million people at his inauguration.

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    You are welcome on my lawn.
  7. Re:And what's missing from the summary by jbengt · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But that doesn't mean when you're filing for a warrant with a site that's involved in criminal activity such as "organizing a riot" that you use a narrow scope.

    "Narrow scope" (defined & specific) is one of the legal requirements for a valid search warrant.

  8. Re:Obama by Fuzi719 · · Score: 3, Informative

    And Obama outright asked the people to turn in names of people they knew who weren't on board with Obamacare. In addition his IRS attacked individual citizens based on their political affiliations

    Things that never happened for $200, Alex. Stop with the #fakenews.

  9. And what's missing from your post by Nidi62 · · Score: 5, Informative

    And what's missing from your post? That of those 230 people arrested some were journalists, lawyers, and medics, not protesters. DC police basically cordoned off areas and indiscriminately arrested everyone there. Which you seem to happily leave out.

    --
    The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  10. Re:Obama by David_Hart · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And Obama outright asked the people to turn in names of people they knew who weren't on board with Obamacare.
    In addition his IRS attacked individual citizens based on their political affiliations

    Things that never happened for $200, Alex. Stop with the #fakenews.

    Right here are the citations for you — something the anonymous OP should've included in his post, of course:

    Obama's Whitehouse asking people to "flag" opponents of Obamacare:

    There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov

    After people got outraged about this solicitation, the above text was eventually removed.

    The IRS really did target conservatives:

    In 2013, the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revealed that it had selected political groups applying for tax-exempt status for intensive scrutiny based on their names or political themes.

    Two out of two things you dismissed as "fake news" are in fact true and indisputable. Good score, keep it up!

    I'm sorry, but no....

    The original accusations were...

    - Obama outright asked the people to turn in names of people they knew who weren't on board with Obamacare.

    This is False. Even the quote that you provided proves that it's false. The Obama administration request was to provide copies of articles, news stories, etc. that seemed to be inaccurate or questionable. This was so that they could develop a marketing program to address false rumors. At no point did the Obama administration ask for names, email addresses, etc. Granted, most people would not have been smart enough to scrub the email of personal identification which causes privacy issues. But the fact is that they didn't request names, just stories.

    - The IRS attacked individual citizens based on their political affiliations

    This is badly worded or deliberately misleading. The IRS did discriminate against certain political groups by performing deeper audits. But, to the best of my knowledge, they didn't target individual citizens.

  11. Re:Obama by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 3, Insightful
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    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!