January 7, 2011 7:56 PM PST
DOJ sends order to Twitter for Wikileaks-related account info
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/01/07/twitter/subpoena.pdfThe U.S. Justice Department has obtained a court order directing Twitter to turn over information about the accounts of activists with ties to Wikileaks, including an Icelandic politician, a legendary Dutch hacker, and a U.S. computer programmer.
Birgitta Jónsdóttir, one of 63 members of Iceland's national parliament, said this afternoon that Twitter notified her of the order's existence and told her she has 10 days to oppose the request for information about activity on her account since November 1, 2009.
"I think I am being given a message, almost like someone breathing in a phone," Jónsdóttir said in a Twitter message.
The order (PDF) also covers "subscriber account information" for Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private charged with leaking classified information; Wikileaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum; Dutch hacker and XS4ALL Internet provider co-founder Rop Gonggrijp; and Wikileaks editor Julian Assange.
Appelbaum, who gave a keynote speech at a hacker conference last summer on behalf of the document-leaking organization and is currently in Iceland, said he plans to fight the request in a U.S. court. Appelbaum, a U.S. citizen who's a developer for the Tor Project, has been briefly detained at the border and people in his address book have been hassled at airports.
The U.S. government began an criminal investigation of Wikileaks and Assange last July after the Web site began releasing what would become a deluge of confidential military and State Department files. In November, Attorney General Eric Holder said that the probe is "ongoing," and a few weeks later an attorney for Assange said he had been told that a grand jury had been empaneled in Alexandria, Va.
The order sent to Twitter initially was signed under seal by U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan in Alexandria, Va. on December 14, and gave the social networking site three days to comply. But on Wednesday, she decided (PDF) that it should be unsealed and said that Twitter is now authorized to "disclose that order to its subscribers and customers," presumably so they could choose to oppose it. (Salon.com posted a copy of the documents on Friday.)
A wide-ranging court order
Buchanan's order isn't a traditional subpoena. Rather, it's what's known as a 2703(d) order, which allows police to obtain certain records from a Web site or Internet provider if they are "relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation."
The 2703(d) order is broad. It requests any "contact information" associated with the accounts from November 1, 2009 to the present, "connection records, or records of session times and durations," and "records of user activity for any connections made to or from the account," including Internet addresses used.
It requests "all records" and "correspondence" relating to those accounts, which appears to be broad enough to sweep in the content of messages such as direct messages sent through Twitter or tweets from a non-public account. That could allow the account holders to claim that the 2703(d) order is unconstitutional. (One federal appeals court recently ruled that under the Fourth Amendment, a 2703(d) order is insufficient for the contents of communications and search warrant is needed, although that decision is not binding in Virginia or San Francisco.)
A Twitter representative declined to comment on any specific legal requests, but told CNET: "To help users protect their rights, it's our policy to notify users about law enforcement and governmental requests for their information, unless we are prevented by law from doing so."
Buchanan's original order from last month directed Twitter not to disclose "the existence of the investigation" to anyone, but that gag order was lifted this week. Twitter's law enforcement guidelines say "our policy is to notify users of requests for their information prior to disclosure."
It's unclear why Buchanan changed her mind. Twitter didn't immediately respond to questions, but the most likely scenario is that its attorneys objected to the 2703(d) order on grounds that the law required that account holders be notified, and that the broad gag order was not contemplated by Congress when creating (d) orders in 1986 and could run afoul of the First Amendment.
Also unclear is how long Twitter stores full IP addresses in its logs; Google, for instance, performs a partial anonymization after six months.
Jónsdóttir was a close ally of Assange and supported efforts to turn the small north Atlantic nation into a virtual data haven. A New Yorker profile last year, for instance, depicted Jónsdóttir as almost an accidental politician whose self-described political views are mostly anarchist and who volunteered with Wikileaks.
At one point, the profile recounted, Assange was unshaven and his hair was a mess: "He was typing up a press release. Jonsdottir came by to help, and he asked her, 'Can't you cut my hair while I'm doing this?' Jonsdottir walked over to the sink and made tea. Assange kept on typing, and after a few minutes she reluctantly began to trim his hair."
Jónsdóttir even invited Assange to a reception -- this was before last year's series of high-profile releases -- held at the U.S. ambassador's residence in the capital of Reykjavik. "He certainly had fun at the party," Jónsdóttir told the U.K. Telegraph. "He went as my guest. I said it would be a bit of a prank to take him and see if they knew who he was. I don't think they had any idea."
But after Assange became embroiled in allegations of sexual assault, which have led to the Swedish government attempting to extradite him from the U.K., Jónsdóttir said the organization should find a spokesman who's not such a controversial figure.
"Wikileaks should have spokespeople that are conservative and not strong persons, rather dull, so to speak, so that the message will be delivered without the messenger getting all the attention," Jónsdóttir said at the time. Although she said she did not believe the allegations, she suggested that Assange step aside, which he did not do.
In a blog post, Gonggrijp disclosed the e-mail that Twitter sent him, which said: "Please be advised that Twitter will respond to this request in 10 days from the date of this notice unless we receive notice from you that a motion to quash the legal process has been filed or that this matter has been otherwise resolved."
Gonggrijp noted that the Justice Department misspelled his name, and speculated that other Web companies and e-mail providers may have received similar requests and quietly complied. "It appears that Twitter, as a matter of policy, does the right thing in wanting to inform their users when one of these comes in," he said.
Last updated at 12:15 a.m. Saturday
Birgitta Jónsdóttir, one of 63 members of Iceland's national parliament, said this afternoon that Twitter notified her of the order's existence and told her she has 10 days to oppose the request for information about activity on her account since November 1, 2009.
The order (PDF) also covers "subscriber account information" for Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private charged with leaking classified information; Wikileaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum; Dutch hacker and XS4ALL Internet provider co-founder Rop Gonggrijp; and Wikileaks editor Julian Assange.
Appelbaum, who gave a keynote speech at a hacker conference last summer on behalf of the document-leaking organization and is currently in Iceland, said he plans to fight the request in a U.S. court. Appelbaum, a U.S. citizen who's a developer for the Tor Project, has been briefly detained at the border and people in his address book have been hassled at airports.
The U.S. government began an criminal investigation of Wikileaks and Assange last July after the Web site began releasing what would become a deluge of confidential military and State Department files. In November, Attorney General Eric Holder said that the probe is "ongoing," and a few weeks later an attorney for Assange said he had been told that a grand jury had been empaneled in Alexandria, Va.
The order sent to Twitter initially was signed under seal by U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan in Alexandria, Va. on December 14, and gave the social networking site three days to comply. But on Wednesday, she decided (PDF) that it should be unsealed and said that Twitter is now authorized to "disclose that order to its subscribers and customers," presumably so they could choose to oppose it. (Salon.com posted a copy of the documents on Friday.)
A wide-ranging court order
Buchanan's order isn't a traditional subpoena. Rather, it's what's known as a 2703(d) order, which allows police to obtain certain records from a Web site or Internet provider if they are "relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation."
The 2703(d) order is broad. It requests any "contact information" associated with the accounts from November 1, 2009 to the present, "connection records, or records of session times and durations," and "records of user activity for any connections made to or from the account," including Internet addresses used.
It requests "all records" and "correspondence" relating to those accounts, which appears to be broad enough to sweep in the content of messages such as direct messages sent through Twitter or tweets from a non-public account. That could allow the account holders to claim that the 2703(d) order is unconstitutional. (One federal appeals court recently ruled that under the Fourth Amendment, a 2703(d) order is insufficient for the contents of communications and search warrant is needed, although that decision is not binding in Virginia or San Francisco.)
A Twitter representative declined to comment on any specific legal requests, but told CNET: "To help users protect their rights, it's our policy to notify users about law enforcement and governmental requests for their information, unless we are prevented by law from doing so."
Buchanan's original order from last month directed Twitter not to disclose "the existence of the investigation" to anyone, but that gag order was lifted this week. Twitter's law enforcement guidelines say "our policy is to notify users of requests for their information prior to disclosure."
It's unclear why Buchanan changed her mind. Twitter didn't immediately respond to questions, but the most likely scenario is that its attorneys objected to the 2703(d) order on grounds that the law required that account holders be notified, and that the broad gag order was not contemplated by Congress when creating (d) orders in 1986 and could run afoul of the First Amendment.
Also unclear is how long Twitter stores full IP addresses in its logs; Google, for instance, performs a partial anonymization after six months.
Jónsdóttir was a close ally of Assange and supported efforts to turn the small north Atlantic nation into a virtual data haven. A New Yorker profile last year, for instance, depicted Jónsdóttir as almost an accidental politician whose self-described political views are mostly anarchist and who volunteered with Wikileaks.
At one point, the profile recounted, Assange was unshaven and his hair was a mess: "He was typing up a press release. Jonsdottir came by to help, and he asked her, 'Can't you cut my hair while I'm doing this?' Jonsdottir walked over to the sink and made tea. Assange kept on typing, and after a few minutes she reluctantly began to trim his hair."
Jónsdóttir even invited Assange to a reception -- this was before last year's series of high-profile releases -- held at the U.S. ambassador's residence in the capital of Reykjavik. "He certainly had fun at the party," Jónsdóttir told the U.K. Telegraph. "He went as my guest. I said it would be a bit of a prank to take him and see if they knew who he was. I don't think they had any idea."
But after Assange became embroiled in allegations of sexual assault, which have led to the Swedish government attempting to extradite him from the U.K., Jónsdóttir said the organization should find a spokesman who's not such a controversial figure.
"Wikileaks should have spokespeople that are conservative and not strong persons, rather dull, so to speak, so that the message will be delivered without the messenger getting all the attention," Jónsdóttir said at the time. Although she said she did not believe the allegations, she suggested that Assange step aside, which he did not do.
In a blog post, Gonggrijp disclosed the e-mail that Twitter sent him, which said: "Please be advised that Twitter will respond to this request in 10 days from the date of this notice unless we receive notice from you that a motion to quash the legal process has been filed or that this matter has been otherwise resolved."
Gonggrijp noted that the Justice Department misspelled his name, and speculated that other Web companies and e-mail providers may have received similar requests and quietly complied. "It appears that Twitter, as a matter of policy, does the right thing in wanting to inform their users when one of these comes in," he said.
Last updated at 12:15 a.m. Saturday
- You think Darryl
What the Hell is going on? It goes to show that the US Government in league with the Military-Prison-Industrial-Corporate Complex are shaking in their collective boots. Fishing for information etc.. - Like this 3 people like this comment
- Well, a lot of this is fallout from the Bush Administration's policies, which were crafted under the assumption that Republicans would be in power for all eternity. Luckily, that is not quite the case. But their minions and lackeys are still lurking in the corridors of power.
- Like this 1 person likes this comment
- Awesome, the blame Bush for everything / tin foil hat crowd has arrived.
- Like this 1 person likes this comment
- I've thought all along that Obama was just another Bush, but with an education and darker skin. He can speak in complete sentences, but his policies differ by only about 2 degrees.
- Like this 4 people like this comment
- There are ALOT of Bush DOJ appointees still there. That's the problem.
- Like this 2 people like this comment
- This is just terrible.
- Like this Reply to this comment 4 people like this comment
- Did someone say something about PRIVACY???????????????? WE HAVE NO PRIVACY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Like this Reply to this comment 2 people like this comment
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- I thought the entire point of Twitter was publicity - tweeting out every snip of a haircut or visit to the loo - like posting in on a bathroom wall. If the Wikileaks people are half as brilliant as they claim, they should have set up their own Wikileaks version of twitter that would exist - like their website - outside the bounds of legal investigations, so they could post with impunity. Fact is, this is partially a fishing expedition - and partly another way to alienate people from Wikileaks, while draining their resources, fighting this foolishness in court - true, they have 'rights and freedoms to defend' but it will cost them money, time and aggrivation. And in the end, this will be enough for the DOJ, even if they can't pin a single charge on them.
- Like this 4 people like this comment
- Wikileaks supporters only want transparency when it benefits them.
- Like this 2 people like this comment
- Wow, this is just getting ridiculous. Wikileaks was the last thing on my mind, good job on bringing it back up DOJ. Just put this to rest.
- Like this Reply to this comment 2 people like this comment
- Birgitta J?nsd?ttir is a member of parliament of Iceland which is a NATO member and an ally of the US. She was actively involved in editorializing and publishing classified US information. Why is she still in office?
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- Because she was elected to represent the interests of her constituents in Iceland, who are worried about their own problems - unemployment, banks going belly up, and so forth. They are not particularly interested in her side-job with Wikileaks.
- Like this 6 people like this comment
- bush was involved in the kidnapping and torture of innocent spanish and german citizens. the usa are nato partners with these countires. why is he not in jail?
- Like this 4 people like this comment
- @solitare So she conspires against her country's NATO ally?
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- @coreshift, side jobs don't matter.
- Like this
- Just who do this bunch think they are? The US government has "NO" legal rights whatsoever in another countries, or individuals stance on these matters, and needs to bugger off with their big stick. I can only hope that Twitter gives them the middle finger, and tells them to stick their order where the sun don't shine...Ugh
- Like this Reply to this comment 7 people like this comment
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- Hate to break it to you but Twitter is a US company and their servers are in the US which gives the US Gov jurisdiction and forces Twitter to abide by US law and courts.
- Like this 4 people like this comment
- One reason why the servers at our multi-billion dollar company only save 3 days of logs. We use Google analytics in summary mode and not any physical server logs files. 3 days is enough for troubleshooting. Many of the 900 websites keep no logs at all, only traffic summary's thru Google analytics. Seriously, twitter should do the same, keep maybe 7 days.
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- America, Land of the Free !!! I don't think so !
- Like this Reply to this comment 1 person likes this comment
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- Well you can be freely interogated.
- Like this 4 people like this comment
- As a Parliamentarian of a United Nations member state, Ms. J?nsd?ttir and the WikiLeaks legal team might wish to consider prosecuting Senator Clinton for authorizing diplomats to spy on senior UN officials. The United States committed a crime (espionage) against the UN so it must be up to member states to bring cases forward and prosecute nations. This was a direct intelligence attack on the highest levels of the UN. It was a criminal offense and her signature appears on the order. Have Interpol red flag her. And while you're at it, extradite all US government officials who have used bid media to call for the assassination and/or execution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. I'm so sick and tired of reading the phrase, "The United States wants ..."
- Like this Reply to this comment 1 person likes this comment
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- mmm... the phrase is a bit unsettling - you're not all the same. Some of us who have never been to your country, but come across Americans have, like me, found them to be pleasant human beings. It just I don't think many of us understand why you seem to have this delight in electing complete raving lunatics or cretins. We see much of your national politics overseas and I'm not the only one with my jaw on the floor when you guys open your mouths! Maybe you are all nice and only your politicians are crazy.
- Like this 3 people like this comment
- @ 123Zeph In the interest of full disclosure, please tell us what country you hail from. I'm sure I can draw up a long list of lunatics or cretins that you and your countrymen elected.
- Like this 1 person likes this comment
- @ 123Zeph Never mind, you're British. Hi pot, I'm kettle. Where should I start? Marlborough? Chamberlain?
- Like this 1 person likes this comment
- The whole wikileaks saga reminds me of my mother and reminds me that we really do live in dark days. She had grown up in Birmingham (UK) during WW2 and had reflected on the language and people's behaviour. She had been making these comments when I was a child. She was a teacher and a union rep at the school she taught at. This was during the Joe Bjelke-Peterson regime in Queensland (Australia). There was intimidation of anyone in unions and a whole range of things I didn't really get when I was a child about mum being followed home and 'warned off' by some very large men. She used to list the sorts of things oppressive regimes bring into the public consciousness, as Hitler had done. People learn to judge - eg. their neighbour, people with different views. Now is the time to take care with how we think. It might also be time to take care about what details we use on the net while oppressive regimes like the US and China collect details.....
- Like this Reply to this comment 2 people like this comment
- Seriously, is US going the China way? Reining in the media, bullying twitter, paypal, amazon..etc US is certainly not the role model it was earlier.
- Like this Reply to this comment 1 person likes this comment
- I'm an American and I am extremely worried about my nation becoming an idiocracy. Many people in America have too much money and not enough brain cells. They have been fattened since birth thinking we need a strong military and a weak government. They despise "liberals" and use the word to describe virtually anyone they don't like. It is my belief that these idiots won't stop until something really bad happens. Keep in mind that all Americans are NOT the same, Many of us don't like the direction of our country, but it is difficult to convince idiots that they are in fact idiots
- Like this Reply to this comment 10 people like this comment
- The Gov has always been laced with corruption, soaring black budgets,human cruelty, and importing drugs for cash- The difference is, they recently seem to have grown so arrogant and careless that they no longer feel the need to even fake our approval of what there doing- Funny, I used to believe in voting, now, I know better- Don't waste your time with TV and politics, use this time to learn how to protect your self for when the jig is up-
- Like this Reply to this comment 2 people like this comment
- Well I feel that the US government is doing the first honest thing they have ever done. They are now making it loud and clear to the world just what a bunch of A holes they are and not above using any rotten foul trick against anyone that stands up to them. But we all knew that didn't we. ;-) The US had better get used to people and countries standing up to them, because they are rapidly fading as a world power. You only need to see the contempt which countries like Iran, North Korea and yes, even Israel now hold them in. These countries know that the US has spread itself to thin and is now just about bankrupt. All they can do now is like any bully. Threaten weaker people they know that cannot fight back. What a cowardly way to live
- Like this Reply to this comment 2 people like this comment
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- Because all these other countries are so much better? Their governments never do this kind of thing? Must be nice to live in a rose colored world.
- Like this
- I feel that this episode proves that what the world really needs is a social networking system that is similar to Twitter, Facebook etc that is beyond the influence and each of the US government. That is if we want to retain our freedom of speech.
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- Other governments will do the same so it would be difficult to choose where to base it.
- Like this
- Any form of speech is restricted in some manner by the speaker, the setting and the audience. With the internet, the world is your potential audience, with hundreds of different viewpoints.
- Like this 2 people like this comment
- Base it on Iceland! Seriously, I'm betting it's the one truly safe place for it.
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- The US has become a police state as scary as Nazi Germany. The founding fathers would be spinning in their graves over the loss of our freedom -- taken not by terrorists, but by politicians!
- Like this Reply to this comment 9 people like this comment
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- Oh, please stop hyperventilating - if you wish to find out how the Nazis dealt with their war protesters, look up "The White Rose" - then tell me if the U.S. is doing the same to its naysayers.
- Like this 3 people like this comment
- The US has committed genocide and intentionally killed millions? Holocaust victims must be rolling in their graves hearing this kind of tripe.
- Like this 3 people like this comment
- There are definitely those who would gladly make us the new nazi's. Moral midgets who can not see that rights are not all taken at once, but gradually making dissent more and more difficult When the Khmer Rouge went into Phnom penh, they broadcast loudspeakers ordering the evacuation of the city claiming the americans were going to attack. People were ordered to take enough for 3 days. People drove out of the city and after about 10 miles, they were told that the roads were too crowded and that the cars should be parked but they were given receipts,...then after another 10 miles they were told that they had to give up bicycles...then told they had to give up money....then posessions, then food. Each time they were told it would be temporary. It doesn't all happen at once people
- Like this 2 people like this comment
- @Adam-M Yes the US did kill millions in unnecessary and secret wars, the only difference is that they didn't kill Jews this time, only untermenschen as it seems.
- Like this 1 person likes this comment
- Please send Mr. Wikileaks to gitmo and water board him often.
- Like this Reply to this comment 3 people like this comment
- Are your papers in order, citizen?
- Like this Reply to this comment 2 people like this comment
- I find it interesting the delusion these people live in. Actually acting like they're governments would not do the same damn thing if documents about them were being leaked. Give me a break LMFAO.
- Like this Reply to this comment 1 person likes this comment
- Twitter and Facebook should move the base of their operation to Iceland. For the safety and privacy of us all.
- Like this Reply to this comment 1 person likes this comment
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20027893-281.html#ixzz1AVhIunB3
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