Department of Justice demands visitor information on anti-Trump site

[EunSoo]

DreamHost - https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/we-fight-for-the-users/

The Verge - https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/14/16145812/justice-department-disruptj20-trump-website-warrant

TechCrunch - https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/15/dreamhost-is-fighting-doj-request-for-1-3m-ip-addresses-of-visitors-to-anti-trump-protest-site/

 

Web-hosting providor DreamHost disclosed in a blog post that they have been in a legal battle with the Department of Justice for months about visitor data to the site http://disruptj20.org/, 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.”

 

Quote

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.

 - The Verge

Quote

“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,”

 - DreamHost

[AnonymousGuy]

Except it's a first amendment violation for freedom of assembly and association.  So DreamHost will probably win this in court.

[PlayStation 2]

Watch as we find connections to high profile government officials.

[Sauron]

Well, there is no legal ground for this right?

1 minute ago, AnonymousGuy said:

Except it's a first amendment violation for freedom of assembly and association.  So DreamHost will probably win this in court.

As I thought... I guess the DoJ gave it a try just to see if they could strongarm DreamHost to give the data up without making a fuss.

[AnonymousGuy]

2 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Well, there is no legal ground for this right?

As I thought... I guess the DoJ gave it a try just to see if they could strongarm DreamHost to give the data up without making a fuss.

Yup.  Even if they had a valid case, requesting carpet-bomb data of a million random visitors is not a valid warrant anyways.

[coasterghost]

"For the past several months, DreamHost has been working with the Department of Justice to comply with legal process, including a Search Warrant seeking information about one of our customers’ websites. At the center of the requests is disruptj20.org, a website that organized participants of political protests against the current United States administration. While we have no insight into the affidavit for the search warrant (those records are sealed), the DOJ has recently asked DreamHost to provide all information available to us about this website, its owner, and, more importantly, its visitors."..."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." - Dreamhost in a Blog Post

 

Further more, Orin Kerr stated in his Washington Post Oped about it: "

What makes this tricky, I think, is that Dreamhost is only involved in the initial search stage of a two-stage warrant. Computer warrants are ordinarily executed in two stages. First, the government gets access to all the electronic records. Next, the government searches through the records for the particularly described evidence. Courts have broadly allowed the government to follow this two-step procedure, in which they get all the stuff in the initial stage of electronic evidence warrants so that they can search it for the relevant evidence."..."With that said, there’s an interesting and unresolved issue presented here: What’s the correct level of particularity for a website? Courts have allowed the government to get a suspect’s entire email account, which the government can then search through for evidence. But is the collective set of records concerning a website itself so extensive that it goes beyond what the Fourth Amendment allows?"

 

It's to me not that shocking to see a sweeping request like this from a government where the highest official is very concerned about his public image. However, the steps that will be taken forth from here will set legal precedent on how IP logs can be obtained in future cases and can open the legal playing field to those who want to know more about their opponents merely because they don't agree with them and set up demonstrations against them. Not being a lawyer, but albeit privy to how laws work, this is entirely nerve-wracking to see a legal challenge like this come forward. The Electronic Frontier Foundation stated it perfectly in their post on the matter by stating that the "fourth amendment was designed to prohibit fishing expeditions like this. Those concerns are especially relevant here, where DOJ is investigating a website that served as a hub for the planning and exercise of First Amendment-protected activities." It will be very interesting to see how this case will progress because depending on how it goes, it can surely set a legal precedent in the future on how we can determine those who oppose a political figure let alone a president - especially in a republic in times where there are lawful gatherings.  

 

Dreamhost post: https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/we-fight-for-the-users/

EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/08/j20-investigation-doj-overreaches-again-and-gets-taken-court-again

Source 1: https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/15/dreamhost-is-fighting-doj-request-for-1-3m-ip-addresses-of-visitors-to-anti-trump-protest-site/

Source 2: http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/15/politics/dreamhost-department-of-justice-trump-opponents/index.html

Source 3: http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/346544-dreamhost-claims-doj-requesting-info-on-visitors-to-anti-trump-website

Source 4: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/08/feds-demand-1-3-million-ip-addresses-of-those-who-visited-trump-protest-site/

Source 5: https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/14/doj-demands-info-1million-visitors-protest-organizing-website/

Source 6: https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/14/16145812/justice-department-disruptj20-trump-website-warrant

 

Washington Post Oped by Orin Kerr a Research Professor at The George Washington University Law School: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/08/15/a-closer-look-at-dojs-warrant-to-collect-website-records/

 

A note to the Moderation Team, please try to keep this civil. I felt like this was vital information to share. I'm going to also try and maintain updates to this, if applicable. 

[WkdPaul]

Locked.

 

As per the Community Standards, we don't allow political debates. Even if this has a tech side to it, the political side of those types of news always become the center stage and those discussions never end well.

[AlTech]

The Feds really don't like people who disagree with Trump.

 

<Sarcasm> Wait what? I'm totally surprised! </Sarcasm>

 

In all seriousness, the Department of Justice has demanded 1.3 Million IP Addresses of individuals who have accessed Trump resistance websites.

 

This is all part of a search warrant investigating rioting during the Inauguration Day of which 200 people have already been indicted.

 

This case involves DreamHost, a web hosting company, which hosts the domain of disrupttj20[dot]com which is a particular domain the DOJ are after.

 

They really want a lot of personally identifiable information to probably prosecute the visitors of this website. We do not have an official statement of what the DOJ intends to do once they get these details.

 

Quote

he request from the DOJ demands that DreamHost hand over 1.3 million visitor IP addresses—in addition to contact information, e-mail content, and photos of thousands of people—in an effort to determine who simply visited the website,

 

That information could be used to identify any individuals who used this site to exercise and express political speech protected under the Constitution’s First Amendment. That should be enough to set alarm bells off in anyone’s mind

(Highlight is mine and not Ars Technica's)

 

Basically, the DOJ could potentially be interested in violating the First Amendment and your right to free speech.

 

This is what the DOJ are using for their argument of why they need all this information and data:

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The search warrant says the information is "evidence and instrumentalities of potential rioting." Among other things, the warrant (PDF) demands information related "to the development, publishing, advertisement, access, use, administration or maintenance" of the disruptj20.org site.

 

If you're worried about DreamHost selling you out then you have nothing to fear:

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We intend to take whatever steps are necessary to support and shield these users from what is, in our view, a very unfocused search and an unlawful request for their personal information

It should be noted that DreamHost's response is probably a PR move and not because they are the Sweatheart of Corporate America.

They probably just want your money so badly that they want to protect your privacy and freedom of speech.

 

I'm really confused as to how any Judge signed off on this warrant. This seems like a totally inappropriate and wrong thing for the DOJ to do. I know that having the ability to solve crimes faster or more efficiently thanks to the use of technology can be great but it is no substitution for doing good old fashioned police work. Also, if you to break the law to uphold the law, you shouldn't be allowed to work in law enforcement. Period.

 

Source:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/08/feds-demand-1-3-million-ip-addresses-of-those-who-visited-trump-protest-site/

[Lurick]

Sorry man, it was posted already and locked because it's going to devolve into shitposting fest

 

 

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, Lurick said:

Sorry man, it was posted already and locked because it's going to devolve into shitposting fest

 

 

Oh come on, Didn't see that and my article is way better.

 

I'll ask mods to merge it.