IndyMedia server taken by the FBI

[paisley]

pretty wierd thing going on... IndyMedia run global free speech servers allowing the public to communicate about environmental and social justice topics etc... there is basically one for most major cities around the globe... somehow the FBI was able to confiscate servers in England, putting much of their global service offline, while the purpose of the action remains unclear

I found it disturbing and interesting, thought someone else might as well (what jusidiction allows American feds to operate freely in England? is this being implimented under the Patriot Act meaning they didn't go through the U.S. court system and are acting independently)

here's a link to IndyMedia's ongoing coverage regarding the confiscated servers

on a side note, using IndyMedia Hamilton I'm always suprised how many anti-environmental anti-protester types show up regularly to taunt activists who use the service to share information about gatherings, protests and events... some very bitter, closed minded people out there

[paisley]

the liberals didn't get thrown out so I'm cool for now ::

if I hit Europe it'd be a fun little party for a few months travelin and stuff until I found somewhere that seemed worth spending some extra time hangin about... regardless of politics I'm sure the day will come someday... I like Europeans, history, and mountains

[secondtube]

paisley, can you gives me a 'cliffs note' version of what happend with that liberal business...

been so busy at school, i haven't been keeping up....

[paisley]

I don't really understand everything but from what I gathered the Bloc Quebecois was going to oppose parts of the Liberals throne speech and then the Conservatives said they were going to jump on board too, which would defeat the minority government and force a new federal election... which obviously would've led to a ridiculously big mess and wasted the last several months of work by the Liberals (most of which I'm behind)

fortunately the party coffers were too depleted for anyone to head into a new election so the Bloc declined their original move

I was just upset yesterday because the thought of a new federal election was too much to bear and that would've made the last half a year a waste and would have leaned the public towards a right wing vote as the liberals wouldn't have seemed to be able to hold onto their power and lead the country... woulda been a mess

[secondtube]

"force a new federal election... "

wow...a mess indeed. So the Bloc started the move, then declined it....I wonder what went on behind the scenes to make the Bloc change their mind...Politics, bah.

[AD]

Paul Martin and the Liberals couldn't support the Bloc amendment because it would give waay too much power to the Premier of Quebec. So he called Steven Harper and said I can't deal with these 8 words in the text, Harper said he'd call Duceppe and tell him, Duceppe said no problem, we'll take the 8 words out, everyone's happy, Valeri says it's not a confidence vote anymore, and the Bloc's amendment passes.

I imagine Hux can give a much more detailed and interesting account, this is just what I picked up from the CBC coverage last night.

AD

[paisley]

thankya, I knew I didn't have it straight

so long as the mess is averted ::

(Harper still was sportin wood for a while there though yesterday)

[U.FProductions]

this is best part

but they must have felt bad because they are building us a new server that will be online as soon as possible, oh and they apologized for the abruptness

how much do you bet that the new server has a massive tracking devise in it, that logs everything into the FBI

[paisley]

no doubt whore

another friendly service brought to you courtesy of The Land of the Free!

[StoneMtn]

Hey Paisley:

The Patriot Act would have no force or effect in England, as American jurisdiction only extends to American territory. Even if that was the statute under which they proceeded proceedings could still only occur on US land.

The Court Order, however, was against Rackspace, the service provider to IndyMedia, and that company exists in both the US and England. The order was against that company's branch in the United States, where the FBI do have jurisdiction to enforce.

To make a long story short... this means that the Court could order the local branch of the company to do something, anywhere in the world, and failure to do so would mean a breach of the Court Order within the United States, and that the FBI could then take enforcement measures against the company as it exists in the US. If Rackspace had no presence in the US, the FBI could not touch the servers in England without cooperation from the British authorities.

-But what do I know, as I am just a simple caveman.