FBI raids Dallas data centre, seizes all servers

[Andrew Green]

In the online letter Simpson said, "Neither I, nor Core IP are involved in any illegal activities of any kind. The only data that I have received thus far is that the FBI is investigating a company that has purchased services from Core IP in the past."

Simpson claims nearly 50 businesses are without access to their email and data. Some of those clients provide internet services to car dealers and other companies.

According to Simpson, some residents' access to 911 is also being affected because some of Core IPs primary customers include telephone companies.

http://cbs11tv.com/local/Core.IP.Networks.2.974706.html

 

[Carol]

Simpson closed his online letter with the statement, "If you run a datacenter, please be aware that in our great country, the FBI can come into your place of business at any time and take whatever they want, with no reason."

Um...no.

 

[CuongNhuka]

Um...no.

Yah thats my thought also.

 

[tellner]

Um...no.

Didn't used to be. But now they can. The last thirty years have gotten rid of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth, huge chunks of the the First and Second with an option on the Thirteenth.

All they have to say is "Terrorism" or "Media Piracy" and they can do whatever they want or in this case what the MPAA wants.

 

[Andrew Green]

Didn't used to be. But now they can. The last thirty years have gotten rid of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth, huge chunks of the the First and Second with an option on the Thirteenth.

All they have to say is "Terrorism" or "Media Piracy" and they can do whatever they want or in this case what the MPAA wants.

The theory right now from Internet speculators that have no evidence is that the Wolverine leak might have something to do with this.

If true, that is quite scary. That one business (MPAA) can get the FBI to shut down operations at a data centre including seizing all servers from all businesses hosted in that data centre over copyright, and what would seem like a internal leak.

 

[Carol]

Personally I'm withholding judgment until the warrant is unsealed.

IMO...also revealing will be when the warrant is unsealed, if its done on a Sunday (when many Americans are less connected with the news) or if its done on a Monday or Tuesday (when Americans are much more connected with the news).

 

[Bob Hubbard]

The FBI is now the enforcement arm of the MPAA and RIAA, the later who now controls the US Justice Department.

So, expect more data center raids.

This btw, isn't the first time they've raided a data center and walked out with the servers.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

The theory right now from Internet speculators that have no evidence is that the Wolverine leak might have something to do with this.

If true, that is quite scary. That one business (MPAA) can get the FBI to shut down operations at a data centre including seizing all servers from all businesses hosted in that data centre over copyright, and what would seem like a internal leak.

Not that unusual, or even new. You just have to be old enough.

In 1972, Ramparts Magazine published the schematics to make a 'blue box' which would enable people to cheat the phone company out of long-distance service. The phone company persuaded the FBI to raid Ramparts and they got an injunction which had FBI agents all over the country visiting every news stand they could find and seizing every issue of Ramparts off the stands. Ramparts was eventually cleared of having committed any crime - not that it mattered, they were bankrupt.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

The FBI also raided Steve Jackson Games, seized (and destroyed) much of their gear, over the GURPS game system. Seems the FBI thought it was a hacker training system.

:/

 

[Cryozombie]

The FBI also raided Steve Jackson Games, seized (and destroyed) much of their gear, over the GURPS game system. Seems the FBI thought it was a hacker training system.

:/

Correct me if I am wrong but that was over their Hacker game, not Gurps, wasn't it?

 

[Carol]

The FBI also raided Steve Jackson Games, seized (and destroyed) much of their gear, over the GURPS game system. Seems the FBI thought it was a hacker training system.

:/

Well, it wasn't the FBI. And they got their gear back. But I know what you mean. :lol:

 

[Bob Hubbard]

My bad.
It was the US Secret Service,and involved "GURPS Cyberpunk".

On March 12, 1993, a federal judge in Austin, Texas decided
that the US Secret Service broke the law when it searched Steve
Jackson Games Inc., and seized its bulletin board system and other
computer equipment. The decision in this case has been long-
awaited in the computer world, and most observers have hailed it as
a significant victory for computer user's freedom and privacy.

The facts. By now, most people interested in the case are
familiar with the basic facts: On March 1, 1990, the Secret
Service, in an early-morning raid, searched the offices of Steve
Jackson Games. The agents kept the employees out of the offices
until the afternoon, and took the company's BBS -- called
"Illuminati" -- along with an employee's work computer, other
computer equipment, and hundreds and hundreds of floppy disks.
They took all the recent versions of a soon-to-be-published game
book, "GURPS Cyberpunk," including big parts of the draft which
were publicly available on Illuminati.

On March 2, Steve Jackson tried to get copies of the seized
files back from the Secret Service. He was treated badly, and
given only a handful of files from one office computer. He was not
allowed to touch the Illuminati computer, or copy any of its files.

Steve Jackson Games took a nosedive, and barely avoided going
out of business. According to Jackson, eight employees lost their
jobs on account of the Secret Service raid, and the company lost
many thousands of dollars in sales. It is again a busy enterprise,
no thanks to the Secret Service (although they tried to take
credit, pointing to the supposedly wonderful publicity their raid
produced).

After months of pestering, including pressure by lawyers and
Senator Lloyd Bentsen (now, as Treasury Secretary, the Secret
Service's boss) the Secret Service returned most of the equipment
taken, some of it much the worse for wear.

By then, Steve Jackson had restarted Illuminati on a different
computer. When the old Illuminati computer was finally given back,
Jackson turned it on -- and saw that all the electronic mail which
had been on the board on March 1 was gone! Wayne Bell, WWIV
developer and guru, was called in. He gave us invaluable (and
free) help evaluating the condition of the files. He concluded,
and testified firmly at trial, that during the week of March 20,
1990, when the Secret Service still had Illuminati, the BBS was
run, and every piece of e-mail was individually accessed and
deleted. The Illuminati files the Secret Service had returned to
Steve Jackson left irrefutable electronic traces of what had been
done -- even I could understand how the condition and dates of the
e-mail files showed what had happened, and when.

Of interest:

Amazing as it may sound, you cannot sue the United States (or
any federal agency) for money damages for violating your
constitutional rights. You can sue individual federal agents,
though. If you do, you have to get past a defense called
"qualified immunity" which basically means you have to show that
the officials violated "clearly established" constitutional law.
For reasons I can't explain briefly, "qualified immunity" often
creates a vicious circle in civil rights litigation, where the
substance of constitutional law is never established because the
court never has determine the Constitution's scope, only whether
the law was "clearly established" at the time of the violation.

The strongest remedies for federal overstepping are often
statutes which allow direct suit against the United States or
federal agencies (although these are less dramatic than the
Constitution). Fortunately, these statutes were available to Steve
Jackson and the three Illuminati users who joined him in his suit
against the Secret Service.

Lots more here:
http://www.sjgames.com/SS/pdk-article.html

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Police seize Indymedia server (again) • The Register

www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/23/indymedia_manchester_raid/




US court allows work PC to be seized without warrant
Declan McCullagh
CNET News.com
Published: 06 Jan 2005 15:25 GMT
US police do not need a search warrant to examine an employee's computer for incriminating files, a Washington state appeals court has ruled.



More on the OP
FBI Seizes All Servers In Dallas Data Center



Posted by Soulskill on Friday April 03, @07:58PM
from the surgical-precision dept.


1sockchuck writes "FBI agents have raided a Dallas data center, seizing servers at a company called Core IP Networks. The company's CEO has posted a message saying the FBI confiscated all its customer servers, including gear belonging to companies that are almost certainly not under suspicion. The FBI isn't saying what it's after, but there are reports that it's related to video piracy, sparking unconfirmed speculation that the probe is tied to the leaking of Wolverine."





Firehose:FBI Seizes All Servers in Dallas Data Center

 

[Cryozombie]

ASSUMING this is over the Wolverine leak,

Is this the FBI's function? Strongarm investigations of copywrite infringment for private companies?

 

[elder999]

ASSUMING this is over the Wolverine leak,

Is this the FBI's function? Strongarm investigations of copywrite infringment for private companies?

Well, yeah-it'd be copyright infringement on the scale of "grand larceny": who knows what that movie's opening weekend will net? And the internet does cross interstate lines-at least, I'll bet they had violators in multiple locations. So, assuming that's what it's about, yes, it's the FBI's function....

 

[Andy Moynihan]

Assuming that's what it's about.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

All the more reason to avoid internet downloads, and get your bootlegs legally. You know, at sci fi con dealer rooms, flea markets and chinatowns.

 

[Cryozombie]

who knows what that movie's opening weekend will net?

Well, thats a good point, who knows indeed.

For all we know the Downloads cost them NOTHING in revenue loss, or it costs them MILLIONS... you just cannot predict that without making up a number.

I liken it to Metallica. Metallica has hordes of die-hard metal fans, then they cut their hair and went "Mainstream Alternative" and blamed internet downloads for millions in revenue loss, when the more likley reality was, what they made sucked, and their fans werent buying it as a result.

So any claim its grand larceny across interstate lines, is speculation really... there is no evidence to suggest that is there?

I dunno... I think its a fuzzy area. But confiscating the E911 Servers helps stop the piracy how?

 

[Cryozombie]

All the more reason to avoid internet downloads, and get your bootlegs legally. You know, at sci fi con dealer rooms, flea markets and chinatowns.

Or legally record them from On Demand Cable services, or other such services.

 

[Carol]

So any claim its grand larceny across interstate lines, is speculation really... there is no evidence to suggest that is there?

To claim its about pirating the Wolverine movie is speculation. There hasn't been any evidence to suggest that either, and there won't be until the warrant is unsealed...

But confiscating the E911 Servers helps stop the piracy how?

E-911 servers are big databases of names, addresses, and phone numbers.