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Reporters without borders: IMC Statement

relayed by manos | 12.10.2004 15:27 | FBI Server Seizure | Repression | Cambridge

The RSF has issued a statement about the seizure of the IMC servers.

The Internet under surveillance
12 October 2004


UNITED KINGDOM

Home Secretary David Blunkett challenged over Indymedia website closures

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the seizure of UK-based webservers,
used by some 20 Indymedia websites and has written to Home Secretary David
Blunkett, copied to his US, Italian and Swiss counterparts, seeking an
explanation for the confiscations.

The servers were seized from the US-owned web hosting company Rackspace
operating in the UK on 7 October 2004 at the request of the US Justice
Department, which apparently acted at the prompting of Italian and Swiss
authorities.

Indymedia is an international media network that operates without central
editorial control and on which users can freely post their messages.

Reporters Without Borders, which condemned the seizures and called for the
equipment to be returned, said in its letter to Mr Blunkett: "This
intervention is the responsibility of the British authorities because it
relates to a hosting company operating on their territory. Closure of
websites is a serious step, the reasons for which should definitely be made
public".

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) apparently requested the seizures
of the Texan-based Rackspace that hosts Indymedia websites in the United
States and in the UK. The company complied with the 7 October court order,
shutting down around 20 Indymedia sites including those in France,
Yugoslavia, Belgium, Italy, Brazil, Portugal and the UK.

Ed Gibson, legal officer at the US Embassy in London, strongly denied to
Reporters Without Borders on 8 October tbat the US federal police had played
any part. However, according to a statement by an FBI spokesman to Agence
France-Presse (AFP), the bureau did order the seizure of the servers but "on
behalf of another country". Swiss and Italian authorities were apparently
behind the decision, even though they had made no official statement on the
subject.

The US Justice Department issued the seizure order under the Mutual Legal
Assistance Treaty (MLAT) that allows far-reaching police co-operation in the
fields of international terrorism, kidnapping and money-laundering.

The Swiss authorities reportedly sought US intervention after some Indymedia
sites posted photographs of two Geneva police officers charged with
identifying rioters who took part in demonstrations against the G8 summit.
The alternative media was apparently also being targeted by the prosecutor's
office in Bologna, Italy, since messages were posted in November 2003
fiercely criticising Italian military involvement in Iraq.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------


ROYAUME-UNI

Fermeture de plusieurs sites d'Indymedia

Reporters sans frontières demande des explications à David Blunkett, le
ministre de l'Intérieur britannique

Des serveurs basés Royaume-Uni, qui hébergeaient une vingtaine de sites
d'Indymedia, ont été saisis auprès de l'entreprise Rackspace, le 7 octobre
2004, à la demande du ministère de la Justice américain. Ce dernier aurait
agi sur demande des autorités italiennes et suisses.

Reporters sans frontières condamne cette intervention et demande la
restitution immédiate des serveurs à Indymedia. L'organisation a par
ailleurs adressé un courrier à David Blunkett, le ministre de l'Intérieur
britannique, avec copie à ses homologues américain, italien et suisse, pour
lui demander de fournir des explications sur cette saisie de matériel.
"Cette intervention engage la responsabilité des autorités britanniques car
elle concerne un hébergeur exerçant sur leur territoire. La fermeture de
sites Internet est une mesure grave dont les motifs doivent impérativement
être rendus public", a déclaré Reporters sans frontières.

La saisie des serveurs aurait été demandée par le FBI (Federal Bureau of
Investigation) à la société texane Rackspace, hébergeur des sites
d'Indymedia aux Etats-Unis et au Royaume-Uni. L'entreprise s'est pliée à
cette injonction le 7 octobre, fs, Belgrade, Liège, Italie,
Brésil, Portugal, Royaume-Uni, etc.).

Ed Gibson, responsable juridique de l'ambassade américaine à Londres, a
fermement démenti auprès de Reporters sans frontières, le 8 octobre, que la
police fédérale américaine avait participé de près ou de loin à cette
intervention. Pourtant, d'après les déclarations faites à l'Agence
France-Presse (AFP) par le porte-parole du FBI, celui-ci a bien ordonné la
saisie des serveurs, mais "au nom d'un pays tiers". Les autorités suisses et
italiennes seraient ainsi à l'origine de cette décision, bien qu'elles
n'aient fait aucune déclaration officielle à ce sujet.

Le ministère de la Justice américain a émis l'ordre de saisie dans le cadre
d'un Traité d'assistance judiciaire mutuelle (MLAT), un accord bilatéral qui
prévoit une collaboration policière étendue dans les domaines du terrorisme
international, des enlèvements et du blanchiment d'argent.

Les autorités suisses auraient demandé l'intervention américaine suite à la
publication, sur certains sites d'Indymedia, de photographies de deux
policiers genevois chargés d'identifier des "casseurs" ayant participés à
des manifestations contre le sommet du G8. Le média alternatif serait par
ailleurs dans le collimateur du parquet de Bologne depuis la publication, en
novembre 2003, de messages très critiques concernant l'engagement militaire
italien en Irak.

Indymedia est un réseau de sites fonctionnant sans responsable éditorial et
sur lesquels les internautes postent librement leurs messages.

Reporters sans frontières / Reporters Without Borders
TEL: ++ 33 (0) 1 44 83 84 71
FAX: ++ 33 (0) 1 45 23 11 51
 internet@rsf.org
www.internet.rsf.org

relayed by manos
- Homepage: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11579

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  1. Serious lack of and official version — Interested Party
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