Indymedia
News concerning Indymedia itself.
Welcome to former users of IMC York
23-05-2009 10:18
Indymedia York has merged with Indymedia Leeds/Bradford. The York site will remain as an archive for a short time but will not accept any news postings. If you want to publish or read news from York and its surroundings, you are in the right place.
Full article | 1 addition | 44 comments
How do you know that Indymedia does not keep logs?
19-02-2009 00:00
Indymedia UK (IMC-UK) is a network of activists who provide an open publishing platform. We are part of the wider Indymedia Network that started in Seattle during the protests against the WTO in November 1999, and the UK site was one of the first to join the network in early 2000. In common with all Indymedia Centres (IMCs) around the world, as designated in the (draft) Principles of Unity, IMC-UK does not log IP addresses - as detailed on the security page. Moreover, following on from previous requests by governmental authorities for logs, IMC-UK and many other Indymedia sites (e.g. the global website, www.indymedia.org) do not retain any logs related to the website. These facts are documented on our open mailing lists and on the open IMC documentation site, docs.indymedia.org. (here for example).
In the rest of this article, we provide some advice on how to improve the measures you take when publishing on the website if you want to do so anonymously. We also outline some legal procedures that could potentially be used to attack Indymedia and the right to free expression, as well as describing some of the technical points in more detail.
Full article | 2 additions | 26 comments
Hosting Indymedia Servers is Illegal?
12-02-2009 18:30
This Monday (9 February 2009), Kent Police arrested a man in Sheffield under the Serious Crime Act 2007 in relation to the recent Indymedia server seizure. His home was raided, all computer equipment and related papers taken. He was released after eight hours. The person had neither technical, administrative nor editorial access to the Indymedia UK website. He was only associated to the project by hosting its server.
The arrest took place under Section 44-46 of the Serious Crime Act, which was passed into law on 1st October 2008 to combat serious international crime like drug trafficking, prostitution, money laundering and armed robbery. Sections 44-46 refer to “encouraging or assisting offences”.
Kent police claim that they are after the IP address of the poster of two anonymous comments to a report about a recent animal liberation court case, which included personal details of the Judge. The IP address of the poster is not stored as Indymedia does not log IP addresses. This was acknowledged by British Transport Police in 2005, after the Bristol IMC server seizure.
For the police to arrest the person who happened to sign the contract for server hosting, is sheer intimidation, in light of Indymedia’s openly stated policy of no IP logging.
With the implementation of the EU Data Retention Directive in March 2009, the UK government attempts to turn every internet service provider in the country into part of the law enforcement apparatus. This legislation will provide a legal basis to track, intimidate, harass, and arrest people who are doing valuable and necessary work for social change, for example as peace activists, campaigners for economic and social justice or against police brutality.
The present intimidation of the open publishing alternative news platform Indymedia will have serious implications for anyone running a server in the UK which allows user contributions – blogs, social networking sites, wikis. This is an attempt to close down sites that respect the privacy of their contributors, pure and simple.
Full article | 7 additions | 58 comments
Police Seize UK Indymedia Server (Again)
23-01-2009 00:09
On 22 January 2009 an Indymedia server was seized by the Police in Manchester. This was related to postings about the recent Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) trial.
Kent Police had e-mailed imc-uk-contact in the morning requesting that personal information about the Judge from the recent SHAC trial in the UK be removed from the site. However this information had already been quickly removed in line with IMC UK policy. The e-mail also requested information relating to the poster be retained. Indymedia as an open posting news service does not log such information about its sources.
The machine was handed to the Police by the management of UK Grid, a Manchester based colocation facility, without a warrant being shown. It is believed that a warrant for this one server may exist and have been issued by a Chief Inspector. As the server was a mirror of the site, it can be concluded that the validity of the seizure wasn't checked, and the police attacked Indymedia infrastructure in the UK.
Other sites that have been affected as a result of this seizure include London Indymedia, the global Indymedia documentation project server, la Soja Mata – an anti-GM soya campaign focusing on South American development, Transition Sheffield and a Canadian campaign against the 2010 olympics.
For details see Indymedia Uk Server Seizure Info Page and Press Release #1
Indymedia Coverage: IMC Athens | IMC Barcelona [en] | IMC Brasil | IMC Germany | Indybay | IMC Ireland | IMC Nantes [fr] | IMC New York | IMC Poland | IMC Switzerland [it]
Other Coverage: The Register | SchNews | Gulli [de] | Annalist [de] | heise online [de] | slashdot | Global Integrity Commons
Previous Seizures: FBI seizure, London | British Transport Police seizure, Bristol 2005
Full article | 4 additions | 21 comments
BNP Threatens Free Media
28-11-2008 23:51
Indymedia is yet again facing legal threats to prevent the free flow of communication, this time from a political movement known for its hostility to free speech. On the 21st November 08 Indymedia UK received an email from someone claiming to be a legal representative for the British National Party, threatening to take legal action on a number of counts for publishing information on BNP members.
After the hilarity of the “little Fuhrer”, Nick Griffin, running to the safety of the Human Rights Act to try to prevent the publication of members’ details, Britain’s fascist party has resorted to threats.
The letter sent to Indymedia by Lee John Barnes LLB (hons), from the “BNP Legal Affairs Unit”, threatens to take legal action, on the basis of theft, data protection and contempt of court, unless the list of members is removed.
The “lawyer” also attempts to shoehorn his charges into the form of anti-terrorism legislation, “The use of this information we feel is being hosted on your site for use only to incite acts of harassment, incite violence and direct targeted attacks against our members in the Leeds area”. He then goes on to explain the sections of the Terrorism Act under which Indymedia would be charged.
Your local Indymedia needs YOU!
17-10-2008 17:35
There will be a meeting on Mon 20th Oct, 7pm, Sumac Centre to discuss the future of Notts Indymedia. It will be a great opportunity to shape how the project works and input to the design of the new site. Please come along and have your say.
We are also holding a Riseup! Radio skillshare session to introduce people to the basic skills needed to record and upload interviews and podcasts. This will take place on Sat 1st Nov, 11am-5pm at the Sumac Centre.
Full article | 2 additions | 6 comments
The New Indymedia London Website Ready For Action!
16-10-2008 20:08
It is now almost five years since Indymedia London came to life as part of the United Kollectives network of IMC's throughout the UK. Now, in 2008, things have moved on; the reality in the streets is very different from that of 2003, and so there has also been a change in the way people experience the internet. The kollective in London has been working hard for the last few months to adapt Indymedia London to these new realities, and now we are very happy to announce that the New Indymedia London website is ready for action!
The new Site, that was launched with a presentation at the Anarchist Bookfair 2008, aims to include more political events and media alongside the direct action reporting from the streets, and a better method of video uploading. Note: If you went to check out the new site and you were put off by a security warning in your browser, please try again. More information about Security Certificates here. Click at the 'Full article' link to know more ....
Full article | 6 additions | 14 comments
Climate Camp - Quick Links
10-08-2008 11:00
Latest news: SMS text alerts | IMC UK Climate Camp 2008 topic | up-to-date timeline
Coverage: Climate Camp Radio | VisionOnTV daily news shows | Envirospeak uploads and ongoing discussion.
Links: Camp for Climate Action website | Network for Climate Action | Days of Climate Action
Nottingham Mule Rides Into Town
31-05-2008 10:40
Notts Indymedia have joined forces with a national free newspaper called the Mule to bring you a Nottingham edition of the paper. Most of the edition is nationally relevant news, but there is also a four-page Nottingham pullout which includes articles on the library uniforms issue, the Fossil Fools Day of action of April 1, activities by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, alternative media in the city and more.
Copies are being distributed across the city, and available from a number of locations including The Sumac Centre, the Arts Organisation, Rosy Lee's, Refugee Forum and wherever else we can get people to take them. Alternatively, it's available online here or you can email us and we'll sort out getting you a copy.
Newswire: New free newspaper for Nottingham?
Previous Features: Alternative Media Blossoms in Nottingham
Links: The Mule
Indymedia Activists Targeted in Ecuador, Five Arrested
16-05-2008 14:37
Ecuadorian police detained five journalists associated with Ecuador Indymedia late Tuesday night, May 6th. Four of the five were released from custody on Wednesday afternoon. The government says that the four activists were detained because of their relationship with the fifth detainee, Ecuadorian resident and Colombian national Antonio Alcívar.
The government at first refused to issue a statement on the matter or inform the detainees of the reason for their arrests. The Regional Foundation for Assistance in Human Rights (INREDH) noted that this was a violation of the detainees' constitutional right to be clearly informed of the reason for their detention along with the identities of those who ordered and carried out the arrests.
For a detailed account of the violent arrests see the English translations of the communiques from IMC-Ecuador (Sp): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.
