Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

FBI Server Seizure

07 September 2004: The FBI seized the hard drives from two Indymedia servers in London, Ahimsa I and II.

Full article | 3 comments

The FBI party - Saturday 27 November, Tufnell Park

18-11-2004 12:57

poster Indymedia will be five years old on 30 November, the anniversary of the Anti-WTO protests in Seattle [1st ever post on IMC]. Plus the FBI has seized a London-based server that was used by 20 IMC's worldwide.
So we'll combine the celebration with the need to raise money for new servers and invite everybody to the Fifth Birthday of Insurrection Party after the Anarchist Bookfair: 8pm - 4am, St George's Church, 49 Tufnell Pk Rd, entry by donation. All proceeds to fund new IMC servers. The rampART is offering limited crash space by prior arrangement for people coming to London for the Anarchist Bookfair...

The line-up is:
  • Fun-Da-Mental
  • Rhythms of Resistance Samba Band
  • The Rub (electronic set)
  • Penny Rimbaud (Crass)
  • The Unpeople
  • The Internationalz
  • Angel
  • Special guest: the Federal Bureau of Investigation


Please come, have fun and support Indymedia. If you like the site then help us getting a new server off the ground. If you can't come, consider setting up a monthly direct debit with what you can afford - see here for IMC-UK's account details. Or donate one-off via the Sheffield Indymedia PayPal account:


Full article | 5 comments

Ahimsa Gone and Returned: Responses to the Seizure of Indymedia Harddrives

09-11-2004 19:56

The harddrives being nailed in place

One month after the harddrives were taken out of the servers Ahimsa I and II in London, indymedia had many responses from civil liberty groups and professional journalist organisations. Legal steps are being taken or considered on both sides of the atlantic. The US State Attorney (ie the lawyer for the US government) has responded to a Motion to Unseal the server seizure court order in the US. A solidarity statement has been signed by more than 10,000 people, parliamentary questions have been asked in the House of Commons, and old hardware has been delivered to various Italian Embassies and to the FBI. Check the Electronic Frontiers Foundation for a factsheet and read on for a round-up of a wide range of responses.

Full article | 7 comments

New Server(s) Appeal

02-11-2004 22:48

The seizure of the hard drives on Oct 7th in London shut down an Indymedia radio station and around 20 different Indymedia websites from Ambazonia to the UK. Thousands of individuals who have posted hundreds of thousands of articles on these web sites suddenly found their voices silenced by an unknown hand. See the server seizure story for an overview...

Following the FBI raid, a number of Web servers have been offered to the UK site and are already in use. Our immediate aim is, therefore, to build a database server to take the load off the existing one. The current database, or 'publishing server,' for the UK and other Indymedias is often overloaded, especially when uploading larger media files. Scores of people give up in frustration when publishing unsuccessfully time and again.

The best way to help is to set up a regular payment into the Indymedia UK Network account: several people are already contributing £10 a month, but whatever sum you can afford would be much appreciated. Read on for information about how to donate to this appeal.

Full article | 1 comment

US Authorities Seize IMC Servers in UK

27-10-2004 14:34

FBI Hands off Indymedia!

On Thursday 7th US authorities issued a federal order to Rackspace to hand over Indymedia web servers, hosting services for more than 20 Indymedia sites and much more. Rackspace complied removing discs from London.

It is unclear to Indymedia how and why a server that is outside the US jurisdiction can be seized by US authorities. The discs have now been returned. But the questions remain...

[ More infomation and Feature | Global Support Declaration ]

Full article | 1 comment

The IMC Server Mystery

14-10-2004 12:03

fbi seizes imc servers

Last Thursday the FBI seized the hard disks from the web server that runs Sheffield IMC. This is likely to have been given the go ahead from Sheffield Brightside MP and Home Secretary, David Blunkett. Seven days on and neither the FBI, the Government nor the police have offered any explanation to Indymedia as to why their servers were seized. The Sheffield MP Richard Allan is planning to ask a question about this in the House of Commons on Friday, more info on his blog.

The seizure of the server has affected around 20 IMC sites around the world, including Uruguay, Andorra, Poland, Western Massachusetts, Nantes, Marseille, Belgrade, Portugal, Prague, Italy, Brazil, UK, and the global Indymedia Radio site.

Sheffield Indymedia's presence on the web was quickly reinstated due to there being backup servers, but all the other IMC sites were not so fortunate. It has taken a huge amount of work to get things in the UK running again, and the knock on effects of the server being seized are likely to be felt for a while yet. We hope that users of the Sheffield site will bear with us through this time.

Please sign the Solidarity Petition and also support the Server Appeal.

Sheffield IMC press release

Main UK IMC Story | Glogal FBI / Legal page | EFF Indymedia Page | The Register: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Full article | 51 comments

US Authorities Seize IMC Servers in UK

07-10-2004 20:43

fbi seizes imc servers

UPDATE 14th Oct:

Hard drives returned
The two servers recently seized by US Authorities were returned yesterday morning to Rackspace (the hosting service where the servers were first taken from). Indymedia is now weighing additional legal options after this illegal seizure of its servers. Many of the original questions still remain.
Sign the Global Support Declaration

UPDATE 13th Oct: Indymedia UK Call for Solidarity
Indymedia Press Release: 11/12th Oct
Reporters Without Borders Solidarity Statement: "Home Secretary David Blunkett challenged over Indymedia website closures"
Association for Progressive Communications Statement: "APC condemns "arbitrary" seizure of IndyMedia web servers by US and European law enforcers."

Further links to mainstream media coverage can be found at the bottom of this feature. Correspondence between an indymedia activist and Rackspace, and lists of sites that are and are not back on line, can be found on this blog.

It is ironic that that this happens now, just days before Indymedia is due to participate in the European Forum on Communications Rights being held alongside the European Social Forum and several other days of discussions about electronic civil liberties and community media. For more information on these events see www.efcr2004.net

[ Original Press Release | Global Indymedia article and comments | IMC FBI pages]

XML UK FBI Server Seizure Feature Archive

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Image NUJ drops support for Indymedia?
24-03-2006 17:22 | 2 additions | 7 comments

Text What you should look for on your hard drive that may well be hidden: "clamxav"
31-12-2004 12:04 | 3 comments

Text Confusion over Indymedia Server Seizure
06-12-2004 22:36 | 9 comments

Text Indymedia Solidarity with nmap
26-11-2004 00:43 | 1 comment

Text Offline online now - indymedia news sheet - please distribute
25-11-2004 15:54

Text M.E.P. get involved in Indymedia harddrive seizures
18-11-2004 13:04

Image Indymedia 5th Birthday Benefit Party (london) Sat 27th Nov
17-11-2004 20:37 | 1 comment

Text Blunkett reply to Howard on RackServers
17-11-2004 14:06 | 2 comments

Text UK Indymedia birthday party
16-11-2004 16:45 | 6 comments

Text More on the seizure of the indymedia servers
12-11-2004 09:44

Text We seize servers, you can't complain - US gov
11-11-2004 16:24 | 1 comment

Text US Government answer to unseal server seizure court order in the US
10-11-2004 00:02 | 6 comments

Text Questions in the the House of Commons over the FBI server seizure
09-11-2004 22:54 | 1 comment

Text M.P.s sign petition in support of IMC-UK
07-11-2004 22:22

Image Hard-disks nailed to the italian consulate in Dijon (fr), in solidarity with IMC
06-11-2004 21:35 | 1 comment

Text Mark Thomas article
06-11-2004 20:33

Text Petition by MP's over Indymedia, GATS, Venezuela and Colombia
06-11-2004 18:46

Image Harddrives nailed to Italian consulate in Dijon France
04-11-2004 22:54

Text Spartacist League/PDC Protest Crackdown on IndyMedia
04-11-2004 18:31

Text Indymedia server grab - Home Office knew, but isn't telling
04-11-2004 12:44 | 1 comment

Text Indymedia solidarity action in Grenoble, France
02-11-2004 23:46

Text Home Office refuses to comment on IMC server seizure
02-11-2004 22:44 | 4 comments

Text WHERE ARE WE WITH THE FBI STUFF???
02-11-2004 15:59 | 3 comments

Text New Statesman article on server seizure
30-10-2004 19:09 | 2 comments

Image Boycott Rackspace
28-10-2004 16:44 | 3 comments

Text Court Challenge:Demands Information About the Seizure of Indymedia Servers
26-10-2004 18:54

Text International Press Institute letter to David Blunkett
22-10-2004 09:55

Text Early day motion about Indymedia
21-10-2004 14:22 | 2 comments

Text Indymedia: the tale of the servers 'nobody' seized
21-10-2004 13:59 | 4 comments

Text Indymedia Answers from MP
21-10-2004 11:42 | 2 comments

Text Sheffield Indymedia Press Release
20-10-2004 10:35

Text Protest FBI Crackdown on Indymedia!
19-10-2004 20:45

Text Cockup or Conspiracy: The Home Office versus Indymedia
19-10-2004 12:31 | 4 comments

Text DemocracyNOW on server seizure
19-10-2004 11:01

Text IMC Solidarity Missing From ESF Assembly of Social Movements Declaration!
19-10-2004 01:52 | 4 comments

Text Hard drive seizure - photographing the photographers
18-10-2004 20:55

Text Indymedia Seizure question in Parliament by Birmingham MP Lynne Jones
18-10-2004 19:38 | 4 comments

Text Call to Action: Stop Government Repression of Indymedia
17-10-2004 08:27 | 1 comment

Image Houston TX protest of Ahimsa seizures @ Swiss consulate
14-10-2004 20:44

Text [seizure-news] confirmed the Bologna's ties and FBI excess
14-10-2004 13:27 | 2 comments

Text Sheffield MP to raise questions about IMC disk seizure
14-10-2004 08:55

Text Parliamentary question about IMC disk seizure
14-10-2004 07:42

Text Is attack on Indymedia a Trap
13-10-2004 19:15 | 5 comments

Text Inital victory- FBI return seized servers
13-10-2004 17:26 | 8 comments

Text Simple Action You Can Take Re: FBI Seizure
13-10-2004 10:56 | 2 comments

Image ACTION ALERT: Urgent Action In Support of Indymedia
13-10-2004 09:13

Text Reporters without borders: IMC Statement
12-10-2004 15:27 | 1 comment

Text Indymedia seizure: the videogame
11-10-2004 20:41 | 1 comment

Text Guardian, BBC and Morning Star cover IMC Server Seizures
11-10-2004 11:30 | 1 comment

Text IMC servers in EU Parliament
11-10-2004 07:34 | 1 comment

Text Swiss Prosecutor Behind Theft of UK IMC Server Identified
11-10-2004 03:45 | 2 comments

Text Catch-22
11-10-2004 01:12 | 4 comments

Text Is Italy Behind the Theft of IMC's Servers in the UK?
10-10-2004 22:04 | 2 comments

Image badge designs in support of indy
10-10-2004 21:43 | 1 comment

Text CIA campaign against Indymedia
10-10-2004 18:46 | 1 comment

Text Action You Can Take Re: Indymedia Seizure
10-10-2004 13:57

Text QUESTIONS for UK Home Office + UK Government over Server Seizures
10-10-2004 11:53 | 1 comment

Text IPS reports Indymedia Server Seizures
10-10-2004 10:38 | 1 comment

Text Statewatch Statement on Seizure of Indymedia's Servers in London
09-10-2004 12:56 | 5 comments

Text IMC Statement on Server Seizures - 8th October
09-10-2004 09:30

Text pre-shutdown statement from Nantes IMC (translation)
09-10-2004 02:19 | 2 comments

Text more on server snatch
09-10-2004 01:06 | 3 comments

Text Swiss and Italian Authorities Requested US Assistance to Seize IMC Servers in UK
09-10-2004 00:11

Text UPDATE on FBI Trashing of Indymedia - Message from Indy Nantes
08-10-2004 22:02

Text BREAKING NEWS - IMC Server Seizure - An International Law Enforcement Operation
08-10-2004 18:02 | 1 comment

Text Statement from Rackspace
08-10-2004 17:48 | 6 comments

Text GREAT TO SEE IT ALL UP AND RUNNING AGAIN!! :-)
08-10-2004 15:39

Text FUCK THE USA!
08-10-2004 15:37 | 4 comments

Text Re Server Seizures: See Support Indymedia Petition / Letter from 2002
08-10-2004 13:39 | 4 comments

Image The pictures the FBI didn't want you to see!
08-10-2004 10:04 | 8 comments

Text FBI seizes Global Indymedia Servers. Reasons Unknown
07-10-2004 21:47 | 5 comments

Text FBI took the hard drives of IMC servers in the UK
07-10-2004 20:34

XML UK FBI Server Seizure Newswire Archive