Legal Research

Drawing the curtain on ISP cooperation with law enforcement

By David T. S. Fraser

I’ve been a faithful follower of Cryptome for quite some time. Cryptome has been posting very interesting and controversial content on the internet since 1996. It was the first WikiLeaks. Recent readers would note some publications that are very interesting for those who are interested a look at the level of cooperation of between internet service providers and law enforcement. Some of the reaction has been overblown, in my view. Nobody should be surprised that service providers hand over customer information in response to warrants and subpoenaes. Where the law requires it, banks do it, pharmacies do it, libraries do it and credit card companies do it. I think it would be shocking if service providers didn’t have policies and procedures for this. What would be more troubling would be the extent to which service providers hand over information in the absence of a lawful requirement.

Most recently, Microsoft served a DMCA notice on Cryptome and its hosting provider, demanding that their Global Criminal Compliance Handbook be removed. Cryptome countered and Microsoft ultimately caved. My personal view is that service providers should make this information public so that customers really understand their digital footprints.

So if you want to see what Facebook, AOL, PayPal, MySpace, AOL and Skype will provide in response to a lawful demand, check out Cryptome.

And for lawyers, these documents will tell you what you can expect to get in response to a lawful demand.

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on March 01, 2010 (boomark / email).