Ethics

FBI Withdraws NSL on Internet Archive

By Ed Brayton

You've probably used the Internet Archive before. It's home to the Wayback Machine, an indispensable research tool for seeing what webpages looked like at specific times in the past, as well as many other great features (including a great archive of bootleg concerts). The FBI served a National Security Letter to them demanding that they turn over information on who accessed their site. With the help of the ACLU and the EFF, they fought that order and the FBI has now withdrawn its letter.

National Security Letters (NSLs) are typically used to compel libraries, internet service providers and telephone companies to turn over information on their customers without a court order or warrant. They are authorized under the Patriot Act, but the DOJ has admitted that the FBI has misused them in literally thousands of cases. The most serious problem with them is the lack of judicial oversight, which leads inevitably to abuse.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on May 09, 2008 (boomark / email).