[WSIS CS-Plenary] A call for a statement from civil society regarding recent issues in Internet Governance

[Nabil El-Khodari]

Dear all:

I believe that we should issue a statement from civil society involved in
the WSIS about the recent incidents reported particularly regarding the
Indymedia and Macedonia issues.

I suggest that an organization here should take care of that, and design a
logo that is to be added by all civil society groups on the front page of
their web site with link to the approved (and signed) statement.

We cannot keep silent.

Sincerely,

Nabil El-Khodari
Founder/Treasurer
Nile Basin Society
Tel.: +1 (647) 722-3256
Fax: +1 (647) 722-3273

http://nilebasin.com
http://nilebasin.net
http://nile.ca
108 Waterbury Dr.
Toronto, Ontario, M9R 3Y3
Canada

"If the people will lead, the leaders will follow." Dr. David Suzuki



-----Original Message-----
From: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org] On
Behalf Of Sasha Costanza-Chock
Sent: Sunday, October 10, 2004 2:44 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Italy and Switzerland Requested Indymedia's
Server Seizure


-------------------
Press Release

08 October 2004

Italy and Switzerland Requested Indymedia's Server Seizure

      Today, October 8, 2004, Indymedia has learned that the request to
seize Indymedia servers hosted by a US company in the UK originated from
government agencies in Italy and Switzerland. More than 20 Indymedia
sites, several internet radio streams and other projects were hosted on
the servers. They were taken offline on October 7th after an order was
issued to Rackspace, Inc., one of Indymedia's web hosting providers.

     The reasons for the court order or who actually holds the servers
now are still unknown to Indymedia.

     According to Italian news agency reports and an Agence
France-Presse (AFP) interview with FBI spokesman Joe Parris, the FBI
acted on Italian and Swiss requests. "It is not an FBI operation,"
Parris told AFP. "Through a legal assistance treaty, the subpoena was on
behalf of a third country." (1)

     Earlier today Rackspace published a statement that they turned over
the servers in response to an order under the Mutual Legal Assistance
Treaty (MLAT). The MLAT establishes procedures for countries to assist
each other in investigations regarding international terrorism,
kidnapping and money laundering. The court prohibits Rackspace from
commenting further on this matter. (2)

     An Indymedia system administrator stated: "We do not know if
Rackspace is under a gag order, or what legal restrictions were imposed
requiring them to act this way, or whether their legal department had
enough time to study the request."

     Aidan White, the General Secretary for the International Federation
of Journalists (IFJ) had this to say. "We have witnessed an intolerable
and intrusive international police operation against a network
specialising in independent journalism. The way this has been done
smacks more of intimidation of legitimate journalistic inquiry than
crime-busting." (3)

     Indymedia condemns the fact that even 24 hours after two entire
servers were taken down, Indymedia is still not getting any information
of the reasons for the order.

     By taking down 2 servers more than 20 Indymedia sites were affected
in different countries globally as well as several unrelated projects.
Indymedia considers this extremely invasive operation a a serious threat
to the Freedom of Speech worldwide.

     Indymedia insists that the servers are returned because each day
they are inoperable and Indymedia's irreplaceable data is unaccessible
means greater material damages to the Indymedia operation worldwide.

Note to editors:

(1) AFP report

(2) Statement from Rackspace, 8 Oct. 2004: "In the present matter
regarding Indymedia, Rackspace Managed Hosting, a U.S. based company
with offices in London, is acting in compliance with a court order
pursuant to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), which establishes
procedures for countries to assist each other in investigations such as
international terrorism, kidnapping and money laundering. Rackspace
responded to a Commissioner's subpoena, duly issued under Title 28,
United States Code, Section 1782 in an investigation that did not arise
in the United States. Rackspace is acting as a good corporate citizen
and is cooperating with international law enforcement authorities. The
court prohibits Rackspace from commenting further on this matter." For
additional information on the MLAT, please click here

(3) IFJ Statement http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=2734&Language=EN

(4) Indymedia volunteers can only speculate about possible reasons.
Switzerland Indymedia suspects that the order might have to do with two
photos published on the French site (IMC Nantes) of Swiss undercover
police agents in charge of the G8 events in Switzerland in 2003. In the
last few weeks there was contact between Swiss, specifically the Genevan
governmental authorities, and the FBI. The FBI also approached Rackspace
as well as a Seattle Indymedia activist recently regarding that matter,
but according to communication from Rackspace to Indymedia on Tuesday,
the matter appeared to to be closed.
For its part, Italy Indymedia can only assume that the request is
motivated by the Italian government's attitude towards Indymedia, which
has been overtly hostile ever since the 2001 G8 Summit in Genoa.

(5) More background information is available at
http://indymedia.org/en/static/fbi

(6) Contact: imc-press(a)indymedia.org or +1-415 867 9472

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