FITUG e.V.

Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft

FC: FBI raids Seattle journalist collective, delivers gag order

------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 15:12:07 -0500 To: politech@politechbot.com From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> Subject: FC: FBI raids Seattle journalist collective, delivers gag order Copies to: paulshukovsky@seattle-pi.com, editorial@seattle.indymedia.org, news@seattle.indymedia.org Send reply to: declan@well.com

This was reportedly posted on then removed from vermont.indymedia.org:

>"There is a report of FBI Officers currently located within the

Seattle >IMC demanding the location of the person who's name is the registered name >of indymedia.org. Apparently, they have an arrest warrant for Jonathan Jay >because of a supposed threat against President Bush on the Montreal IMC >site. They are making threats that the IMC is not supposed to send out >*any* emails regarding this issue, according to the warrant. However, >this, according to the IMC lawyer, is Prior Restraint, which is >unconstitutional. The closest story mentioning Bush on the Montreal site >is the following: story mentioning bush Please look to >seattle.indymedia.org as well as other sites for updates on this situation."

The name "Jonathan Jay" does indeed appear in the "whois" database: http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois?STRING=indymedia.o rg

But each Independent Media Center is a collective that includes hundreds of loosely-affiliated journalists and activists. Holding the whois registrant responsible for what appears on the site -- if that is what happened -- makes little sense. He may have simply donated the domain name years ago, or may be no longer involved in the publication of the site.

Also, the gag order -- the sketchy little we know of it -- seems remarkably broad. Why shouldn't a news organization be able to report on a raid of its office?

Background: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,38286,00.html http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=01/04/24/1857245

-Declan

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Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 12:07:54 -0700 From: Warren Cowley <wdcowley@earthlink.net> To: declan@well.com Subject: Indymedia raided by the FBI and gag order placed on discussion of the issue

Declan, Please sound the alarm. The FBI has chosen another target. They raided the Indymedia center on sat 04/21/01. In the process they have placed a gag order on indymedia. the story is here : http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0424-04.htm and here: http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=36185&group=webcast

Thanks A very concerned citizen

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http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local/19980_security24.shtml

FBI raids media center Stolen security plan for Quebec meeting was put on Internet here

Tuesday, April 24, 2001

By PAUL SHUKOVSKY SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Security plans intended to protect Western leaders attending a trade summit in Quebec City were stolen from a car there over the weekend and posted, hours later, on a Seattle-based Web site, authorities said yesterday.

On Saturday night, FBI agents raided the offices of the Independent Media Center in downtown Seattle, seizing computer-log records, according to federal sources.

No arrests have been made.

Center spokeswoman Sherry Herndon said she and other staff have been told "not to talk about" the incident under threat of being held in contempt of court.

She referred inquiries to attorney Bob Goodman of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City, who also declined comment.

He said the court order that was served on the IMC "contains a fairly broad gag order; therefore, we cannot talk."

...

No mention of the FBI raid could be found yesterday on the IMC Web site. But the organization's home page carried a boldface note stating, "Everything is fine at the Seattle IMC. We will keep you posted on any further developments."

...

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