Indymedia è stato oscurato quando si sta entrando nel vivo della faccenda del G8 di Genova e gli avvocati del Global Genoa Forum stavano studiando il materiale informatico per i vari processi in atto.
Alle coincidenze democratiche.
October 11, 2004
Indymedia's Internet Servers Confiscated
by Stefania Milan
LONDON - Agents from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on
Thursday seized two Internet servers in Britain that host the Web sites of
the global news network <http://www.indymedia.org/en/index.shtml>Indymedia.
Two days later, there was still no clarification of why the computers were
confiscated or who is holding them.
The confiscation came just days before the European Social Forum, the
region's major civil society gathering, in which Indymedia is to have a
strong presence.
Indymedia – as the Independent Media Centers are known – is a network of
more than 140 national and thematic "open-publishing" Web sites where
independent activists or journalists can publish their news articles,
stories and other material online, with no editorial filter.
Created in 1999 to report on the protests against the World Trade
Organization's ministerial conference in the U.S. city of Seattle,
Indymedia has since become the main news source of the anti-globalization
movement, continuing to serve as an alternative to mainstream media outlets
worldwide.
The two servers seized on Thursday were located in the London offices of
the U.S.-based company Rackspace, one of the network's hosting providers.
On Saturday, it was not yet clear why the computer hardware had been seized
or who is now holding it.
More than 20 national Web sites – some of the countries affected are
Uruguay, France, Italy, Brazil, England and Germany – were out of service
for at least 24 hours.
Most of those sites have been reinstated using substitute Internet servers
– but Indymedia activists fear that a great deal of digital material may
have been lost.
The seizure came just one week before the start of the third edition of the
European Social Forum (ESF) in London, Oct. 15-17.
In parallel to the ESF, Indymedia promoted a four-day event on
"communication rights and tactical media production" in collaboration with
other organizations such as the Association for Progressive Communication
and the World Association of Christian Communications.
"This attack against Indymedia is an affront to communication rights and
the right to privacy," said an Indymedia activist organizing the European
Forum on Communication Rights, in London Oct. 14.
"Rackspace UK complied with a legal order," the company declared in a
statement, saying that it "is acting as a good corporate citizen and is
cooperating with international law enforcement authorities." The company
did not provide any more details.
"It is not an FBI operation. Through a legal assistance treaty, the
subpoena was on behalf of a third country," FBI spokesman Joe Parris told
Agence France-Presse.
Apparently, the request for the FBI action was submitted by government
agencies in Switzerland and Italy. The FBI acted in compliance with the
<http://travel.state.gov/law/mlat.html>Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT).
The MLAT establishes procedures for signatory countries to collaborate in
investigations regarding international terrorism, kidnapping and money
laundering.
"But these allegations have no relation with Indymedia activities," an
Indymedia activist who preferred to remain anonymous told IPS.
"We do not understand why the FBI has acted against Indymedia, which is an
open communication project organized through public meetings and mailing
lists. We think there must be some hidden reason behind," said the activist.
The seizure triggered strong reactions by many civil society groups around
the world.
The <http://www.ifj.org/>International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
called for an investigation into the "intolerable and intrusive" action
that silenced the Web sites.
"More intimidation than crime-busting," IFJ general-secretary Aidan White
said. "The seizing of computers and the high profile nature of this
incident suggests that someone wanted to stifle these independent voices in
journalism."
According to the IFJ, the confiscation might be related to a court case
heard Sept. 30 in San Jose, Calif., against some Indymedia activists who
denounced the Web-based flaws in the electronic voting machines to be used
in the Nov. 2 U.S. presidential election.
But it is not the first time that Indymedia has suffered such attacks. A
month ago the FBI asked Indymedia to take down a photo of undercover Swiss
police published on the Indymedia Nantes (France) site.
Indymedia was attacked during the protests against the meeting of the
world's eight richest countries (G8) in Genoa, in July 2001, when the
Italian riot police damaged its media center.
"In the seized servers there was all the information related to Genoa
events. We are very worried," Laura Tartarini from the Genoa Legal Forum
said. The Legal Forum is the group of lawyers set up before the G8 meeting
to deal with legal consequences of the protests.
Together with the Legal Forum, some Italian Indymedia activists are
currently examining the videos recorded during the protests to help those
activists accused of vandalism now being processed in Genoa court.
"Ironically, this violation of the freedom of speech comes while the United
Nations World Summit on the Information Society, begun in 2003 in Geneva
and to be concluded in Tunis in 2005, is still ongoing," said Italian
senator Fiorello Cortiana.
(Inter Press Service)




Rispondi Citando
