Cryptome Shut Down. National Security Letter Issued?

Kurt Nimmo
May. 01, 2007

John Young, Cryptome webmaster John Young’s controversial web site, Cryptome, has received a letter from its hosting service, Verio, indicating it will terminate service due for violation of its Acceptable Use Policy. Cryptome has until May 4 to find another service provider.

“Cryptome welcomes documents for publication that are prohibited by governments worldwide, in particular material on freedom of expression, privacy, cryptology, dual-use technologies, national security, intelligence, and secret governance—open, secret and classified documents—but not limited to those,” the site explains.

“You’d think that websites like Young’s would be illegal, especially since the Internet is one of the most critical battlegrounds in our war against radical Islamists. Terrorists not only use encrypted online messages to communicate, but they scan the Web for intelligence,” Michael Crowley wrote for Readers Digest in March, 2005. “Perhaps if more of us complain, that could change. One thing’s for certain: We can’t persuade the people who get a thrill exposing dangerous facts to sober up.”

According to Cryptome, the people who complained may work for the FBI. “This notice of termination is surprising for Verio has been consistently supportive of freedom of information against those who wish to suppress it,” a note on a mirror site states. “Since 1999 Cryptome has received a number of e-mailed notices from Verio’s legal department in response to complaints from a variety of parties, ranging from British intelligence to alleged copyright holders to persons angry that their vices have been exposed (see below). In every case Verio has heretofore accepted Cryptome’s explanation for publishing material, and in some cases removal of the material, and service has continued…. In this latest instance there was no notice received from Verio describing the violation of acceptable use to justify termination of service prior to receipt of the certified letter, thus no opportunity to understand or respond to the basis for termination… It may be wondered if Verio was threatened by an undisclosable means, say by an National Security Letter or by a confidential legal document or by a novel attack not yet aired.”

“A National Security Letter (NSL) is a form of administrative subpoena used by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation,” explains Wikipedia. “It is a demand letter issued to a particular entity or organization to turn over various record and data pertaining to individuals. They require no probable cause or judicial oversight. They also contain a gag order, preventing the recipient of the letter from disclosing that the letter was ever issued.”

The ACLU adds:

National Security Letters (NSLs) allow the FBI to obtain certain kinds of sensitive personal records without obtaining any kind of court order… The absence of judicial oversight means that, when it comes to the use of NSLs, the FBI has a free hand…

Before the PATRIOT Act became law in October 2001, the FBI could issue an NSL against you only if it had reason to believe that you were a foreign spy. Now, however, the FBI can issue an NSL against you even if it knows you are completely innocent of any such activity. The only requirement is that the NSL be ’sought for’ an ongoing investigation…

Does it really serve national security to allow the FBI to engage in such aggressive surveillance—including surveillance of ordinary, law-abiding Americans—without any judicial oversight whatsoever?

Barton Gellman, writing for the Washington Post, adds:

[National Security] letters—one of which can be used to sweep up the records of many people—are extending the bureau’s reach as never before into the telephone calls, correspondence and financial lives of ordinary Americans… National security letters do not need the imprimatur of a prosecutor, grand jury or judge. They receive no review after the fact by the Justice Department or Congress.

Finally, it should be noted that earlier this month Cryptome reported “that the US Department of Homeland Security is demanding the master key for DNS root zone, a demand that has other nations deeply alarmed. With the master key, DHS would have control over the Internet,” writes Bob Chapman of the International Forecaster.

In short, with control of this “key-signing key” and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers out of the way, spooks would be able to effectively turn the web into a large snoop apparatus.