Whistleblower site Cryptome.org shutdown for leaking Microsoft surveillance info

COMMENT: In two recent video addresses, posted below, Alex Jones explains the battlefield for controlling the Internet, explaining how there are multiple fronts in the attempt to clamp down on sites like Infowars.com, Wikileaks, Cryptome and many others, and why people should support the First Amendment rights of those sites.

Microsoft Takes Down Whistleblower Site, Read the Secret Doc Here

Ryan Singel
Wired
February 24, 2010

Microsoft has managed to do what a roomful of secretive, three-letter government agencies have wanted to do for years: get the whistleblowing, government-document sharing site Cryptome shut down.

Microsoft dropped a DMCA notice alleging copyright infringement on Cryptome’s proprietor John Young on Tuesday after he posted a Microsoft surveillance compliance document that the company gives to law enforcement agents seeking information on Microsoft users. Young filed a counterclaim on Wednesday — arguing he had a fair use to publishing the document, a full day before the Thursday deadline set by his hosting provider, Network Solutions.

The 22-page document (.pdf) contains no trade secrets, but will tell Microsoft users things they didn’t know. (You can read it directly on your own computer from the above link, or read it inline below.)

For instance, Xbox Live records every IP address you ever use to login and stores them for perpetuity. While that’s going to be creepy for some, there’s an upside if your house gets robbed, according to the document: “If your investigation involves a stolen Xbox console, if the console serial number or Xbox LIVE user gamertag is provided and the console has been connected to the Internet, IP connection records may be available.”

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Update: Network Solutions Shuts Down Cryptome.org

Robert Quigley
Geekosystem
February 24, 2010

Whistleblower site Cryptome’s ISP, Network Solutions, has just shut down Cryptome.org for posting a leaked copy of Microsoft’s 22-page guide detailing surveillance services Microsoft will perform for law enforcement agencies on its various online platforms; Microsoft attacked the post under the guise of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Network Solutions has also locked the domain, preventing it from being transferred to another ISP.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Previously, Network Solutions had set Cryptome’s ultimatum for removing the file at February 25th; upon receiving Cryptome’s DMCA counter notification, Cryptome editor John Young says they pulled the plug.

Read more about it in our most recent update to the Cryptome saga.

More coverage: Site Leaks Microsoft Online Surveillance Guide, MS Demands Takedown Under Copyright Law

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