Mastodawn

BDN Mar 5, 2025

Last Friday I received a letter from a U.K. law firm with an attached injunction. The law firm claimed I must remove two posts about their client.

That is not going to happen. I am not under the jurisdiction of the U.K. or the High Court of Justice. My lawyer informed them of that yesterday.

But DataBreaches.net might disappear tomorrow because the U.K. law firm sent the injunction to my domain registrar who, innocently believing them, informed me they will suspend my site if I don't remove the posts within 24 hours. I have replied to them but have not heard back.

So...

If my site is gone tomorrow, I will let you know where you can read a lot more about the injunction and how the injunction poses a serious risk of censorship in the U.K.

If my site is still online tomorrow, I will still let you know here where you can read about the over-reaching injunction obtained in a private hearing where no one represented journalists whose reporting was being censored.

#censorship #injunction #pressfreedom
#AssociatedPress #RCFP #databreach #ransomware #journalism

@freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare @lawrenceabrams

Klaus Frank Mar 4, 2025

@PogoWasRight @freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare

Let your lawyer handle the communication with your domain provider (or move it to someone that doesn't give a shit).

James_inthe_box Mar 4, 2025

@agowa338 @PogoWasRight @freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare Or start just putting all the details right here :)

SpaceLifeForm Mar 4, 2025

@PogoWasRight @freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare

This is why distributed social media is powerful.

The attackers get to play whack-a-mole.

@PogoWasRight @freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare @lawrenceabrams

In the appendix to the @defcon Franklin report, I talked about irresponsible behavior like this. https://harris.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/the_def_con_32_hackers_almanack.pdf

I know you know about it, but I hope the lawyers are tracking you closely and will realize that it's a bad look. Maybe even apologize.

@adamshostack @freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare @lawrenceabrams
@defcon

It's a bad look for the High Court of Justice, it's a bad look for the law firm, and it's a bad look for their client.

Matt Palmer Mar 5, 2025

@PogoWasRight not bad enough, sadly.

iainthomson Mar 5, 2025

@adamshostack @PogoWasRight @freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @amvinfe @lawfare @lawrenceabrams @defcon

Signal iainthomson.60

s1f0w Mar 4, 2025

@PogoWasRight @freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare @lawrenceabrams I ask almost daily for hosting providers of scam sites to take down the site and 9 times out of 10 there is no response. At the same time, I respond to takedown requests from other people in <24 hours every time. I wish that there was a way for this to work better for everyone involved.

Lea de Groot TZ+10 Mar 4, 2025

@PogoWasRight @freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare @lawrenceabrams @cstross now im curious to wonder.. if you immediately changed registrars, would that letter travel with the rego?

Oliver Kamer Mar 4, 2025

@PogoWasRight this feels as relevant as ever

https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-12-01/carter-ruck-britains-fiercest-libel-firm-will-pursue-anyone-anywhere-reputation

Britain’s fiercest libel firm can pursue anyone, anywhere

The government is trying to rein in firms like Carter-Ruck. It’s not easy

TBIJ

Eternal Apprentice Mar 4, 2025

@PogoWasRight @freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare @lawrenceabrams

Which posts are they trying to supress?

@Mhoram @freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare @lawrenceabrams

I'll report it all tomorrow -- with links to the posts that they demanded I remove and that will still be there tomorrow.

And a bit of good news now: my domain registrar said they are not going to suspend my site and have told the UK law firm that if the law firm has questions about it, they should contact my lawyer. :)

More tomorrow after I can write everything up....

🇺🇦Mar 4, 2025

Looks like said registrar is also not within their jurisdiction unless the relationship between Canada and the UK is very different than I believe.

@freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare @lawrenceabrams

Darren du Nord Mar 4, 2025

@PogoWasRight @freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare @lawrenceabrams

Long live #Tor, the god of impossible to pronounce, difficult to reach yet indestructible domains!

Good luck, though. I hope you beat the bastards.

EVHaste Mar 4, 2025

I’m interested. Would you mind linking to the posts in question? Are you able to share anything about the injunction (who sent it, their claims, etc)?

I'm writing it all up for my blog and I'll link to it all from here tomorrow (Weds.). And yes, that will include links to the posts they demanded I remove and that I'm not removing. I'm still debating about publishing the whole injunction. I need to think about whether I could be doing any harm by doing that. I may just quote certain parts of it.

EVHaste Mar 5, 2025

@PogoWasRight neat, I’ll keep an eye out.

zl2tod Mar 5, 2025

Make sure that your lawyer is up on Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties.

cf. Indymedia takedown
https://www.eff.org/cases/indymedia-server-takedown

@freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare @lawrenceabrams

Indymedia Server Takedown

Updated August 2005 » EFF press release about unsealed documents Aug 2 2005 On October 7 2004 more than 20 Independent Media Center (IMC) websites and other Internet services were taken offline pursuant to a Commissioner's Subpoena. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) represented the interests...

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Bite Code!Mar 5, 2025

This has bitten us so many times: registrars don't want to deal with this, so they just default to comply to anything that looks to be remotely official.

If you are not big enough, you have basically zero defense against this.

@PogoWasRight @freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare @lawrenceabrams

Dominik Mar 5, 2025

@PogoWasRight Which posts? Time to Wayback Machine that site?

Edit: Nevermind, just read your report on the injunction.