Snowden’s e-mail provider is closing, cannot legally say why

[David Krout]

Source: Washington Post

The e-mail service used by National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden is suspending operations. And they can’t tell us why — although this cryptic post heavily suggests it has something to do with a government request for information:

"I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit. After significant soul searching, I have decided to suspend operations. I wish that I could legally share with you the events that led to my decision. I cannot. I feel you deserve to know what’s going on — the first amendment is supposed to guarantee me the freedom to speak out in situations like this. Unfortunately, Congress has passed laws that say otherwise. As things currently stand, I cannot share my experiences over the last six weeks, even though I have twice made the appropriate requests.

What’s going to happen now? We’ve already started preparing the paperwork needed to continue to fight for the Constitution in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. A favorable decision would allow me resurrect Lavabit as an American company."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/08/snowdens-e-mail-provider-is-closing-cannot-legally-say-why/

---

[cantbeserious]

1. I Physically Live In The US - However, I No Longer Live In America - America Is Dead

eom

[avaistheone1]

20. So many are freely expressing your sentiment now.

My take is that if America is not dead, then it sure is broken.

[DontTreadOnMe]

29. Yes, the world has come to an end... time to go curl up in a ball and shrivel up

Paranoia will Destroya

[ronnie624]

45. Expressing criticism of our government's policies

after the "the world has come to an end", doesn't seem like a logical course of action. I don't think it would do much good, at that point.

[AppleBottom]

31. Things are getting worse not better and we have dip wads running around

Claiming that this kind of stuff is alright because we're supposedly not as bad as Russia.

[jtuck004]

2. Watch what you say and do. Remember, your crime is judeged in the mind of the watchers, not yours.

"This experience has taught me one very important lesson: without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent, I would _strongly_ recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States."

http://lavabit.com/

Now, don't you feel safer?

[DeSwiss]

3. K&R

- As long as these stupid assholes are in-charge, this place is truly fucked.

"What would you think of a man who not only kept an arsenal in his home, but was collecting at enormous financial sacrifice a second arsenal to protect the first one?

What would you say if this man so frightened his neighbors that they in turn were collecting weapons to protect themselves from him?

What if this man spent ten times as much money on his expensive weapons as he did on the education of his children?

What if one of his children criticized his hobby and he called that child a traitor and a bum and disowned him?

And he took another child who obeyed him faithfully and armed that child and sent it out into the world to attack neighbors?

What would you say about a man who introduces poisons into the water he drinks and the air he breathes?

What if this man not only is feuding with the people on his block but involves himself in the quarrels of others in distant parts of the city and even in the suburbs?

Such a man would clearly be a paranoid schizophrenic... with homicidal tendencies."

~Robert Anton Wilson

[ronnie624]

46. Collectively, we are indeed, insane. n/t

[grahamhgreen]

4. In my view, the administration is in violation of it's oath to protect and defend the Constitution

on this issue.

[woo me with science]

9. The administration and most of Congress.

This country is corrupted beyond recognition at this point.

[obxhead]

11. In this matter

This administration stands above the Congress.

There is NOTHING stopping Obama or any of his appointed cabinet members from nullifying these violations of our constitution.

[christx30]

34. And Obama is

shoving his foot as hard as he can on the accelerator, with not only signing NDAA, but fighting the court system to keep indefinite detention after it was struck down as unconstitutional. He said that he reluctantly signed it because he knew his veto would be overridden (not that there would have been anything wrong with "I tried to protect habeas corpus, but those Republicans thought it was a bad idea.&quot , but then pressured NY Federal judge Kathleen Forrest to change her ruling to keep it in play. It's crystal clear that he has no interest in protecting the constitution. He could stand up to congress if they were the lone problem. But he is marching lock step with them. It shows whom we can trust and whom we can't.

[frylock]

5. i may have to clear my ignore list to see how this gets spun

knr

[Marr]

13. My money is on something along the lines of "Paulbot! Paulbot!". /nt

[Ms. Toad]

6. At least these incidents are creating more plaintiffs

who can establish standing to test the constitutionality of these laws and actions. First Verizon, now Lavabit, and any customer whose account was shuttered because of Lavabit closing.

[Raine1967]

7. Went to the owners FB page:

https://www.facebook.com/KingLadar
HE's got a lot of support but there are a few people that are kinda upset that they lost thier email. I'd be pissed too if I paid to have this encryption only to have the owner yank away personal information from its subsribers. Take a look:

Losing FIVE accounts of emails without notice nor recourse is sacrifice enough for me in lieu of donating. Retrieval made possible, and post haste, then I will reconsider. Honorable on one hand, yet to be so disrespectful and rude blindsiding all of us Lavabit clients with this ZERO notice of shut down on the other .... doesn't fly.

The very least you could have done was announce that you were having this issue and were in the process of 'soul searching' a decision to possibly shut Lavabit down so WE could have the chance to retrieve our emails etc and move them before your locking them down and out of reach from US... We that patronized your Lavabit. Gov't wants ability to betray us and our privacy, I don't see your locking down our accounts WITH OUT NOTICE nor any means to salvage our emails etc from off of Lavabit.. OUR ACCOUNTS.

Are you going to solve this issue of leaving us locked out of our accounts?? It wrecks havoc on MANY websites that our accounts are attached too... you must know this so.....

Could you please at least forward the messages for a couple of days to some other e-mail accounts? I can't reset/change the e-mails I used on other websites because they require validation PER EMAIL.

He didn't have to say anything other then "I've decided to shut this site down on x date. Please retrieve all info from your accounts by that date, or else you will not be able to retrieve them after that date. Thank you." Don't tell me the courts told him that he couldn't have done that much. PLZ. We could all be left guessing why he would shut down, but so what, at least we would have had the chance to save our own VERY EXPENSIVE losses due to blindsiding with a shut down without notice. Raging headache, phone ringing off the hook, ANGRY customers, timelines, orders, contacts et al etc. All for 'security' that turns out costing me more then having gone with less secure email. I've been with Lavabit for 8 yrs. Honor vs. Loyalty. Really? ES Tylenol anyone!

[wtmusic]

10. Maybe it was an agents-at-the-door situation, ready to confiscate his servers. nt

[Raine1967]

12. I'm not inclined to believe that theory here is why:

From his letter, on Facebook and here: https://lavabit.com/

I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit. After significant soul searching, I have decided to suspend operations.

He decided to do this.

Why couldn't he have, I don't know -- sent encrypted email's to his clients paying for encryption to warn them of what was going to happen?

What ever was/is going down doesn't end just because he decided to close shop.

Oh, he's still asking for money:

Defending the constitution is expensive! Help us by donating to the Lavabit Legal Defense Fund here.

Ironically, you can donate via Pal.

That is strange.

[wtmusic]

17. True, it's odd that he wouldn't alert his customers in advance.

Somehow seems there is more than meets the eye.

[MADem]

58. He apparentlly made a good payday from the business.

He's apparently an avid beach volleyball enthusiast who travels to enjoy his hobby. He might have to cut back on his tournament time if he can't get his business back online--unless, of course, he has other business ventures that add to his coffers, and has decided to cut this one loose to save the cost of legal fees and a protracted court battle.

[MADem]

19. Near as I can tell, he was issued a National Security Letter.

He should have put a lawyer into "stall"mode with the government and told his clients "We're closing--get your stuff. NOW."

Instead, the site went down, and he told his clients they were moving stuff from one server to another. He basically lied while trying to finesse the situation.

[AppleBottom]

23. Yeah liars they're terrible...

Like we don't have a domestic spying program.
Or people that tell the least untruthful answer.

[MADem]

24. The guy didn't tell the truth to his customers, which is why his customers are furious.

They've got passwords and job applications and all sorts of stuff in their emails, and they can't access 'em and they are angry. The ones who have paid for the service, from what I understand, about ten percent of the total customer base, have a legitimate beef.

People who are using the service for free, well, they get what they get.

Personally, it's no skin off my nose, I don't use the service. I can, however, understand the ire of people who have a lot of shit on their email and now can't access it, or who are expecting communications and cannot get to those, either.

And they're just left high and dry--there's not going to be any happy ending for them.

A lot of the angry people are business customers with several accounts. It's a mess for them on many levels.

[AppleBottom]

32. Yeah I totally get it lying to your customers is much worse than

Being the leader of the President and lying to the American public or being head of the NSA and committing perjury in front of congress... Because money is the most important thing....

[MADem]

36. You're the only one playing the "comparison" game here. I'm not going along with you.

Because you don't "get it." One thing is not like the other.

Does your dog have fleas, too? Do you have a mild toothache? Is your car running a bit rough?

Add that to the list of gripes you're drafting!

It's not simply about money, but interesting that this is where your mind went straight away.

It's about making a promise to another person--a customer, to whom the provider represented himself as a reliable broker-- that business will be conducted in a reputable way, that a service will be provided, and then ripping the rug out from the people who were relying on the provider, with zero notice--even though the provider knew that the boom was about to be lowered.

He knew about this a while ago. He didn't give everyone a chance to grab their shit. Now they'll never get it back. He could have said "We need to do server upgrades and will have intermittent service--if you have anything on our servers that you can't do without, MAKE A COPY NOW, just in case we lose data."

[AppleBottom]

39. Comparisons are important in establishing intellectual consistancy and not looking like a hypocrite.

[MADem]

42. But when they're bogus comparisons, all they do is obfuscate the issues. nt

[AppleBottom]

43. What bogus about calling a liar a liar?

[MADem]

44. You are mixing apples and oranges.

This guy was running a business. People were paying him handsomely for a service.

He wasn't running an intelligence agency and making national security decisions.

Doubling down on an obtuse POV doesn't make it any cooler.

[AppleBottom]

47. LOL!!! Sorry but yeah I think that someone responsible for the welfare of the nation

has a higher obligation to be honest with the people. As opposed to a small web business owner.

[MADem]

48. Yeah, he has an obligation to tell you everything, just because....!

Shame on FDR for not giving up the details of the Normandy invasion--he wasn't transparent at all!

Sorry, you are not making your case, with or without smilies.

Small business is small business. Contracts between business owners and their customers are pretty straightforward, and not subject to issues like classification.

National security programs are a different thing entirely.

But go on and keep missing the point. You want to, so go ahead.

[AppleBottom]

49. No, he doesn't have to tell me everything, but matters of Constitutional violations against EVERY

American?! Yeah that seems pretty important...

[MADem]

51. And you know there are "matters of Constitutional violations..." how?

Because a guy who took off to China and Russia told you so? Don't you think if his arguments were so compelling that there'd be crowds in the streets with torches and pitchforks, and everyone would be on the same page?

There are two sides to this discussion. You unquestioningly favor one side.

Yet you ignore the guy that most of us voted for -- though not all of us, I guess -- when he says otherwise?

There's a process to determine a resolution for that kind of thing, and I'm more than willing to see that process through, all the way to the Supremes if need be, and abide by the determination.

Your piqued declaration on an internet board does not a "Constitutional violation" make.

[AppleBottom]

52. I know that they're violations because the truth stands on it's own.

Oh and the fact that you have the gall to accuse ANYBODY of 'unquestioningly favoring one side. ' Is absurd!



I just don't need the SC to tell me that the sky is blue or water is wet, I'm good at thinking for myself.

[MADem]

55. What truth?

And how can it stand on its (not it's = it is) own when no one yet KNOWS the truth?

I am not Miss Cleo, and neither are you. And all the emoticons in the world won't change that.

This isn't a sky blue/water wet thing. This is an emo-ish looking dweeb in unusual glasses in need of a shave saying this, that, and the other, but his "proof" doesn't match his claims.

Unless you are on the Supreme Court, and I think I'm safe in guessing that you're not, you don't have any knowledge that whatever NSA is doing is constitutional, or not. There are still far too many questions yet unanswered.

However, your response is proof of one thing--that you are, indeed, unquestioningly favoring one side.

FWIW, further insults won't make your argument any stronger.

Here's an emoticon for you....

[AppleBottom]

56. Hey if you need somebody to tell you the difference between right an wrong and to define the state

of your reality as to what the Constitution says or what it means. That's your problem.

I notice that you have this habit of projecting your own bad habits and sentiments upon the people in which you're in disagreement with and then you accuse them of doing what you're actually guilty of. Do you realize that? Is that a purposeful ploy or perhaps something else?

[MADem]

59. You are telling me what you believe, not what you know.

I'm not the one hurling invective, here.

I think you need to look in the mirror.

[AppleBottom]

60. You see you're projecting again....

[MADem]

61. No, I'm not--unless you're Eddie, posting from Moscow, you "know" nada. nt

[AppleBottom]

62. You must be able to follow the news with your internet connection right?...

[MADem]

63. I can't read minds, though--and neither can you. nt

[AppleBottom]

64. Actually, I can just like I know that you habitually have to have the last word in

any conversation. You can't help yourself.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

53. you know, i've been thinking

Couldn't one ask some critics why the administration would even need to request the information et al from the e-mail servers

After all, didn't Snowden say that the NSA was copying everything on the internet on a daily basis or something like that? If so wouldn't they already have atleast all the emails and such on the servers already from the day before the shutdown at the latest

as such one could argue that the need to request information from providers such as this would prove that claim of snowden's wrong yes

[MADem]

54. It's certainly suggestive of that. Why ask for what you already have? nt

[AppleBottom]

57. NO, because the NSA has been engaging in their activities by using secret court orders to force

complicity from the service providers. There spying is done with the knowledge of the service providers, the providers are the ones that allow the NSA into their backbones and give them access. These providers are all under gag orders secret courts not to discuss the details.

Lavabit is different in that it consciously decided on a moral basis to shutdown rather than to comply with a immoral request of the NSA.

[Turbineguy]

8. One of the things

that the lunatic fringe right wing and libertarians have been good at is the creation of imaginary enemies.

[OnyxCollie]

14. Sounds like they got a National Security Letter. nt

[cstanleytech]

15. Aye. Those things need to be abolished or at the very least have an expiration date of no more than

6 months and after that the person or persons are free to talk and no new letter can be issued to try and silence them from doing so.
After all if the government needs the cooperation of someone or some company more than that length of time then they need to get a judge to issue a court order otherwise screw the national security letters imo.

[Posteritatis]

40. Or start getting defied. (nt)

[Quantess]

16. Interesting. (no text)

[quadrature]

18. Lavabit's Wiki page ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavabit


does any else have other info?

[starroute]

21. A second secure email provider has shut down preemptively

http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/08/silent-circle-preemptively-shuts-down-encrypted-email-service-to-prevent-nsa-spying/

“We knew USG would come after us”. That’s why Silent Circle CEO Michael Janke tells TechCrunch his company shut down its Silent Mail encrypted email service. It hadn’t been told to provide data to the government, but after Lavabit shut down today rather than be “complicit” with NSA spying, Silent Circle told customers it has killed off Silent Mail rather than risk their privacy. . . .

In a statement to TechCrunch about whether the shut down was only because Silent Circle felt email was insecure, CEO Michael Janke tells us

“It goes deeper than that. There are some very high profile people on Silent Circle- and I mean very targeted people- as well as heads of state, human rights groups, reporters, special operations units from many countries. We wanted to be proactive because we knew USG would come after us due to the sheer amount of people who use us- let alone the “highly targeted high profile people”. They are completely secure and clean on Silent Phone, Silent Text and Silent Eyes, but email is broken because govt can force us to turn over what we have. So to protect everyone and to drive them to use the other three peer to peer products- we made the decision to do this before men on [SIC] suits show up. Now- they are completely shut down- nothing they can get from us or try and force from us- we literally have nothing anywhere.”

[AppleBottom]

22. When are we going to stand up and say enough is enough.

Now Obama's 'justice' department won't even allow such a service to exist or for Americans to have access to privacy services.

[Coyotl]

28. Actually, it is the U.S. Justice department

not an excuse to bash Obama with an entirely false statement.

[AppleBottom]

33. Who does the A.G. work for? Who sets the agenda?

Did you blame Bush's A.G. for fabricating false legal justification for all his whacko policies or did you blame the head of the snake. I look forward to your answer which will actually be a non-answer most likely...

[Coyotl]

38. Who can be impeached for meddling in DoJ business? That would be Obama!

Obama may be the boss, but he also has a duty to not interfere with the carriage of Justice blindly flying down the highway.

[AppleBottom]

41. So Shrub never set the tone and directions for his A.G. ?!

He just appointed him and let him run wild absolutely helpless and unable to give him direction as his boss?! Really? Seriously?

[Coyotl]

50. Good questions.

The answers are in the DU archive, to be sure.

[frylock]

35. the buck stops ummm... somewhere over there >>>>>>

[Helen Borg]

25. What puzzles me is the following...

Given the immense resources US agencies have put into creating this surveillance network, is it that inconceivable that they would also set up cover companies that offer encrypted email services just for the purpose of attracting the kind of customers that would use them (you know, the kind of people that have "something to hide&quot ? I don't know if Lavabit was such a company, but I don't see how anyone can trust such services in the future.

[silvershadow]

26. This story is actually quite telling on its' own. nt

[Civilization2]

27. brave move, sacrificing ten years of work for principle! best of luck on next venture.

What a pathetic situation this paranoid spy-state has created. Privacy is right, and this corporate-government's control issues are now costing jobs as well as basic freedom and normalicy.

The war of terror is bullsht and the spy power grab is for profits and control not to protect the people but to rob and disempower us.

[snooper2]

30. I bet they got a warrant for Snowy's account

No, not the whole server and EVERYONE, just snowy---

He is under CALEA requirements by the FCC

Dude better listen to his lawyers LOL

[MADem]

37. I suspect you're correct. Your advice is spot on. nt