Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson was fond of saying that, “There’s no such thing as paranoia.” In light of recent events, I must say that the good doctor may have really been onto something. No, I’m not rambling incoherently about random, nonsensical conspiracies. I only wish. What I’m about to discuss is certainly not for the faint of heart, so those prone to panic attacks or fond of engaging in nefarious activities on the interwebs should consider this their last warning to stop reading.
On July 9th, 2010 a website called Blogetery.com mysterious disappeared from cyberspace. Completely. The site was home to some 70,000 blogs, which have all been M.I.A. ever since. Naturally, former users and members of the online media have been trying to figure out exactly how and why this bizarre incident occurred. As many have already noted, sites like this are often at risk for copyright infringement, especially from content uploaded by their users. But these types of issues are typically resolved openly, and involve the offending parties, not the entire site. But owners of the now defunct Blogetery, Burst.net, aren’t talking, except to indicate that this wasn’t about copyright infringement and that the shutdown was the result of law enforcement action. The U.S. government doesn’t have a cyber police division (yet), which raises the obvious question of who has the authority to pull the plug without warning and zero disclosure. For the record, my money’s on the Department of Homeland Security, but that’s a separate post altogether.
The utter obliteration of a simple blogging site was virtually unprecedented and the incident seemed headed for obscurity due to a suspicious lack of mainstream press coverage. And then it happened again, less than a week after the Blogetery fiasco. A similar site of unknown origins/ownership, iPBFree.com, suffered the same unexplained fate, supposedly at the hands of an unnamed law enforcement agency. Absent from either of these reports is any mention of minor details, like search warrants, motive, or jurisdiction. You know, the whole due process thing.The Obama administration pledged to take internet piracy seriously, and thus far has made a few gestures to convey the strength of its resolve. It bears repeating that these covert tactics may be within the federal government’s powers as designated in the Patriot Act, although that massive piece of legislation is supposed to apply to counterterrorism measures. The American Bar Association has long recognized that the scope of the Patriot Act extends far beyond the parameters of its express purpose.
Still, as far as so-called cybersecurity goes, the Patriot Act is merely the beginning. Needless to say, the government’s actions in both instances are well within the parameters set forth in the Cybersecurity Act of 2009; thankfully that’s languishing in the committee stages, otherwise known as the graveyard of legislation. If you’ll recall the act’s announcement triggered a massive wave of anti-government sentiment in the already hostile world of on-line forums, news sites, and the like. These recent events make me wonder whether or not the government decided to circumvent the formalities of the legislative process in order to avoid a public outcry.
Not that this would be a first…..
UPDATE- The Plot thickens as PC World publishes a statement from the fine folks at Burst.net indicating Al-qaedainvolvement. Right.
