Joe King
14th August 2010, 03:21 AM
AKA/Nicholas Merrill, 37, was president of New York-based Calyx Internet Access when he received a so-called “national security letter†from the FBI in February 2004 demanding records of one of his customers and filed a lawsuit to challenge it.
“After six long years of not being able to tell anyone at all what happened to me – not even my family – I’m grateful to finally be able to talk about my experience of being served with a national security letter,†Merrill said in a statement. “Internet users do not give up their privacy rights when they log on, and the FBI should not have the power to secretly demand that ISPs turn over constitutionally protected information about their users without a court order. I hope my successful challenge to the FBI’s NSL gag power will empower others who may have received NSLs to speak out.â€
An FBI field agent simply needs to draft an NSL stating the information being sought is “relevant†to a national security investigation.
The letters come with a life-long gag order, so businesses that receive such letters are prohibited from revealing to anyone, including customers who may be under investigation, that the government has requested records of transactions. Violation of a gag order can be punishable by up to five years in prison.
The gag orders raise the possibility for extensive abuse of NSLs, under the cover of secrecy. Indeed, in 2007, a Justice Department Inspector General audit found that the FBI, which issued almost 200,000 NSLs between 2003 and 2006, had abused its authority and misused NSLs.
In Merrill’s case, although the letter’s gag order “was totally clear that they were saying that I couldn’t speak to a lawyer†about it, he immediately contacted his personal attorney, and together they went to the ACLU in New York, which agreed to represent him.
“My gut feeling is I’m an American,†Merrill said, in an interview with Threat Level on Tuesday. “I always have a right to an attorney. There’s no such thing as you can’t talk to your attorney.
Although the case helped expose the secrecy around NSLs and resulted in some First Amendment progress for entities receiving such requests — Congress amended the law to allow recipients to challenge NSLs and gag orders, and the FBI must now also prove in court that disclosure of an NSL would harm a national security case — the fight over NSLs is not over. The Obama administration has been seeking to expand the FBI’s power to demand internet activity records of customers without court approval or suspicion of wrongdoing. If granted, the data sought without a court order could expand to include web browser and search history, and Facebook friend requests.
Read the full article at: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/08/nsl-gag-order-lifted/#ixzz0wZejbKNo
“After six long years of not being able to tell anyone at all what happened to me – not even my family – I’m grateful to finally be able to talk about my experience of being served with a national security letter,†Merrill said in a statement. “Internet users do not give up their privacy rights when they log on, and the FBI should not have the power to secretly demand that ISPs turn over constitutionally protected information about their users without a court order. I hope my successful challenge to the FBI’s NSL gag power will empower others who may have received NSLs to speak out.â€
An FBI field agent simply needs to draft an NSL stating the information being sought is “relevant†to a national security investigation.
The letters come with a life-long gag order, so businesses that receive such letters are prohibited from revealing to anyone, including customers who may be under investigation, that the government has requested records of transactions. Violation of a gag order can be punishable by up to five years in prison.
The gag orders raise the possibility for extensive abuse of NSLs, under the cover of secrecy. Indeed, in 2007, a Justice Department Inspector General audit found that the FBI, which issued almost 200,000 NSLs between 2003 and 2006, had abused its authority and misused NSLs.
In Merrill’s case, although the letter’s gag order “was totally clear that they were saying that I couldn’t speak to a lawyer†about it, he immediately contacted his personal attorney, and together they went to the ACLU in New York, which agreed to represent him.
“My gut feeling is I’m an American,†Merrill said, in an interview with Threat Level on Tuesday. “I always have a right to an attorney. There’s no such thing as you can’t talk to your attorney.
Although the case helped expose the secrecy around NSLs and resulted in some First Amendment progress for entities receiving such requests — Congress amended the law to allow recipients to challenge NSLs and gag orders, and the FBI must now also prove in court that disclosure of an NSL would harm a national security case — the fight over NSLs is not over. The Obama administration has been seeking to expand the FBI’s power to demand internet activity records of customers without court approval or suspicion of wrongdoing. If granted, the data sought without a court order could expand to include web browser and search history, and Facebook friend requests.
Read the full article at: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/08/nsl-gag-order-lifted/#ixzz0wZejbKNo