Web hosting provider Dreamhost is pushing back against a Department of Justice search warrant demanding the company turn over 1.3 million IP addresses connected to an anti-Trump site.
The DOJ is looking for Dreamhost to share information from visitors to disruptj20.org — a site that has organized protests against Donald Trump, including his presidential inauguration. In its search warrant, the DOJ calls for Dreamhost to provide emails connected to the site, as well as subscriber information and “names, physical addresses, telephone numbers, and other identifiers.”
Dreamhost’s general counsel, Chris Ghazarian, said in a blog post that he’s taken issue with the search warrant for being “a highly untargeted demand that chills free association and the right of free speech afforded by the Constitution.”
The blog post continued, “Internet users have a reasonable expectation that they will not get swept up in criminal investigations simply by exercising their right to political speech against the government.”
The Los-Angeles based service said it has worked with the DOJ on the request for months, but its possible infringements on web users’ First Amendment rights “should be enough to set alarm bells off in anyone’s mind.” Dreamhost has challenged the DOJ’s request, and a hearing is scheduled for Friday in Washington.
Disruptj20.org hasn’t been active since February. Its name refers to J20, or Jan. 20 — the day President Trump was sworn in as commander-in-chief.
“A diversity of tactics is vital to accomplish a vibrant disruption of the inauguration,” reads one update from the site earlier this year. “We support the right of all attendees to feel safe and empowered while expressing their opposition to the Trump regime and the fascism it represents.”
The site provided maps, “organizing resources,” and an “organizing fund” for its visitors to use for its protests.
Both the DOJ and Disruptj20.org did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
6 Tech Giants Shaking Up News, From Jeff Bezos to Laurene Powell Jobs (Photos)
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.
Jeff Bezos – Washington Post
The Amazon founder purchased the Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million in cash. President Trump has called the paper the “Amazon Washington Post.”
The Facebook co-founder purchased The New Republic in 2012, becoming executive chairman and publisher. However, he sold the venerable political magazine to Win McCormack in 2016, saying he "underestimated the difficulty of transitioning an old and traditional institution into a digital media company in today’s quickly evolving climate."
The eBay founder is a well-known philanthropist who created First Look Media, a journalism venture behind The Intercept. Inspired by Edward Snowden's leaks. Omidyar teamed up with journalists Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras to launch the website “dedicated to the kind of reporting those disclosures required: fearless, adversarial journalism.”
The PayPal co-founder doesn’t own a news organization, but he makes this list because he essentially ended one -- Gawker -- proving once again the power of an angry billionaire. Thiel secretly bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s sex-tape lawsuit against Gawker Media because he was upset that the website once outed him as gay. Hogan won the defamation lawsuit against the site that sent its parent company into bankruptcy, and Gawker.com is no longer operating.
OK, so Facebook isn’t technically a news organization… yet. However, the company is preparing to launch its much-anticipated lineup of original content later this summer, and there are also signs that it's on the verge of becoming an even bigger media platform.
Campbell Brown, Head of News Partnerships at Facebook, confirmed last week it’s developing a subscription service for publishers willing to post articles directly to Facebook Instant Articles, rather than their native websites.
Tech is increasingly intertwined with news, for better or worse
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.