Online librarian from S.F. wins his fight with the FBI

[fed-up]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 7, 2008

(05-07) 18:03 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Brewster Kahle, who runs an online library in San Francisco, was appalled when his volunteer lawyers told him in November that the FBI was demanding records of all communications with one of his patrons as part of an investigation of "international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities."

The FBI document, called a national security letter, told Kahle he could be prosecuted if he discussed the subject with anyone but his lawyers, and allowed him to speak with his attorneys only in person. Kahle said his Internet Archive, which has 500,000 card-holders, doesn't even keep the records the FBI was seeking.

He was allowed to speak publicly Wednesday under a rare settlement in which the FBI agreed to withdraw its letter and lift the gag order. That should show other librarians, and members of the public who receive any of the nearly 50,000 national security letters the government issues each year, that "you can push back on these," Kahle said.

National security letters are subpoenas issued by federal agencies to require businesses and other institutions to produce records of their customers. The agencies do not need court approval for the letters.

...

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/07/BA7C10IJ17.DTL

[murielm99]

1. Thanks for posting this.

I hope everyone reads the whole article.

Many people don't realize that libraries and librarians don't put up with shit. They hate censorship. They don't like it when government snoops try to nose around about what library patrons are reading. They guard freedom of speech.

I can only imagine the hell they put this guy through. Imagine getting one of those letters.

[NYC]

2. Recommend it.

More people may see it as a consequence.

[murielm99]

4. Okay. I just did. n/t

[bean fidhleir]

8. Our local head librarian, when I asked about FBI snooping

glowered and said "they get nothing without a subpoena".

[Sabriel]

10. You can also ask your local librarian how they protect your info

I asked in Madison, and she informed me that check-out records are wiped permanently after you return your books. Essentially, there IS no record, other than what you currently have out.

Encourage your local system to adopt something similar, if it hasn't already.

[bean fidhleir]

11. Good suggestion!

Our system works the same way - records are purged after the material is checked in. We can individually elect to have our reading history kept, but the default is to autopurge everything.

Our librarian meant that he would refuse to turn on recordkeeping in response to anything less than a valid court order.

[Trillo]

28. So in your other post when you wrote the word "subpoena"

you meant 'warrant'?

[bean fidhleir]

34. The "quote" was really a sloppy paraphrase. The actual term he used was "court order". (nt)

[debannbull]

41. ditto

We protect our patron info by NOT gathering it. There some folks who would like to be able to track the material they have used, ie: their record of what they've read, for their convenience's sake, but we decided at the start of automation that personal record keeping was fraught with potential complications and opted out.

And the business about gag orders makes me positively LIVID!

[Posteritatis]

3. Fifty *thousand* per year? (nt)

[Peace Patriot]

5. HALLELUJAH! THE LIBRARIANS ARE WONDERFUL! I AM SO GLAD TO SEE ONE OF THEM

WIN THIS! THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS!

[ms liberty]

6. K&R - Thanks, librarians, for all you do! n/t

[pleah]

7. K&R

Thanks for this information. Score one for freedom. I hope more people stand up to these thugs.

[Joanne98]

9. This is a huge problem.

[Reader Rabbit]

12. Hah! Don't mess with librarians!

They may seem mild-mannered, but they'll scrap like terriers if they believe access to knowledge is threatened!

[MikeNearMcChord]

18. Their secret identity revealed!! Conan The Librarian!!

[jeff30997]

29. Lol!

Good one!

[Reader Rabbit]

30. Conan has man-boobs.

Or is that Marian the Librarian in drag? :P

[SavageDem]

13. Oooooooooh, this makes my blood BOIL!

Let's see:

• no court approval


• can't tell anyone


• can be prosecuted if don't comply

Does this sound like a democracy?

Three cheers for Mr. Kahle! It's time to fight back against this creeping fascism. I hope that any librarian that receives one of these posts it online in a large public forum like...hmmmm...oh, I dunno...DEMOCRATICUNDERGROUND!

[Pappy]

22. Dido! its all secret and legal, and completely in violation of the Constitution and Civil Rights

Well apparently we cannot trust the top law enforcement agency either. The FBI probably stood for something a long time ago, but what it was I can't seem to remember, oh thats right, JUSTICE! Can't have none of that under Bush.

[jody]

14. The FBI could have spent its time more effectively by getting * to release his emails. n/t

[iamahaingttta]

15. The best part of the article is the comments section

Which includes such gems as these:


mexilad

Great. National security means nothing. This bum stands on "Principal" with a leftist agenda and that makes em some kinda hero. Good bye America.


keepnitreal

all the comments here are all anti government! you lefties are gonna sink this great nation.


jeepgypsy

Only in San Francisco would one be "appalled" at being asked to cooperate in an investigation involving potential terrorisn against the United States. It's probably going to take a mushroom cloud from a container ship dirty bomb anchored in San Francisco Bay to wake all you gushing yammalukes up.

johnfx

i wonder what Kahle and people like him would do if the 9/11 attacks happened in San Francisco, instead of NYC.. they'd be the first to sue the US Goverment for failing to protect them. God Bless the US Goverment and President Bush for doing their best to keep its citizens safe. if your not doing anything wrong, what's wrong with the goverment checking your records in order to weed out terrorists??


AmericanMark

Librarians - hard copy and now apparently online - are the most degenerate and unpatriotic amongst us. They will go to the mat to allow someone to browse kiddie porn - with children sitting right next to them - and they prevent our national security agents from investigating records that might be useful. Every shuttered library is an advance in national security.



And my personal favorite:

zombywoof

Don't you miss J.Edgar Hoover ? Those were the days, days of sequin, garter belts and Gucci bags...

(could that be the same zombywoof who posts here on DU??)

[14thColony]

20. Anyone who seriously thinks...

that Fascism can't happen in the U.S. is out of their minds. "Shuttered libraries"? It appears many are chomping at the bit to install a Fourth Reich.

[CubicleGuy]

33. I could see this one coming...

if your not doing anything wrong, what's wrong with the goverment checking your records in order to weed out terrorists??

After all, only commies and terrorists really need their liberties, because liberty is only for people who want to do something wrong or illegal.

I don't think the phrase "presumption of innocence" means anything to these people.

[fed-up]

16. leave it to our meek, mild mannered librarians to stand up to the FBI! nice to wake up to so many Rs

I was worried when I went to bed that no one had read or realized the importance of this.

[lonestarnot]

19. Yes! Bravo librarians!

:applause: :patriot:

[shain from kane]

17. This librarian is OK in my book.

[redqueen]

21. So good to see that fighting spirit.

:)

[AlphaCentauri]

23. I have to subscribe to their message board

[Gormy Cuss]

27. Please do. It's a mix of interesting, knowledgeable posters and many trolls.

The comments are often more entertaining and informative than the article.

[skooooo]

24. LIBRARIANS PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS!

[Mad_Dem_X]

25. Excellent

This kind of bullshit will continue unless we start fighting back!

[Gormy Cuss]

26. The FBI picked on the wrong librarian.

Kahle has the librarian traits mentioned by others but he also is on the board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (lawyers from EFF and ACLU teamed up on this case.)

http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/05/06

The NSL was served on the Archive -- a digital library recognized by the state of California -- and its attorneys in November of 2007. The letter asked for personal information about one of the Archive's users, including the individual's name, address, and any electronic communication transactional records pertaining to the user. Kahle, who is also a member of EFF's Board of Directors, decided to fight the NSL because it exceeded the FBI's limited authority to issue such demands to libraries.

(snip)

A miscarriage of justice was prevented here because the Archive decided to fight the unlawful demand for information and unconstitutional gag," said EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "The big question is, how many other improper NSLs have been issued by the FBI and never challenged?"

NSLs are secretly issued by the government to obtain access to personal customer records from Internet Service Providers, financial institutions, and credit reporting agencies. In almost all cases, recipients of the NSLs are forbidden, or "gagged," from disclosing that they have received the letters. The ACLU has challenged this Patriot Act statute in federal court in two other cases where the judges found the gags unconstitutional: one involving an Internet Service Provider (ISP); the second a group of librarians. In the ISP case, the district court invalidated the entire NSL statute. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is expected to hear oral arguments in the government's appeal of that case next month.

[jeff30997]

31. K&R

Scary.

[GihrenZabi]

32. I've met Brewster

He's an awesome person. Totally embodies the spirit of our internet age.

I wish him nothing but the best. Good job sticking it to The Man! :)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

35. now thats a real patriot.

[Canuckistanian]

36. OMG, how many other "security letters" are in effect right now?

How many other people are officially "gagged", unable to defend themselves or tell their story to the people?

If it took a "rare" agreement to bring this to light, how many others are there?

January 2009 can't come fast enough.

[SpookyCat]

37. Does my heart good!

As a former library person, from a long line of library people, AND a San Franciscan, this makes me swell with pride!

I remember many years ago when I was working at the Fremont Main Library a similar request come to our librarians, requiring the records of anyone, IIRC, "Arab or with an Arab sounding name..."

The ALA told the issuing party essentially, GFY, in a more literate, gentle way! :-)

Of course I also recall lo those many moons ago, checking out a male patron who was getting two books...one on taxidermy and one on female anatomy...I chose to assume they were unrelated!

[mooseandsquirrel]

38. Yes

I love being a librarian and watching a fellow one put up a real fight against the FBI.

m&s
http://moose-and-squirrel.com

[electropop]

39. This is why the "Patriot" Act has to go.

It's your worst Fascist nightmare, it's real, and it's happening right now in America!

[jeff30997]

40. And it's spreading...

In France they have Nicolas Sarkonazi and over here in Canuckistan we're stuck with Harpo the Stooge.

[electropop]

44. Maybe once the pendulum swings to sanity here, that will become fashionable in other

former democracies.

[carolinayellowdog]

42. How many librarians silently complied after being threatened?

I just retired as director of a small rural public library, and always dreaded the possibility of one of those 50,000 letters showing up. Not allowed to tell anyone, neither on the staff nor the board, what was going on, and no lawyer to consult about what to do unless I hired one personally. Choosing to speak out or not to comply would risk one's livelihood and freedom. Mr. Kahle has done a great service for the library profession but I wonder how many of my fellow librarians were intimidated into compliance by the threats in these letters.

[mogster]

43. This is not just an ordinary online library, it's THE internet library

http://www.archive.org/



The guy in question, Brewster Kahle, was also the guy who started the internet traffic analysis company Alexa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_Kahle
He's also member of Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and one of the people behind Open Content Alliance.

http://www.opencontentalliance.org/
It's amazing that the FBI tries to shackle him for "international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities."
One of the good guys, no doubt.

Here's the url to the NSL:
http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/safefree/internetarchive_nslissued_20070119.pdf
And also about this case on Wired:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/internet-archiv.html

[suffragette]

45. Another reason to adore the Internet Archive

Here's a toast to the people who are fighting for all our rights.
:toast:

http://www.archive.org/iathreads/post-view.php?id=192021