HELIOLITH

Wired this morning (2a.m.) ran a story on the mysterious seizure of Indymedia’s european server hard-drives. They ran a very plausible possible explanation, which reported that the FBI had been called on by Swiss authorities for help, since pictures of cops photographing activists were posted on indymedia. Apparently they (the Swiss police) wanted “identifying information” removed, and asked the FBI for help. Wired News: IndyMedia Gets Its Servers Back

Later today (tomorrow to me: 00:27 GMT to my GMT -8) the main indymedia site posted this:

It was confirmed today to Italy Indymedia that the order for the seizure of Indymedia’s hard drives, in London’s offices of Rackspace, originated from Bologna…

Indymedia volunteers are now calling for supporters to sign a solidarity declaration at denouncing the hard drive seizure as an unacceptable attack on press freedom, freedom of expression, and privacy.

Numerous media and freedom of press organizations have expressed solidarity already. Indymedia is a massive network of autonomous decentralized hubs, and has grown to be a very powerful portal for grassroots journalism and activist information exchange. are reacting very strongly, with legal assistance from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. More from their post:

[Indymedia volunteers]are demanding a full disclosure of the names of organizations and individuals involved in the seizure, a copy of the court order, and an independent investigation into any violations of due process…[they] have serious concerns about the use of international co-operation frameworks to obscure legal process, undermine civil liberties, and erode communication rights.

With strong attention and legal force, I sincerely hope they confront and expose this disregard for international law and the freedom of the press.