FC: Feds raid drug paraphernalia sites, to be redirected to DEA.gov

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[As I noted in my article, the DEA.gov privacy policy allows information 
like IP addressses collected from visitors to be used in criminal 
investigations and prosecutions. --Declan]

---

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-985785.html

   Feds weed out drug paraphernalia sites
   By Declan McCullagh
   February 24, 2003, 4:32 PM PT

   The U.S. Justice Department on Monday said it indicted 11 Web site
   operators for allegedly selling illegal devices including bongs and
   holders for marijuana cigarettes.

   Attorney General John Ashcroft told reporters that the government
   would ask a U.S. district court in Pittsburgh to point the sites to a
   Web page at the Drug Enforcement Administration explaining why they
   were taken offline, a new twist in crime-fighting.

   [...]

---

Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 08:11:56 -0600
Subject: FW:  ALERT: DEA to Redirect Seized Websites!!
From: Jules Siegel <siegel () cafecancun com>
To: <declan () well com>

-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Bennett [mailto:discuss () WYOMISSING COM]
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 9:08 PM
To: DPFT-L () listserv tamu edu
Subject: ALERT: DEA to Redirect Seized Websites!!


State and federal authorities recently conducted raids of various
companies/individuals that sell "drug paraphernalia", such as pipes and
related materials. Pipes, etc were seized along with their websites.

According to a Voice of America article, Mr. Ashcroft says they plan to
redirect the seized websites to to the DEA website.

A frightening quote from the a Voice of America article:
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=FAAF0B60-2B80-4100-BD255885C43351A6

"Mr. Ashcroft says customers who want to visit some of their favorite drug
paraphernalia websites are in for a big surprise in the days ahead. They
will be automatically redirected to the website for the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration."

In essence the DEA is going to usurp the freedom of speech and expression of
the people who run those seized websites. This would be akin to the U.S.
Dept of Justice redirecting the "aclu.org" website to the "usdoj.gov"
website.

And then there are the serious privacy issues involved if the DEA redirects
the seized websites, since they'll be logging all visitors, obtaining their
IP address and other highly personal information.

I encourage everyone here who values the freedom of speech and expression to
contact their local ACLU chapter (list can be found at http://www.aclu.org/
and/or other organizations that works with such issues.

Bottom line is this is a serious issue and if the DEA is able to do this,
they could potentially redirect *ANY* website - remember that the owners of
the websites seized have *NOT* been convicted of any crime.

Ron Bennett


--
JULES SIEGEL Apdo. 1764, 77501 Cancun Q. Roo Mexico
http://www.cafecancun.com/bookarts/jsiegel.htm

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