FBI Drops Internet Archive Gag Order

The FBI has dropped a National Security Letter, effectively a gag order, against the Internet Archive that it imposed in 2007 after the non-profit refused to give details of one of its users.

The Internet Archive is a non-profit organization that stores web pages. In November 2007 it received a request for information on one of its users from theFBI. It refused to comply, and found itself slapped with a National Security Letter NSL) that meant founder Brewster Khale could only discuss the matter with hislawyers – even the other members of the board had to be kept in the dark.   Kahle, who also sits on the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) board, handedover only publicly available documents on the user and then challenged the Letter with help from the ACLU and the EFF, and now he’s won, as the FBI hasrescinded the Letter, allowing him to talk freely about the matter. The FBI plans to make the matter public, but with identifying information blacked out. It’s the third successful challenge ofa National Security Letter.   NSLs are issued secretly to let the FBI obtain customer records from ISP, financial institutions or credit reporting agencies and usually include a gag order,forbidding the company from talking about it.   "The free flow of information is at the heart of every library’s work. That’s why Congress passed a law limiting the FBI’s power to issueNSLs to America’s libraries," said Brewster Kahle. "While it’s never easy standing up to the government — particularly when I was barred from discussing it with anyone — I knew I had tochallenge something that was clearly wrong. I’m grateful that I am able now to talk about what happened to me, so that other libraries can learn how they can fight back from these overreachingdemands."