Oh boy, that ever useful boogeyman<p>>“In December 2019, the Washington Post reported that Elbakyan was being investigated by the US Justice Department on suspicion that she “may” be working with Russian intelligence to “steal U.S. military secrets...”<p>When you start trotting that out, you know it’s a witch-hunt because if they had real reasons they’d have stated them, since they don’t they offer vague insinuations couched with ten ton weasel words like <i>may</i> and <i>suspicion</i>...<p>But now they “have cause” and that’s all they need to go to town on her.<p>And whatever happened to Apple who refused to work with FBI on the San Bernardino <i>shooter</i> but here is only happy to comply in a much less interesting case?
I really hope for the best for Elbakyan.<p>Sorta related, the Darknet Diaries podcast just did an ep on the Pirate Bay. The ways in which US capital flexes it’s interests on sovereign nations makes me deeply uncomfortable.<p><a href="https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/92/" rel="nofollow">https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/92/</a>
I hope she will be OK, Kazakhstan isn't safe to hide from the US and made deals to resettle[1][2] former gitmo inmates now under surveillance 24/7 (payrolled by the US). If the charges are spun as <i>working with Russian intelligence to “steal U.S. military secrets...”</i> she will remain vulnerable.<p>[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotfi_Bin_Ali#Transfer_to_Kazakhstan" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotfi_Bin_Ali#Transfer_to_Kaza...</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Lotfi+Bin+Ali+kazakhstan" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Lotfi+Bin+Ali+k...</a>
I assume that when the FBI sends a request to a tech company about a user, they probably also contact lots of other tech companies too about the same user...<p>Which raises the question: Where is the Google notification about the FBI request... How about the Facebook notification? The VK or OK notification? How about the Twitter notification?<p>Did these tech companies hand over data without notice, even though the orders presumably had the same gagging timeout?
The FBI has shown that it will doctor emails in order to get FISA warrants. This fact is subverted by the narrative that one person was caught doing it, as if to imply that he woke up one morning and chose to do it all on his own.
Google security in the face of a LE request: We'll need you to get a warrant, but here's a list of friendly judges with extremely efficient rubber stamps. We're here to serve you!!<p>Apple security in the face of a LE request: We'll need you to get a warrant.<p>The security we actually need and LE actually deserves: We'll need you to get a warrant, and then you can have access to that specific customer's E2E encrypted shitblob. Good luck.<p>Maybe that sort of security wouldn't be needed or deserved if our government was well intentioned and we had good laws and a functioning judicial system. But no...we have the world's top security agency that would rather hoard zero days than protect its citizens, law enforcement that will never respect constitutionally-protected rights, and judges that play along for political points and appointment nominations.
> The email’s authenticity (or otherwise) has indeed been considered by Elbakyan who says that after examining the metadata, has concluded that “it is too complicated and useless to be a spoof.” Indeed, the Sci-Hub founder also posted the email’s headers which at first blush do suggest that the email is genuine.<p>Has the founder confirmed whether or not Gmail reports DKIM and SPF passed?
I dream of a golden age where scientific knowledge is freely available to everyone. Unfortunately, the "people in charge" seem hellbent on a different path...
Related thread from 6 days ago: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27086290" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27086290</a>.
I am disappointed Apple didn't attach a copy of the data sent to the FBI to the email.<p>Since it's all Elbakyan's data, there shouldn't be any privacy reason not to attach it.
Is Apple's domicile what makes this possible? or can any country demand to see your data?<p>It makes me wonder about the state of the art on small countries becoming data havens, it seems like a natural thing to construct.
Why would anyone concerned with privacy have an apple account?<p>I would like to believe ElBakyan is wise enough not to have anything significant/private on such an account.
Seriously: why would a public figure, who <i>knows</i> she will be the target of the FBI, use her own name to make an Apple ID? Or didn't she and did the agency use her phone number and SIM card and IMEI to track her to whatever device she happend to be using?
How timely. Just finished watching 'startup' on netflix. Wouldn't be ironic if 'some company' started a darknet for their apps.
They did this to Rudy Guilliani too. FBI was going into his iCloud for over a year. What makes it more egregious was that Guilliani was Trump's lawyer during the impeachment. So the government was both prosecuting him, and spying on his defence's lawyers private emails with his client. If they can do it to a presidents lawyer with no consequences. They can do it to anyone.
If the email is genuine, then we are officially lost. Apple has gone from the company that refused to break into the San Bernadino shooter's phone (Anyone remember the feature by Last Week Tonight and Tim Cook talking about writing "the software equivalent of cancer"?) to the company that dutifully does what the authorities demand when they bring down the hammer over copyright claims.