(AP / CBS)

“In a case that raises questions about online journalism and privacy rights, the U.S. Department of Justice sent a formal request to an independent news site ordering it to provide details of all reader visits on a certain day.”

“The subpoena (PDF) from U.S. Attorney Tim Morrison in Indianapolis demanded “all IP traffic to and from http://www.indymedia.us”; on June 25, 2008. It instructed Clair to “include IP addresses, times, and any other identifying information,” including e-mail addresses, physical addresses, registered accounts, and Indymedia readers’ Social Security Numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, and so on.”

For the article: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/11/09/taking_liberties/entry5595506.shtml?tag=mncol;txt

UPDATE: This organization is a watchdog for Internet security and privacy concerns. They were able to assist the website in the above story to get the Justice Department to back off:

From EFF’s Secret Files: Anatomy of a Bogus Subpoena

How the Government Secretly Demanded the IP Address of Every Visitor to Political News Site Indymedia.us

http://www.eff.org/wp/anatomy-bogus-subpoena-indymedia

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