
In Which My Identity Is Sought by Federal Grand Jury Subpoena - amosson
https://www.popehat.com/2017/10/24/in-which-my-identity-is-sought-by-federal-grand-jury-subpoena/
======
neom
Here is the techdirt article:
[https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20171023/18275838465/doj-s...](https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20171023/18275838465/doj-
subpoenas-twitter-about-popehat-dissent-doe-others-over-smiley-emoji-
tweet.shtml)

That also includes this gem:

"* As an aside, look closely at that criminal complaint against Shafer. I have
no idea why but it appears that the FBI/DOJ is so clueless that rather than
submitting the final complaint, they actually submitted the copy showing the
"comments" on the Word doc they were using to prepare the complaint -- which
shows two comments that both suggest the FBI is well aware that this complaint
is weak sauce and probably doesn't meet the standard under the law... but this
story is crazy enough without spending too much time on that."

~~~
mintplant
> Fast forward to March of this year, to an entirely different story: the FBI
> arresting John Rivello for "assaulting" journalist Kurt Eichenwald with a
> tweet.

TechDirt phrases this as if to make light of the charge, but Rivello
intentionally triggered Eichenwald's epilepsy by sending him a flashing GIF
that read "YOU DESERVE A SEIZURE FOR YOUR POSTS". He followed this up with
messages such as "I hope this sends him into a seizure", "spammed this at
[Eichenwald] let's see if he dies", and "I know he has epilepsy". So what
we're talking here extends beyond the typical case of Twitter harassment.

~~~
Natsu
I wonder how long it will be before someone develops a program that defends
people from such content automatically?

I know there's been some research in the area, but I don't see much in the way
of practical programs or screen filters:

[https://phys.org/news/2009-07-software-tool-web-seizure-
caus...](https://phys.org/news/2009-07-software-tool-web-seizure-causing-
content.html)

~~~
throwanem
If the trigger is only rapid alternation of frames with a high luminance
and/or contrast delta, it seems like that could be detected fairly easily by
methods not wholly dissimilar to those used in MPEG compression. But I'm not
at all sure that is indeed the only trigger, and also not sure how that kind
of analysis could be done close enough to realtime to make a usable display
filter.

Might still be worth putting together as a library, though. I can see an easy
win for sites like Twitter, which could apply it to user-submitted content
before showing it to anyone.

------
rayiner
The takeaway is great (and by "great" I mean "depressing but true"):

> Third, when I read the subpoena yesterday, I was suddenly gripped with
> exactly the sort of impulses that I urge clients to resist: the overpowering
> urge to do something and talk to someone to straighten it all out. I was
> tempted to email the AUSA and introduce myself, and to argue that it's
> ridiculous that he subpoenaed my identity, and ask what the hell he wants.
> That, of course, would be extremely stupid, even though I've done nothing
> wrong — perhaps especially because I've done nothing wrong. Fortunately,
> just as I plead with clients to resist this urge to reach out to the
> government, I resisted it myself. But I must admit it is powerful.

~~~
howard941
As was this comment:

> Mike says Wouldn't you also urge your clients to resist the impulse to blog
> about these things?

~~~
rayiner
Blogging is less of a problem, because a statement not directed at the
government can't be the basis of an 18 U.S.C. 1001 charge.

~~~
likpok
Popehat on 18 U.S.C. 1001: [https://www.popehat.com/2011/12/01/reminder-oh-
wont-you-plea...](https://www.popehat.com/2011/12/01/reminder-oh-wont-you-
please-shut-up/)

Although it's a pretty general overview on how it can be used to beef up a
conviction.

------
lloydde
This article needs to be flagged. Popehat or 3rd-party scripts there are
triggering redirects to malicious ads about my mobile device being “infected”.

~~~
dredmorbius
What's your DNS server?

~~~
Skunkleton
Even is you manually specify your DNS server, your ISP may override your
decision. MITM attacks on DNS are trivial and commonplace.

------
twoodfin
I’m sure this is great content, but the page is currently redirecting my
iPhone to some scam virus warnings.

~~~
Retric
I have seen that same thing from several websites. I have seen some websites
suggest it's a Safari issue (browser hijackers) and clearing Safari data gets
rid of it. But, I have not really messed with it yet.

~~~
LoSboccacc
the mobile browser landscape has become a minefield of invisible popover,
redirect and premium service subscription, only partially mitigated by
adblockers (or none at all if using chrome on ios, because, reasons)

~~~
mintplant
I browse with Firefox for Android and a combination of the uBlock Origin,
Privacy Badger, Decentraleyes, and Cookies AutoDelete add-ons. Without them
I'd feel almost naked.

~~~
neoCrimeLabs
Have you tried uMatrix by the author of uBlock Origin?

It takes getting used to but really allows you granular control of 3rd party
requests on both a site-by-site and global basis.

Word of warning, most uMatrix users I've met say it becomes depressing to see
how many 3rd party requests most websites require before they are even usable.
It becomes very obvious very quickly.

~~~
mercer
Yesterday I had the opposite experience for the first time. I had uMatrix off,
and I hit a paywall. When I turned it back on, I could read the article again!
I think it was the Washington Post, but not entirely sure.

------
c3534l
The whole purpose of the court system is to prevent abuses such as this and to
deny these subpoenas which are not necessary to the investigation of a crime.
It seems as if our court systems have forgotten that they exist to be a check
on the executive branch, not co-conspirators of it.

------
emeraldd
How is this not a dupe of
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15552170](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15552170)
?

~~~
dang
We don't count articles as dupes when they haven't had significant attention
yet:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html).
If we did, many of the best articles would never get attention.

There's a lot of randomness in which submission of an article happens to get
noticed. It sucks if you got there sooner and someone else wins the lottery,
but if you repeatedly submit good stories, it evens out in the long run.

When we put stories in the second-chance queue (described at
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11662380](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11662380)
and links back from there), we always try to privilege the original submitter.

~~~
emeraldd
Make sense.

------
dang
Earlier discussion at
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15549632](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15549632).

------
krallja
This site redirected me to malware almost immediately.

~~~
yayana
In which we find out the DOJs motive is getting those who might be critical of
civil rights abuses to a site with advertiser networks that can be hijacked.

------
Overtonwindow
With all due respect, the justice department probably got the subpoena to
cover all their bases. Regardless of why, I don't think there is any right of
privacy through Twitter. It's a private company. If they want to hand over Ken
White's identity, without a subpoena, they can.

~~~
monochromatic
Sure, they can if they want to. But a judge shouldn’t be able to force them to
do so, not without more than _receiving_ a smiley face tweet.

------
joering2
I hate to be this guy, but prepare to see much more of similar stuff
happening. While I think Trump is better president than Hillary would ever be,
Mr. Trump stance on your privacy is that it should be given up to government.
In other words, don't expect for the guy at the top to be outraged or actually
do something about it, as he is not a champion of privacy himself.

[https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/70079517002382540...](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/700795170023825408)

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
Trump doesn't know how government works other than playing king. How is that
better?

~~~
oh_sigh
Source please. He appears to know how government works from his working with
Congress to pass bills

~~~
mcguire
I was unaware they had passed any legislation lately.

