PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, October 2nd, 2013 Lavabit Legal Defense Fund 10387 Main Street, Suite 205 Fairfax, VA 22030 (703) 291-1999 Vast Majority of Lavabit Records Now Public Alexandria, VA—The vast majority of the court records in Lavabit LLC’s fight for internet privacy and security are now public. Although most of the documents have been redacted, 23 court orders, pleadings, and other documents are now available to the public while the case is on appeal in the Fourth Circuit. Lavabit was created so every law-abiding citizen has access to a secure and private email service. During an investigation into several Lavabit user accounts, the federal government demanded both unfettered access to all user communications and a copy of the Lavabit encryption keys used to secure web, instant message and email traffic. After having a motion to quash the search warrant was denied by Judge Claude Hilton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Notably Judge Hilton served on the FISA Court from 2000 through 2007. Judge Hilton subsequently issued a $5,000 per day contempt of court citation thus forcing Lavabit to surrender their encryption keys. Ladar Levison, the owner and operator of Lavabit, then made the difficult decision to suspend operations and “limit the damage to user’s 4th amendment right to privacy.” Lavabit maintains that the government had no legal basis for demanding it’s confidential information, namely passwords, encryption keys and source code. That providing such information to the federal government would allow investigators to access sensitive information including passwords, credit card transactions, email messages and instant messages. The government would have also been able to detect and record IP addresses, thereby allowing them to track and record the physical location of users as they accessed Lavabit’s services. This access far exceeded the authority given to investigators by the pen trap and trace laws enacted by Congress. Under the law the government only had the legal right to collect metadata associated with the accounts under investigation. Mr. Levison felt that providing such access to the government would have been in direct conflict with the promise of privacy that Lavabit made with its users and “would have violated the 4th amendment rights of people not involved with an investigation.” Mr. Levison also felt that by providing access to the Lavabit network without being able to audit the information being collected would be a “unforgivable breach of the sacred trust between a service provider and its users. In fact the FBI agents even admitted their intention to collect passwords in transit so they could access emails protected by Lavabit’s encrypted storage feature.” This was in stark contrast the DOJ attornies who maintained that only the metadata authorized by the court order would be collected. Mr. Levison also stated that “I simply couldn’t operate Lavabit while my lawyers appealed the demand for our [Lavabit’s] encryption keys without the government agreeing to provide the transparency demanded by my conscience. The ethical implications ultimately prompted my decision to suspend the [Lavabit] service.” By suspending Lavabit operations indefinitely Mr. Levison has lost his main source of income and says that “without the donations people have made to the Lavabit Legal Defense Fund there is no way I would have been able to afford the legal support needed to win my appeal… I was afraid a precedent would be set that would allow our government to continue violating the intellectual property rights of American internet service providers and the privacy of honest citizens.” Mr. Levison continued by saying “people using my service trusted me to safeguard their online identities and protect their information. I simply could not betray that trust. If the Obama administration feels compelled to continue violating the privacy rights of the masses just so they can conduct surveillance on the few then he should at least ask Congress for laws providing that authority instead of using the courts to force businesses into secretly becoming complicit in crimes against the American people.” Lavabit was founded in April, 2004 to provide email services. Lavabit was one of the first to provide free accounts with SMTP, POP and IMAP access. Lavabit was also the first company to offer it’s users a secure storage feature, or the ability to have emails encrypted upon arrival in such a way that they could be decrypted by someone with knowledge of a user’s password. The encrypted storage feature was the first of it’s kind and a key component in a system designed to provide secure and private email services. While catering to a niche market for most of it’s history, the recent revelations about American surveillance efforts caused what Mr. Levison describes as a “massive increase in user registrations, usage and revenue in our final month of operation.” When the service was suspended on August 8th, it boasted over 410,000 registered users, of which approximately 10,000 were paying $8 or $16 a year for premium features like encrypted storage. Mr. Levison has received tremendous support in his ongoing battle to defend internet freedom and privacy rights. After the suspension of Lavabit, Mr. Levison posted a letter on lavabit explaining his decision to the extent allowed by law. The overwhelming response has “been a source of inspiration, a confirmation of sorts that I made the right decision,” says Mr. Levison. Thousands of people have opened their wallets and generously chipped in with contributions of $25, $10, or $5 to the Lavabit Legal Defense Fund. To date the fund has raised just over $150,000, “but that simply isn’t enough” claims Mr. Levison. He continues by saying “defending the constitution is expensive – even more so if my fight is to have a chance of reaching the Supreme Court – my legal claims I will need to raise at least $250,000.” As such Mr. Levison continues to ask for donations of what you can afford by visiting tinyurl/m65n4ko or via the link on lavabit. Ladar Levison is available to answer questions from media and can be reached by calling the Lavabit Legal Defense Fund at (703) 291-1999.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 23:48:09 +0000
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