H
Harry Hope
Guest
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/sto...x?guid={2A20A758-F8EB-410C-8A8B-ACEB74F476B9}
Nov 27, 2007
Feds withdraw subpoena seeking Amazon records
Judge says DOJ request would have 'frost keyboards across America'
By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) --
Federal prosecutors withdrew a subpoena of Amazon.com's records of
customers who purchased used books after a Wisconsin judge warned that
"rumors of an Orwellian" probe could "frost keyboards across America."
The U.S. Attorney's Office had asked for Amazon.com's records in
August 2006 as part of a grand jury probe of Robert B. D'Angelo who
was being investigated for tax evasion and mail fraud in connection
with his sale of about 24,000 books over four years through Amazon's
Web site to third-party buyers, according to court records, copies of
which were provided by Amazon.com.
The U.S. Attorney's Office withdrew the grand jury's subpoena in July
after Judge Stephen Crocker of the U.S. District Court in western
Wisconsin, expressed concerns about the government move.
D'Angelo was indicted in October, and the judge unsealed documents
related to the Amazon subpoena this month.
"If word were to spread over the Net -- and it would -- that the FBI
and the IRS had demanded and received Amazon's list of customers and
their personal purchases, the chilling effect on expressive e-commerce
would frost keyboards across America," Crocker wrote in June.
Crocker added:
"Fiery rhetoric quickly would follow and the nuances of the subpoena
would be lost as the cyberdebate roiled itself to a furious boil. One
might ask whether this court should concern itself with blogger
outrage disproportionate to the government's actual demand of Amazon.
The logical answer is yes, it should."
That's because the government subpoena would send a disturbing message
to book buyers, he added.
"Well-founded or not, rumors of an Orwellian federal criminal
investigation into the reading habits of Amazon's customers could
frighten countless potential customers into canceling planned online
book purchases, now and perhaps forever," Crocker wrote.
______________________________________________
Harry
Nov 27, 2007
Feds withdraw subpoena seeking Amazon records
Judge says DOJ request would have 'frost keyboards across America'
By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) --
Federal prosecutors withdrew a subpoena of Amazon.com's records of
customers who purchased used books after a Wisconsin judge warned that
"rumors of an Orwellian" probe could "frost keyboards across America."
The U.S. Attorney's Office had asked for Amazon.com's records in
August 2006 as part of a grand jury probe of Robert B. D'Angelo who
was being investigated for tax evasion and mail fraud in connection
with his sale of about 24,000 books over four years through Amazon's
Web site to third-party buyers, according to court records, copies of
which were provided by Amazon.com.
The U.S. Attorney's Office withdrew the grand jury's subpoena in July
after Judge Stephen Crocker of the U.S. District Court in western
Wisconsin, expressed concerns about the government move.
D'Angelo was indicted in October, and the judge unsealed documents
related to the Amazon subpoena this month.
"If word were to spread over the Net -- and it would -- that the FBI
and the IRS had demanded and received Amazon's list of customers and
their personal purchases, the chilling effect on expressive e-commerce
would frost keyboards across America," Crocker wrote in June.
Crocker added:
"Fiery rhetoric quickly would follow and the nuances of the subpoena
would be lost as the cyberdebate roiled itself to a furious boil. One
might ask whether this court should concern itself with blogger
outrage disproportionate to the government's actual demand of Amazon.
The logical answer is yes, it should."
That's because the government subpoena would send a disturbing message
to book buyers, he added.
"Well-founded or not, rumors of an Orwellian federal criminal
investigation into the reading habits of Amazon's customers could
frighten countless potential customers into canceling planned online
book purchases, now and perhaps forever," Crocker wrote.
______________________________________________
Harry