Blogging Website and 73,000 Blogs Shut by FBI

Reportedly, the blogging website, Blogetery.com, and its 73,000 blogs were shut down on a request from the FBI because they contained links to terrorist materials, including al-Qaeda bomb-making instructions and an al-Qaeda "hit list."

Stories and pictures posted by the individual bloggers are in deep storage, with no word on when they'll see their content -- a reality that disturbs civil-liberties advocates.

"That's the real tragedy here -- thousands and thousands of sites appear to be collateral damage," Kurt Opsahl, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), told FoxNews.com.[…]

In a statement posted to its site Monday, BurstNET acknowledged the shutdown, stating that it had received a "Voluntary Emergency Disclosure of Information" request from the FBI.

"In the evening of July 9, 2010, BurstNET received a notice of a critical nature from law enforcement officials, and was asked to provide information regarding ownership of the server hosting Blogetry.com," the statement said.

"Upon review, BurstNET determined that the posted material, in addition to potentially inciting dangerous activities, specifically violated the BurstNET Acceptable Use Policy," which prohibits the posting of “terrorist propaganda, racist material, or bomb/weapon instructions."

The EFF's Opsahl said the request sounded similar to an exigent circumstance letter, a request for the voluntary disclosure of information based on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

Concern has been expressed by insiders regarding the history of abuse in the use of exigent circumstance letters. I'd suggest the process seems too informal.