Why i was forced to shut down lavabit

[Robert]

I had no choice but to consent to the installation of their device, which would hand the US government access to all of the messages – to and from all of my customers – as they travelled between their email accounts other providers on the Internet.

But that wasn't enough. The federal agents then claimed that their court order required me to surrender my company's private encryption keys, and I balked. What they said they needed were customer passwords – which were sent securely – so that they could access the plain-text versions of messages from customers using my company's encrypted storage feature. (The government would later claim they only made this demand because of my "noncompliance".)

Bothered by what the agents were saying, I informed them that I would first need to read the order they had just delivered – and then consult with an attorney. The feds seemed surprised by my hesitation.

What ensued was a flurry of legal proceedings that would last 38 days, ending not only my startup but also destroying, bit by bit, the very principle upon which I founded it – that we all have a right to personal privacy.

Read the rest here:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/20/why-did-lavabit-shut-down-snowden-email

 

[the_leander]

I wish I could say I was surprised at this, but the truth is I've seen this creeping up for years. About the only real surprise is that post Snowden, we're actually seeing it brought into the light.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Well, what do you expect from Soviet Russia? Huh? Damn good thing our side is kicking arse and defending freedom.