<nettime> Statement: Why Secure Email Provider Lavabit closes down

[nettime's paranoid reader <nettime@kein.org>]

http://lavabit.com

My Fellow Users,

I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in 
crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of 
hard work by shutting down Lavabit. After significant soul searching, I 
have decided to suspend operations. I wish that I could legally share 
with you the events that led to my decision. I cannot. I feel you 
deserve to know what?s going on--the first amendment is supposed to 
guarantee me the freedom to speak out in situations like this. 
Unfortunately, Congress has passed laws that say otherwise. As things 
currently stand, I cannot share my experiences over the last six weeks, 
even though I have twice made the appropriate requests.

What?s going to happen now? We?ve already started preparing the 
paperwork needed to continue to fight for the Constitution in the Fourth 
Circuit Court of Appeals. A favorable decision would allow me resurrect 
Lavabit as an American company.

This experience has taught me one very important lesson: without 
congressional action or a strong judicial precedent, I would _strongly_ 
recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with 
physical ties to the United States.

Sincerely,
Ladar Levison
Owner and Operator, Lavabit LLC

Defending the constitution is expensive! Help us by donating to the 
Lavabit Legal Defense Fund here [1].

[1] https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7BCR4A5W9PNN4


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