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Thread: U.S. police behind most requests for Twitter information

  1. #1
    Virus Guy Guest

    U.S. police behind most requests for Twitter information

    How hard is it, exactly, to set up an un-traceable twitter account?

    I mean, you could do it with a laptop connected to the internet through
    a public wifi location (any McDonalds or coffee shop, for example). Or
    use any free proxy or even TOR.

    What is it that someone is "tweeting" that is so critical that police or
    the courts need to know who it is?

    "On Monday, a New York judge ruled that the company must hand
    over tweets published by Malcolm Harris"

    I thought that all tweets from a given user are easily available to
    anyone - no need for a court order - ?

    "Twitter also received a total of 3,378 copyright takedown notices"

    What can you transmit in 144 characters that could possibly be a
    copyright violation? (note: I don't consider URL's that point to
    copyrighted material to be valid targets for DMCA takedown requests)

    ======================

    U.S. police behind most requests for Twitter information

    http://ca.news.yahoo.com/u-police-be...6--sector.html

    SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Law enforcement agencies in the United States
    are behind the overwhelming majority of requests for Twitter users'
    private information, the social media company revealed Monday in its
    first ever public report on the subject.

    Of the 849 total government requests for user information during the
    period spanning January 1 to June 30 this year, 679 -- or 80 percent --
    took place in the United States, typically for use in criminal
    investigations, Twitter said.

    Japan was in second place after the United States with 98 requests filed
    by police, followed by 11 requests from law enforcement agencies in the
    United Kingdom and the same number from agencies in Canada.

    Twitter, which was credited last year for fueling social unrest, from
    revolutions in the Middle East to Occupy protests in U.S. cities, has
    increasingly been pulled into criminal prosecutions as it gains
    popularity as an often-anonymous broadcast network.

    On Monday, a New York judge ruled that the company must hand over tweets
    published by Malcolm Harris, an Occupy Wall Street protestor arrested
    during a demonstration on the Brooklyn Bridge in October. Twitter had
    fought to dismiss a request from prosecutors seeking the tweets as
    evidence, arguing that they belonged to Harris under the company's terms
    of service.

    The company, which published the data in a blog post on Monday, also
    revealed it had received a total of six governments requests over the
    past half-year to remove tweets that violated court injunctions or local
    laws, such as anti-defamation statutes.

    Twitter also received a total of 3,378 copyright takedown notices, the
    company said.

  2. #2
    Dustin Guest

    Re: U.S. police behind most requests for Twitter information

    Virus Guy <Virus@Guy.com> wrote in news:4FF24A9E.CF6EA791@Guy.com:

    > How hard is it, exactly, to set up an un-traceable twitter account?


    It's not hard. It's just that people tend to be somewhat.. lazy.

    > I mean, you could do it with a laptop connected to the internet
    > through a public wifi location (any McDonalds or coffee shop, for
    > example). Or use any free proxy or even TOR.


    Yep.

    > What is it that someone is "tweeting" that is so critical that police
    > or the courts need to know who it is?


    Libel, slander.. any number of things... some things have changed in the
    great yonder of the net. More accountability now.

    > "On Monday, a New York judge ruled that the company must hand
    > over tweets published by Malcolm Harris"


    He probably tweeted something about a person or company they didn't
    like. You could always google the name and lawsuit and see what's going
    on.

    > I thought that all tweets from a given user are easily available to
    > anyone - no need for a court order - ?


    Tweets yes, IP, and other information associated with the account, no.

    > What can you transmit in 144 characters that could possibly be a
    > copyright violation? (note: I don't consider URL's that point to
    > copyrighted material to be valid targets for DMCA takedown requests)


    A url.. Seriously.. 144bytes isn't much room.



    --
    The Lone Ranger and Tonto follow some bandits into the desert but lose
    them. On the way back they're surrounded by 1500 Apaches.
    Lone Ranger:Looks like we've got a fight on our hands, Tonto.
    Tonto: What do you mean "we", white man?

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