Subpoena Seeks Records About Delegate Lists on Web

by Eric Lichtblau, New York Times

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation and is
demanding records regarding Internet postings by critics of the Bush
administration that list the names of Republican delegates and urge
protesters to give them an unwelcome reception in New York City.

Federal prosecutors said in a grand jury subpoena that the information was
needed as part of an investigation into possible voter intimidation.
Protesters and civil rights advocates argued that the Web postings were
legitimate political dissent, not threats or intimidation.

The investigation, conducted by the Secret Service, comes at a time when
federal officials have begun an aggressive effort to prevent what they say
could be violence by demonstrators at the convention this week and at
other major political events. Large-scale demonstrations in New York began
over the weekend.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has questioned at least several dozen
would-be protesters about whether they knew of any plans for violent
demonstrations, and it has directed agents nationwide to identify possible
criminal plots. Some Democrats in Congress and civil rights advocates have
criticized the efforts, saying the inquiries have had a chilling effect on
free speech.The accusations are likely to intensify with the disclosure of
the subpoena regarding the Republican delegates.

"People have a right to be heard politically, and the names of a lot of
these delegates are already public anyway," said Matt Toups, 22, a system
administrator for the Web site under federal investigation. "This is just
part of the government’s campaign to intimidate people into not saying
things."

A senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said the department was sensitive to First Amendment concerns. But when
officials were alerted to the posting of the names and identifying
information for delegates, they were concerned about the prospect that
delegates could be harassed or become victims of identity theft, and they
wanted to know why the information was posted, the official said.

"When you’re confronted with something like this, you can’t just ignore
it," the official said. "I think people would expect us to look into it
and find out whether there is anything going on here that goes beyond the
bounds of free speech."

The Justice Department issued the subpoena on Aug. 19 to Calyx Internet
Access, an Internet service provider in New York City, after a Secret
Service agent asked the company to turn over information about postings on
a client’s site, nyc.indymedia.org. Calyx refused to turn over the
information, citing privacy concerns, and a subpoena was issued.

The subpoena seeks subscriber information, and contacts and billing
records for the Indy Media site. It says the information is needed to
investigate possible violations of the federal criminal code barring
efforts to intimidate, threaten or coerce voters.

The Indy Media site is run by the NYC Independent Media Center, which
describes itself as a grass-roots group committed to using media tools
"for promoting social and economic justice in the New York City area." The
site includes several lists containing the names of many delegates to the
Republican convention, along with e-mail addresses, phone numbers and the
hotels where some were expected to stay, as well as links to a site called
rncdelegates.com. Most of the lists were posted anonymously or by
demonstrators calling themselves the RNC Delegates Working Group. One list
includes more than 2,200 delegates, or nearly half the expected total. In
publicizing the information, organizers said in a posting that they were
trying to supply groups opposed to the Republican National Committee "with
data on the delegates to use in whatever way they see fit."

"The delegates should know not only what people think of the platform that
they will ratify, but that they are not welcome in New York City,"
organizers said in a posting.

"This upcoming mobilization in New York is not about the delegates, it’s
about who and what is going to be affected by the Republican Party
platform that these delegates will proudly put their name to and will
ratify," the message continued. "It goes beyond that, as we raise our
voices and fists and proclaim that this rotten system of capitalist
exploitation and imperialist domination must be swept away.’’

The site includes a few retorts from backers of President Bush, with one
message asking: "where is the list of Democratic delegates so I can ’use
it as I see fit?’ ’’

Officials at the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing
Calyx, the Internet service provider, said they were aware of no postings
that encouraged violence or intimidation of Republican delegates, and they
said the site contained political dialogue and information that was
protected by the First Amendment.

"We can’t see any legitimate purpose behind this investigation, and it
looks to us like another attempt to repress legitimate political dissent,"
said Ann Beeson, associate legal director for the A.C.L.U.

The Republican National Committee has declined to release the names of
delegates, saying it does not want to invite harassment. A.C.L.U.
officials said the names of delegates and details like which hotels they
planned to use were available in the media and on Internet sites,
including some state Republican Web sites.

Federal courts have traditionally set a high bar in deciding what
constitutes threatening speech that goes beyond First Amendment
protections, saying the threat of lawlessness must be specific and
imminent.

In one significant case, a jury in Oregon ordered a group of anti-abortion
activists to pay $109 million in damages after posting an Old West-style
wanted poster, portraying named abortion doctors as "baby butchers." But
an appellate court reversed the award. Parts of the case are pending.

In another Internet case decided in June, a Saudi graduate student was
cleared of charges that the Web sites he ran had provided material support
for terrorists. The student argued he had little to do with creating the
material that was posted.

In 2001, the Seattle chapter of Indy Media was served with a warrant by
the F.B.I. demanding electronic records after officials said stolen
material related to a free trade meeting and protests in Canada showed up
on its site. The group fought the request and said it did not turn over
any records.

In the latest flare-up, A.C.L.U. officials said they planned to turn over
to federal officials on Monday the subpoenaed information on system
administrators and registration for the Indy Media site. But that will not
reveal who posted the delegates’ names. Mr. Toups, a student at Carnegie
Mellon University who volunteers for Indy Media, said the group - by
design - did not require the names of Web posters and could not identify
the people who posted the names even if required.

"We respect the anonymity of our contributors, and we don’t track
addresses," he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/30/politics/campaign/30delegates.html