On the morning of Thursday, October 7, US authorities issued a federal order to Rackspace ordering them to hand over information hosted on Indymedia web servers to the FBI. Rackspace, which provides hosting services for more that 20 Indymedia sites at its London facility, complied by turning over two Indymedia servers to federal authorities, effectively removing those sites from the internet.

Indymedia, a global network of independent non-corporate media organzations, had been asked last month by the FBI to remove a story about Swiss undercover police from one of the websites hosted at Rackspace. It is not known whether Thursday's order is related to that incident, however, since the order was issued to Rackspace and not to Indymedia. According to Rackspace, they "cannot provide Indymedia with any information regarding the order." ISPs have received gag orders in similar situations which prevent them from informing concerned parties about what is happening.

It is unclear to Indymedia how and why a server that is outside US jurisdiction can be seized by US authorities.

Audio: Story On Indymedia Server Snatch

FBI Coverage on IMC: FBI and Other Legal Breaking News