14 ms·

How were the police able to seize the company that sold IronChat in the first place? That's like shutting down Open Whisper Systems for criminals using Signal.

• rocqua 8y ago
  Not sure whether this is how they did it, but a new law has given police 'hacking powers'. Otherwise, it'd probably be a court order based on the claim they knowingly did business with organized crime.
  • mtgx 8y ago
    Why didn't it remain court order based for stuff like this? What was their reasoning for needing to bypass the courts?
    • rocqua 8y ago
      I think it still takes court approval for such a hacking operation, its meant to avoid notifying the targets.
• ProAm 8y ago
  > A 46-year-old man who owned the crypto phone service and a 52-year old partner have been arrested on charges related to money laundering and participation in a criminal organization.
  • londons_explore 8y ago
    My bet is those two were aware of the law and tried to do everything "above board". The law said "most of your customers are criminals, helping them evade detection is criminal in itself, you're under arrest". Pretty sad, considering the authors of PGP could be imprisoned on the same reasoning.
• Fnoord 8y ago
  Since the new computer law of this year, you can be forced to submit your cryptography keys in The Netherlands, just like in the UK.
  • mtgx 8y ago
    That means Amsterdam is no longer a viable option for hosting your servers or using a VPN service that's located there (most are).