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Google and Amazon Helped the FBI Identify Z-Library’s Operators
- Scaevolus 4y ago"US-based companies Google and Amazon comply with US laws regarding search warrants"
- ernesto99 4y agoThey have no option indeed, but it's interesting to see how easy this made it to connect the dots.
- betaby 4y agoIf one register gmail address from Russia traffic is routed to Ireland DC most likely (sometimes Belgium). Aren't Google operate outside USA as a separate business? Would Google Ireland transfer data on USA citizens to Ireland if warrant from the local police.
- zinekeller 4y agoIn 2013, Microsoft have actually asked US SDNY (and by extension the federal government) whether there is a legal basis for a warrant issued since that the data is in Ireland (and was never brought to the US), and Microsoft thinks that since the subsidiary controls the data instead of themselves US SDNY (and FBI) would need to activate Irish MLAT services. It actually went to the Supreme Court (https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/584/17-2/ https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/584/17-2/), and the result? Well, the Congress have passed the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-115publ141/pdf/PLAW-115publ141.pdf#page=867 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-115publ141/pdf/PLAW...) that basically states that the US has extraterritorial jurisdiction on all data held by US companies, making the case moot.
- betaby 4y agoAnd EU countries are happy with that? Does at mean that major clouds should not be recommenced in EU? I think most of the people in EU never heard about decision above.
- ztgasdf 4y agoI did find it /extremely/ risky seeing their original contact email being a simple gmail address, and now we see the end result. OpSec, everyone!
- m-p-3 4y agoI'm surprised they didn't go for a Protonmail account and only access it through the hidden service..
- whoknew1122 4y agoIt's pretty astounding that they used Gmail to conduct their business. The trail was super easy once they had access to the email account. The thing about OpSec is that most people don't think about it before they need it. And by that time it's too late. That may not apply here though, because it appears they were loose with OpSec until the very end.
- mhoad 4y agoI don’t know how many people would have reasonably put be arrested and extradited to a foreign country for running a PDF website as a part of their threat model.
- ROTMetro 4y agoMan you're really leaving a lot out to try and make some kind of point aren't you?
- mhoad 4y agoIm saying that this level of attention and resources put on this case is wildly disproportionate and looks nothing like justice to me.
- whoknew1122 4y agoThey absolutely had to know that they were breaking US copyright law. And you don't mess the bottom lines of US-based companies, or Uncle Sam is coming for you. As a poor kid who put themselves through college, I definitely sympathize with, and understand that, the price of text books and academic work is insane. I may or may not have even used the website or its analogues once or twice. But at the end of the day, they had to know what they were doing. If you're doing ransomware/carding/etc. you don't target Russia or its friends. And if you're trying to get around copyright law, you don't operate within reach of the US government. These are things that anyone who has been around security for even a couple of months understands. Do I think people should be grabbed from foreign countries over copyright? No. But if you're operating in that world, it's colossally stupid to not take OpSec seriously.
- crazygringo 4y agoMy only question is, what were they doing in Argentina? It doesn't seem like they made a serious effort to keep their identities hidden from law enforcement or they wouldn't have been that sloppy. But as long as they stayed in Russia they'd be fine. Leaving Russia seems awfully risky if you're running a site like that, without taking far more extreme precautions.
- yakak 4y agoIt seems to me like Russia cyclically (or at least from time to time) exchanges independent people accused of tech crimes for something it wants.
- UncleOxidant 4y agoMaybe they were afraid they were going to be drafted and sent to the front in Ukraine?
- tommek4077 4y ago1984
- Postosuchus 4y agoInterestingly, I recall [from several years ago] that during the account creation, when Google asked for phone number to send the verification code to, it specifically stated that the phone would not be "linked" to the account and used "just" for verification. I guess, there was some fine print attached to that...
- hulitu 4y agoOf course is not linked to the account. That's why they send the verification code to the same 10 year old number. /s In every country the companies have to comply to the government.
- FeepingCreature 4y agoIn no free country do companies have to lie to their customers in order to comply with the government. That's a choice they make voluntarily.
- viro 4y agowhich one?
- dbuder 4y agoThey did this to me recently after booting me out of gmail\yt etc on my desktop that has been logged in for years I have specifically avoided giving them my phone number - even when they tried to scare me into it recently Just absolutely no respect for consent - do I have to record my screens wile using my computer and save the video forever to prove this stuff and would it change a thing
- poxwole 4y agoI mean all the US companies are narcs
- viro 4y agono company will go to jail for you.... what do you think happens when a company refuses to comply with a warrant.
- hanafudafan 4y agoAre we surprised that PRISM companies are doing this?
- viro 4y agowhat does PRISM have to do with a company complying with a legal warrant?
- hanafudafan 4y agoLots, nearly everything. They could choose not to retain data but that wouldn’t be good for PRISM.
- baybal2 4y ago
- josho 4y agoThese were Russian citizens. How is it that they can be extradited to the US for breaking US law? So if in my country I make a program that is legal where I live, but illegal in the US then the US can come and steal me away? That’s more than a little scary.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- seanhunter 4y agoRather than being scared, it’s worth reading up on how the extradition system works and understanding how this impacts your ability to travel globally if you do things that are likely to be illegal somewhere. If you travel somewhere that has an extradition arrangement with a 3rd country and that country makes an extradition request for you, you could be extradited. In some cases you can be extradited from your home country if they have such an arrangement although some countries have a policy where they won’t extradite their own citizens (eg I think Russia does this) so if they had stayed home they might not have been extradited. This looks like a decent starting point https://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/advisories/2020/11/international-extradition-a-guide https://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/advisories/2020...
- derelicta 4y agoGreat to know the world is a little safer /s
- bacchusracine 4y agoCartel collaborates with state to remove upstart competition. Surely this would be a more accurate headline?