[smygo] US Tries to Block Website Naming Informers, Undercover Agents
 
Date: Fri, 25 May 2007 12:51:06 -0500 (CDT)


News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo

http://tinyurl.com/2hgevz
US tries to block website naming informers
By Tom Leonard in New York
Last Updated: 1:28am BST 23/05/2007

American officials have urged courts to censor documents published on 
the internet after the success of a website that names police informers 
and undercover agents.

The founders of the site, http://whosarat.com , claim it has identified 
4,300 informers and 400 undercover police and FBI agents.

Its home page offers three "rats of the week", providing their names and 
photographs as well as court documents showing what they have agreed to 
say and do in return for lenient sentences.

Subscribers pay anything from $7.99 (#4) a week or $89.99 (#45) for life 
and get a free "Stop Snitching" T-shirt.

They can see hundreds more informants as well as various chat forums for 
exchanging rumours about law enforcement agencies.

The site was started in a fit of pique in August 2004 by Sean Bucci, a 
DJ, now jailed, who was facing charges of dealing marijuana based on an 
informant's information.

It began attracting thousands of postings, many supported by court 
documents.

The site -- access to which was blocked yesterday [I got through fine, 
but I have no idea about the material only available to paid 
subscribers.--DC] -- insists that it does not promote violence against 
informants or agents but is "designed to assist attorneys and criminal 
defendants".

But the US Justice Department says it is "witnessing the rise of a new 
cottage industry for the clear purpose of witness intimidation, 
retaliation and harassment".

In one case cited by the Justice Department, a witness in Philadelphia 
had to be moved and the FBI called in to investigate after material from 
http://whosarat.com was posted to his neighbours and left on cars and 
telegraph poles.

The department has begun urging courts to remove all plea agreements 
from the electronic court files which are made publicly available.

Some defence lawyers and legal experts say such websites are protected 
by the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

A spokesman for the site, who calls himself Anthony Capone, said: 
"Everybody has a choice in life about what they want to do for a living. 
Nobody likes a tattletale."

-- 
Dan Clore

My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://amazon.com/o/ASIN/1587154838/ref=nosim/thedanclorenecro
Lord Werdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://www.geocities.com/clorebeast/
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo

"Don't just question authority,
Don't forget to question me."
-- Jello Biafra