The land of the free?
Further fallout from the Edward Snowden affair is that the US-based email service that he allegedly used to send encrypted messages has closed down. The owner of Lavabit, Ladar Levison, wrote in a message posted to the Lavabit website:
I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit.
Ladar Levison, Lavabit
From this statement alone, it's not clear as to whether the crimes he refers to are those of Snowden or the US security agencies. Although, if the former, then presumably he wouldn't feel the need to cease operations, and wouldn't have to stay silent:
I wish that I could legally share with you the events that led to my decision. I cannot…As things currently stand, I cannot share my experiences over the last six weeks, even though I have twice made the appropriate requests.
Ladar Levison, Lavabit
Most telling is his final exhortation:
I would _strongly_ recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States.
Ladar Levison, Lavabit
If I needed any further persuasion not to host my web servers, or store my data, in the land of the free
, I'd probably be brain-dead.