Boston PD’s bizarre Occupy subpoena to Twitter

A reader writes, “Boston PD subpoenas Twitter for info on users tweeting about Occupy Boston; they say it relates to a ‘criminal investigation’. Also notice their ignorance when asking for account info on tags such as ‘#occupyboston’. Smart cookies over there.”

Note that they’re also looking for IP addresses for Guido Fawkes, a well-known, right-leaning British blogger (real name Paul Staines) who — as far as I know — has nothing to do with Boston (let alone Occupy Boston). My guess is that they’ve somehow mistaken Guido Fawkes for some kind of superdistributor of Guy Fawkes masks or similar (the historical Guy Fawkes did adopt the name Guido while fighting in Spain in the the 16th cen), which is to say that they’re not just on a fishing expedition, they’re on a fishing expedition that’s grounded in profound ignorance.

And yup, they don’t know the difference between a hashtag and an account.

http://tinyurl.com/bn2u6wx

Suffolk District Attorney subpoenas Occupy Boston Twitter info

The subpoena requests “available subscriber information, for the account or accounts associated with the following information, including IP address logs for account creation” but, inexplicably, includes not only account names, but also hashtags and a term which is neither account name nor hashtag. The “accounts” which Goldberger has subpoenaed about are Guido Fawkes, @po0isAn0N, @OccupyBoston, #BostonPD and #d0xcak3. “Guido Fawkes” appears to be a reference to Guy Fawkes, the stylized mask of whom has come to be associated with the hacker group “Anonymous.” That same group might be referenced in the “@po0isAn0N” user name. “#d0xcak3” seems to be a reference to “doxing” i.e. releasing personal information about people over the Internet.

http://tinyurl.com/86drpts

2011 Year in Review: Top 5 Topics in U.S. Politics

1. Occupy Wall Street

But something happened that people didn’t expect: Occupy Wall Street caught on. The protesters did not leave. They set up camp in Zuccotti Park and stayed there for two months before the New York Police Department evicted them in mid-November — and after that, they regrouped and continued to organize marches and other actions throughout the city.

More importantly, Occupy Wall Street inspired similar actions in dozens of cities across the country and around the world, many of which are ongoing. In Washington, politicians from both parties have been forced to take sides on the issue of economic inequality, bringing the protesters’ talking points into the national spotlight in a way they had not been before. Many people blasted Occupy Wall Street’s positions, but nobody could ignore them. Even the people cursing them out were talking about them — and that was the point. It’s too soon to guage Occupy Wall Street’s impact on U.S. public policy — the movement has not experienced even one congressional election yet — but it is safe to say that the Occupy coalition has changed the political culture in the United States — it has “restructured the debate” to the point that income inequality is now on the mind of senators and representatives.

http://tinyurl.com/7gwb24w

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 12/25/11” »

Suffolk County ADA subpoenas Twitter Inc. for Occupy Boston info

[The text below is from a MyFoxBoston story that was pulled several hours after being published last night. Here’s a link to a website that has the same information: http://tinyurl.com/7vxcqq2]

The Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney has requested all available information from a few twitter accounts related to Occupy Boston.

In the document, Goldberger requests, “All available subscriber information, for the account or accounts associated with the following information, including IP address logs for account creation and for the period December 8, 2011 to December 13, 2011.” The subpoena requests the aforementioned info from the following accounts and hashtags:

Guido Fawkes
@p0isAn0N
@OccupyBoston
#BostonPD
#d0xcak3

Original MyFoxBoston link: http://tinyurl.com/7l9p77s

Civil rights blog live link to the same info: http://tinyurl.com/7vxcqq2

City to meet with Occupy, homeless advocates

A spokesman for Providence’s mayor says the city plans to meet with Occupy Providence about ways to help the homeless after the activists agreed to dismantle their tent city downtown if the city opens a shelter.

David Ortiz, a spokesman for Mayor Angel Taveras (tuh-VEHR’-us), said Friday that city officials will meet with Occupy Providence and homeless advocates to discuss the group’s proposal, or other ways the city can assist the homeless. Occupy Providence this week approved the plan to leave its 24-hour encampment if the city opens a temporary day shelter.

http://tinyurl.com/7jkywqv

Occupy-supporting actors stage ‘protest play’ in Chicago – ‘Occupy My Heart: A Revolutionary Christmas Carol’

On a cold, snowy Christmas Eve, an ambitious Chicago banker loses his job and his money-hungry girlfriend, encounters a former love who is part of the Occupy movement, is visited by three spirits who show him painful truths, and finds redemption.

The action is set amid a protest, and last week it was seen by audience members who had just come from one. The premiere – a single outdoor performance Friday afternoon – was coordinated to begin at the end of a protest march that set out from LaSalle and Jackson.

http://tinyurl.com/7gchxqq

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 12/24/11” »

Brother of fallen Marine for whom ‘Camp Alex’ was named commits suicide

Brian Luis Arredondo, 24, took his own life in Norwood on Dec. 19, according to a statement from his father Carlos and stepmother Melida. Brian and brother Alexander grew up in JP. Alexander was memorialized this year in the post office renaming, and also in a “Camp Alex” anti-war display that appeared at Occupy Boston and currently in an Occupy JP display at Monument Square’s First Church in Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist. Alexander’s name is also memorialized in an honorary street sign at the intersection of South and St. Rose streets.

According to the family statement, Brian Arrendondo “never was able to recover from his deep sadness over the death of his brother Alex, a condition called complicated grief.”

http://tinyurl.com/7mz8arc

Manger Square meets Dewey Square: Occupy protesters mark Christmas

Around 20 members of Occupy Boston returned to Dewey Square Park for a holiday-themed protest today, the first day the park reopened to the public following the eviction of protesters by police Dec. 10.

Arriving at noon, protesters and protest chaplains – a group of clergy and lay people who have brought a spiritual framework to the Occupy movement – donned biblical garb and held up signs with messages such as “There is still no room at the inn” and “Peace on Earth, goodwill to the 99%.”

http://tinyurl.com/85gpumu

It’s time to occupy, my friends

At the Occupy Boston encampment at Dewey Square in the city’s financial district, Shane Aspinall, a 25-year-old African-American, says he has been living there because “it’s time black people take back the initiative to reclaim their history and rewrite it together with our present and hopefully better futures.”

Aspinall, who believes that the historical economic and social discrimination against African-American communities in the US must change, says: “At the moment, this [occupation] is the only alternative we have. The Republicans and the Democrats don’t represent us . . .  [President Barack] Obama will always have that history of being the first black president of the US but you’ve seen his record.

“I recognise there are structural problems in Washington with political lobby groups and the influence of business and his hands are tied. But, if not him, who? Us, that’s who.” Aspinall says the Occupy Wall Street outreach programmes to Boston’s ghettos are vital to reinvigorate civic interest in social self-help.

http://tinyurl.com/736xjhk

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 12/23/11” »