Wikileaks has published the FBI report on this case. I truly believe they were acting in good faith here. During investigation or operation they identified the location of and seized the Playpen server. Instead of ending it there. They ran it for 2 weeks and served malware on it to track users. Then shut it down and busted users. They might have been operating illegally but those illegal actions have led to many more arrests than if they had just ended it with the server seizure.
So FBI got onto the case from a tip from a foreign law enforcement agency. Since the server was in the US the ball was in our court so to speak. I think they did the right thing and I think they may have acted illegally as well. If they truly botched the legal aspect of it, then they know all their case prosecutions are at risk of being thrown out due to illegal evidence gathering. I doubt that will happen.
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burnerdrone04 ago
Wikileaks has published the FBI report on this case. I truly believe they were acting in good faith here. During investigation or operation they identified the location of and seized the Playpen server. Instead of ending it there. They ran it for 2 weeks and served malware on it to track users. Then shut it down and busted users. They might have been operating illegally but those illegal actions have led to many more arrests than if they had just ended it with the server seizure.
EyeOfHorus ago
"The gaffe was noticed by a foreign law enforcement agency, which notified the FBI." = Cut-Out
burnerdrone04 ago
So FBI got onto the case from a tip from a foreign law enforcement agency. Since the server was in the US the ball was in our court so to speak. I think they did the right thing and I think they may have acted illegally as well. If they truly botched the legal aspect of it, then they know all their case prosecutions are at risk of being thrown out due to illegal evidence gathering. I doubt that will happen.
Smyrtz ago
Isn't this the case where the first guy to plead "not guilty" got off because the FBI refused to disclose how their technology worked?