The request from the DOJ demands that DreamHost hand over 1.3 million visitor IP addresses — in addition to contact information, email content, and photos of thousands of people — in an effort to determine who simply visited the website. (Our customer has also been notified of the pending warrant on the account.)
That information could be used to identify any individuals who used this site to exercise and express political speech protected under the Constitution’s First Amendment. That should be enough to set alarm bells off in anyone’s mind.
I’m not surprised the Federal Department of Justice would have requests like this, in fact that’s not surprising at all. What is surprising is there are web-hosts scrutinizing these requests and defending the privacy of not only their customers but the people who visited their customers’ websites.
Again, donate to the EFF if you’re not already. They repeatedly fight for our online freedoms.