Amsterdam Police Seize Server at US Request

A unit of the Amsterdam police on Tuesday seized a server belonging to the Italian internet service provider Autistici/Inventati (A/I) at a data center in Amsterdam's Science Park. The seizure was carried out based on a U.S. mutual legal assistance request. A copy of the server's contents is now being sent to the U.S.

A/I was a left-wing anti-capitalist organization that had offered free web hosting and email services to approximately twenty thousand organizations worldwide for the past twenty-five years. According to the U.S. government, A/I facilitated 'antifa,' an abbreviation for 'anti-fascists.' The Trump administration views antifa as a terrorist organization. Consequently, A/I itself was designated as terrorist at the end of August. This was unprecedented, as internet service providers are generally not held responsible for the content their users post online.

As a result of the sanctions, the organization lost access to its bank account and domain name. Just over a week after the sanctions were published, the volunteers running the internet service provider decided to cease their operations and dismantle A/I.

U.S. Mutual Legal Assistance Request

This was done to prevent them from causing trouble for individuals or organizations that had ties to them, for example, by being a donor or using A/I's web hosting or email services.

The seizure of the server in Amsterdam indicates that this fear was not unfounded. The Amsterdam police retrieved the server based on a U.S. mutual legal assistance request. "You simply carry that out," a spokesperson said by phone. Digital experts from the police are now creating an 'image,' a digital copy. "That will go straight to America." Afterward, the owners will get the server back.

A/I had servers in various locations across Europe. In recent weeks, these have been shut down and the drives wiped, said an individual involved, who spoke anonymously for security reasons. Dissolving and dismantling the legal entity – A/I is a type of foundation – takes some time, he explained. One of the requirements under Italian law is that no assets remain in a non-profit organization once it has been dissolved. A small group of former volunteers is handling the dissolution process. Contact between them is kept to a minimum.

The server in the Netherlands was "one of the last pieces of hardware we wanted to dispose of. We were in contact with DC1 (the data center, a distant successor to Xs4all) about it." According to him, there is nothing on the encrypted server that could cause problems for A/I users. "I am not worried. Surprised, though." The spokesperson had hoped that the dissolution of the organization would suffice for the Americans.

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