DreamHost to Challenge DOJ in Court Thursday Over Records Sought in Connection to Website

Web hosting company DreamHost will face DOJ in District of Columbia Superior Court Thursday over the government's demand for information on protesters in a criminal investigation of the Jan. 20 protests. Justice initially sought information about 1.3 million IP addresses that visited disruptj20.org (see 1708140063) but said in a Tuesday filing it has "no interest" in those records. "What the government did not know when it obtained the Warrant -- what it could not have reasonably known -- was the extent of visitor data maintained by DreamHost that extends beyond the government's singular locus in this case," the filing said. DOJ said it modified its warrant to minimize information collected. It said it tried to talk to DreamHost but "those attempts have proven unproductive" since the company says the warrant is improper. DOJ's move to narrow the scope of data sought is a "huge win" for privacy, blogged the company, saying much of the original demand for information is in place and that's "problematic." Justice said it still wants DreamHost to provide records for the account in question, such as subscribers' names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and means of payment. The department said a small group of individuals used the site to publicly spread information but also privately communicate among a small group "whose intent included planned violence." It said the investigation resulted in 19 guilty pleas and nearly 200 pending criminal cases. DOJ said the warrant won't be used to identify political dissidents.