Lavabit, the secure email provider used by National Security whistleblower Edward Snowden used during the Prism leaks, was shut down today by its owner over fears the U.S. government would prosecute him.
According the Ladar Levison, Lavabit's owner and operator, he was left with no choice but to shut down all 400,000 of its users email accounts , fearing he would be "complicit in crimes against the American people."
While Levison did not give a detailed account on why he shut service down so abruptly, he did leave room to suggest that the U.S. government is trying to bully him into given up private user data.
My Fellow Users,
I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit. After significant soul searching, I have decided to suspend operations. I wish that I could legally share with you the events that led to my decision. I cannot. I feel you deserve to know what’s going on--the first amendment is supposed to guarantee me the freedom to speak out in situations like this. Unfortunately, Congress has passed laws that say otherwise. As things currently stand, I cannot share my experiences over the last six weeks, even though I have twice made the appropriate requests.
What’s going to happen now? We’ve already started preparing the paperwork needed to continue to fight for the Constitution in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. A favorable decision would allow me resurrect Lavabit as an American company.
This experience has taught me one very important lesson: without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent, I would _strongly_ recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States.
Sincerely,
Ladar Levison
Owner and Operator, Lavabit LLC
via Examiner National Edition Gadgets & Tech Channel Articles http://www.examiner.com/article/snowden-s-email-provider-lavabit-fearing-persecution-from-u-s-shuts-down?cid=roadrunner