Feds lose bid for Amazon.com customer records
- From: J Flenner <varney@[redacted]>
- Subject: Feds lose bid for Amazon.com customer records
- Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:53:28 -0500
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http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9824635-38.html
November 27, 2007 | c|net News
Feds lose bid for Amazon.com customer records
Posted by Declan McCullagh
Federal prosecutors tried unsuccessfully to force Amazon.com to identify
thousands of innocent customers who bought books online, then abandoned
the idea after a judge rebuked them.
In an order that was sealed but has now become public, U.S. District
Judge Stephen Crocker rejected the Justice Department's subpoena for
details on Amazon's customers and their purchasing habits. Prosecutors
had claimed the details would help them prove their case against a
former Madison, Wisc., city official charged with tax evasion related to
selling used books through Amazon.
"The subpoena is troubling because it permits the government to peek
into the reading habits of specific individuals without their prior
knowledge or permission," Crocker wrote
<http://www.wiwd.uscourts.gov/bcgi-bin/opinions/district_opinions/GJ/07/07-GJ-04-11-23-07.PDF>
in June. Amazon filed the lawsuit to quash the grand jury subpoena.
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