Last November, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) served a national security letter (NSL) on the Internet Archive, seeking records pertaining to a patron of the Internet Archive. Specifically, the FBI requested that person’s name, address, length of service, and electronic communication transactional records from the Internet Archive. This National Security Letter (NSL) certified that the information sought was relevant to an authorized investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities and advised that the Internet Archive was prohibited from disclosing the letter, “other than to those … whom disclosure is necessary to comply with the letter or to an attorney to obtain legal advice or legal assistance with respect to this letter.”
The Internet Archive, American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and Electronic Frontier Foundation then filed a complaint under seal which challenged the constitutionality of the NSL and the NSL statute.
Last week, Judge Claudia Wilken granted a motion to unseal the case. The docket sheet, pleadings, proceedings and orders in Internet Archive v. Mukasey are now publicly accessible from Justia.
