Why the DreamHost litigation matters
To simply “get by” in this period of American history is to be a bystander.
In its darker moments, the office of the president is one that condones racial hatred, that creates a safe space for victimization of immigrants, of people of color, of women, of Jews, of transgender people. It stretches the constitution to have a president who disdains the principles of equality that, throughout America’s history, have triumphed despite moments of darkness.
But I take solace in the breadth of resistance. There is strength in numbers. The fight against government overreach is coming not just from the marginalized. It’s coming from late night comedy hosts, from journalists, from the people at rallies, from the citizens who call and write and talk to their Congresspeople, from CEOs at the highest level (and even from one or two Murdochs…).
And it’s coming, too, from companies which on an individual level are fighting injustices that may cause near-term and long-term damage. A powerful example is that of DreamHost, a web hosting provider, which one week ago announced it is fighting a request by the US Department of Justice to provide all data related to 1.3 million visitor IP addresses to a site it hosts that organized anti-Trump protests in January.
Pause there. The government is asking a web hosting provider to turn over personally identifying details of people involved in political resistance.
DreamHost didn’t ask to be in this position. They aren’t a political organization and they may not even see this fight as political. But they are doing what they think is right for their users, and for internet privacy more generally. “By forcing the government to defend this data sweep,” the New York Times editorialized last week, “DreamHost is doing an important service not only to its users, but also to the public at large. Prosecutors know that most companies don’t have the resources to fight such warrants, so a common tactic is to overreach and then wait for pushback.”
DreamHost is pushing back. It’s an act of defense for internet users everywhere, who may one day be the subject of a sweeping government request to disclose online behavior.
DreamHost has said it is willing to fight this alone. But they don’t have to. By crowdfunding on CrowdJustice, they are enabling the public to become aware of what they are doing on behalf of their users and all web users, and to support them in their fight. We are proud at CrowdJustice to be a platform where people can inform themselves about legal cases, about what people, companies and non-profits are doing in the courts to make a difference in the world — and if so inclined, to take direct action. There is a way to be involved, and to be part, in so many ways, of this resistance.
DreamHost’s CrowdJustice page can be found here: crowdjustice.com/case/dreamhost
Julia Salasky
CEO, CrowdJustice
21 August 2017
