February, 10 2011, 12:10pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Rachel Myers, ACLU, (212) 549-2689 or 2666; media@aclu.org
Rebecca Jeschke, EFF, (415) 436-9333 x125; press@eff.org
ACLU/EFF in Court in Alexandria Tuesday Over Government Demands for Twitter Records
Demands for Information Were Made in Connection With WikiLeaks Investigation
ALEXANDRIA, Va.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will be in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia on Tuesday, February 15 at 10:30 a.m. EST for a hearing in a legal battle over the government's demands for the records of several Twitter users in connection with an investigation related to WikiLeaks.
The ACLU and EFF represent Birgitta Jonsdottir, an Icelandic parliamentarian and one of the Twitter users whose records were sought by the government. They have asked the court to unseal the still-secret court records of the government's attempts to collect private records from Twitter, Inc., as well as other companies who may have received demands for information from the government. The groups have also asked the court to overturn the December 14 court order requiring Twitter to provide information about its users.
The motions were joined by attorneys from the law firm Keker & Van Nest LLP and the Law Office of John D. Cline on behalf of Jacob Appelbaum and Rop Gonggrijp, respectively, as well as local counsel in Virginia. The government has also requested information concerning Appelbaum and Gonggrijp's Twitter accounts.
More information about the case is online at: www.aclu.org/free-speech/twitter-wikileaks-ordersubpoena
WHAT:
Hearing in an ACLU/EFF case concerning the government's demands for the records of several Twitter users in connection with an investigation related to WikiLeaks
WHO:
Aden Fine, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, and John Keker of the law firm Keker & Van Nest LLP will argue on behalf of the parties before Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
WHEN:
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
10:30 a.m. EST
WHERE:
Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse
401 Courthouse Square
Alexandria, VA 22314
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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