Edward Snowden's E-Mail Provider Defied FBI Demands to Turn Over Crypto Keys, Documents Show | Threat Level | Wired.com

Edward Snowden's E-Mail Provider Defied FBI Demands to Turn Over Crypto Keys, Documents Show | Threat Level | Wired.com:

The U.S. government obtained a secret court order demanding that Edward Snowden’s e-mail provider, Lavabit, turn over its private SSL key, which would have allowed the FBI to wiretap the service’s users.

The July 16 order came after Texas-based Lavabit refused to circumvent its own security systems to comply with earlier orders intended to trace the Internet IP address of a particular Lavabit user.

The filings show that Lavabit was served on June 28 with a so-called “pen register” order requiring it to record, and provide the government with, the connection information on one of its users every time that user logged in to check his e-mail. The name of the target is redacted from the unsealed records, but the offenses under investigation are listed as violations of the Espionage Act, leaving little doubt that NSA Edward Snowden was the target.