12-08-2010, 10:19 PM
what the hell! privacy be damned, they need to assist the authorities, it's life or death.
so the FBI will subpeona what they need.
fucking facebook and myspace can't assure their members' privacy half the time, but they will block LE in a case like this??
i loathe those damn sites.
WDBJ
Police are looking everywhere for answers to find Brittany Mae Smith, including the Internet. Investigators believe Smith and Jeff Easley's Facebook and My Space accounts could provide clues to help the investigation.
"We have made a number of attempts to get into the site," said Roanoke County Police Chief Ray Lavinder. "We had some success late this morning."
Gaining access to the sites has not been easy, however, because according to Lavinder, Facebook and My Space have denied police full access. "They granted us limited information to those sites," Lavinder said at a 3:30pm Wednesday press conference. "We'll pursue whatever options are available to get that data."
Meanwhile a site has gone up on Facebook urging Facebook to give up that information. Another site has been created as well. It's called 'Help Find Brittany Mae Smith.' More than 4,000 people have joined that site already, however, according to Hollins University Media Professor Vladimir Bratic "a whole lot fewer people are actually contributing to it."
Bratic said social media websites make it easy for people to feel like they're involved even if they really aren't. "With very little sacrifice. It's just one click away and you become part of a cause," Bratic said. "You feel validated for what you are doing by participating in all of this."
Many people have expressed condolences regarding Tina Smith's murder and others have used Facebook to 'talk' about the case. Bratic believes this is all simply a new way of doing something very old.
"They were sort of kitchen table water cooler kind of conversations that we had with a few people privately but now these conversations are no longer private they're happening with lots and lots of people," Bratic said.
Meanwhile the laws that would allow investigators to gain access to websites may not be keeping up with the technology.
The U.S. Attorney's office is now involved in the case. A spokesperson there told News 7 because they are involved in the case they can't talk about it.
A spokesperson did say getting information from across state lines such as from Facebook that's headquartered in California would fall to federal authorities.
so the FBI will subpeona what they need.
fucking facebook and myspace can't assure their members' privacy half the time, but they will block LE in a case like this??
i loathe those damn sites.
WDBJ
Police are looking everywhere for answers to find Brittany Mae Smith, including the Internet. Investigators believe Smith and Jeff Easley's Facebook and My Space accounts could provide clues to help the investigation.
"We have made a number of attempts to get into the site," said Roanoke County Police Chief Ray Lavinder. "We had some success late this morning."
Gaining access to the sites has not been easy, however, because according to Lavinder, Facebook and My Space have denied police full access. "They granted us limited information to those sites," Lavinder said at a 3:30pm Wednesday press conference. "We'll pursue whatever options are available to get that data."
Meanwhile a site has gone up on Facebook urging Facebook to give up that information. Another site has been created as well. It's called 'Help Find Brittany Mae Smith.' More than 4,000 people have joined that site already, however, according to Hollins University Media Professor Vladimir Bratic "a whole lot fewer people are actually contributing to it."
Bratic said social media websites make it easy for people to feel like they're involved even if they really aren't. "With very little sacrifice. It's just one click away and you become part of a cause," Bratic said. "You feel validated for what you are doing by participating in all of this."
Many people have expressed condolences regarding Tina Smith's murder and others have used Facebook to 'talk' about the case. Bratic believes this is all simply a new way of doing something very old.
"They were sort of kitchen table water cooler kind of conversations that we had with a few people privately but now these conversations are no longer private they're happening with lots and lots of people," Bratic said.
Meanwhile the laws that would allow investigators to gain access to websites may not be keeping up with the technology.
The U.S. Attorney's office is now involved in the case. A spokesperson there told News 7 because they are involved in the case they can't talk about it.
A spokesperson did say getting information from across state lines such as from Facebook that's headquartered in California would fall to federal authorities.