EFF has been working with EarthRights International to quash subpoenas issued to Yahoo!, Google, and Microsoft for the email and personal information of dozens of Ecuadorian environmental activists, attorneys, and journalists in a case that is rooted in a decades-long battle over environmental damage caused by oil drilling in Ecuador. The case should have ended with a $19 billion judgment against Chevron in 2011. But the oil giant refused to pay up, and instead filed suit against the plaintiffs' lawyer, claiming that the Ecuadorian judgment was the result of a massive conspiracy and fraud against it. As part of that case, Chevron sent the three subpoenas here, asking the webmail providers for the identities of nearly one hundred non-parties, including our clients. Most troubling about Chevron's requests was the demand for nine years’ worth of the providers' IP logs, data that would provide a broad window into the movements as well as personal and political associations of our clients. The oil company's request has serious implications for the future of political speech and environmental advocacy, especially when the targets are people who haven’t been accused of wrongdoing, as is the case here.

Earlier this month Chevron agreed to withdraw the subpoenas to Yahoo! and Google and has agreed to protect and keep confidential any account information Chevron has already received related to the case. EFF is delighted to have worked with EarthRights International in protecting the First Amendment rights of these activists, lawyers, and journalists involved in the case.

The following is an update from EarthRights International (ERI), a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization that combines the power of law and the power of people in defense of human rights and the environment:



By Earth Rights International