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Lavabit wants appeal unsealed

An internet provider that shut down last month rather than comply with government surveillance orders is asking a federal appeals court to unseal the secretive legal proceedings that led to the closure.

Lawyers for Lavabit filed a motion Tuesday with the Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, asking that the records in the case be unsealed so the public can be informed about the case and so that parties wanting to filed amicus briefs with the court have a better factual basis to do so. The name of the company and what appears to be that of Lavabit owner Ladar Levison were deleted from the public filing, but the circumstances surrounding the case make clear it pertains to Lavabit.

The surveillance orders are believed to relate to U.S. Government efforts to track down former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who was charged in May with theft of government property and disclosing national defense information after he leaked a series of documents about NSA surveillance programs.

Levison shut the company down rather than comply with some or all aspects of the orders.

"Several organizations and entities have expressed an interest in filing amicus briefs," the new Lavabit motion says, adding that the appeal "will have wide-ranging implications for internet service providers...and their users." The motion, posted here, also asks that the deadline for such briefs be extended to October 24.

Records of the cases at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. remain completely sealed. But docketing information made public by the Fourth Circuit indicates that a search warrant and some type of surveillance order were requested on July 16 and granted on August 1 and August 5 of this year. The orders were formally entered on August 16 and appealed on August 28, the docket says. Senior Judge Claude Hilton presided. He also issued the warrant for Snowden's arrest in May.