Image on Flickr by user Tim Pierce [1] (CC BY 2.0).
On September 5, the U.S. Department of Justice issued to the organization and Web hosting provider May First [2] an inquiry about one of its members, Greece-based Center for Independent Media Athens, also known as Indymedia Athens [3]. Founded in 2005, May First is a non-profit organization dedicated to provide cooperative Internet services, such as Web hosting to individuals and organizations. The data required by federal agents is specific information from the Indymedia Athens account, stored on May First servers.
In a statement [4], May First noted that the request could be interpreted as an attempt by the American government to help the Greek government. They also noted they won't provide the required information unless the Center for Independent Media Athens requests it — they assert that complying with this request is a violation of the right to privacy.
For now, lawyers with Electronic Frontier Foundation, who are representing May First, are in touch with the U.S. Attorney General. Upon publication of this piece, US officials had offered no explanation of their motives in requesting said data.