(Thanks to Margaret)
_______________________________________________

U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have raided a Dallas ISP,
knocking the company and almost 50 of its clients offline.

The early morning Thursday raid closed down the operations of Core IP
Networks, which operated out of two floors of a Telx collocation
facility at 2323 Bryan Street in Dallas. The raid had to do with the
activities of a former customer, according to Matthew Simpson, Core
IP's CEO. "The FBI is investigating a company that has purchased
services from Core IP in the past," he wrote in a note posted to a
Google Sites page. "This company does not even collocate with us
anywhere, much less 2323 Bryan Street Datacenter."

He did not name the company that is allegedly at the center of the FBI
investigation.

FBI spokesman Mark White confirmed that agents had executed a search
warrant at the 2323 Bryan Street address on Thursday, but declined to
comment further on the matter.

"Currently nearly 50 businesses are completely without access to their
e-mail and data," Simpson wrote. "Citizen access to Emergency 911
services are being affected, as Core IP's primary client base consists
of telephone companies. "

Simpson said that his company was not involved in any kind of illegal
activity. He could not be reached immediately for comment.

It is unusual for the FBI to shut down an entire hosting provider
because of the activity of a single customer.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/162584/fbi_raids_dallas_internet_service_provider\
_core_ip.html


Matthew Simpson
Core IP Networks LLC

Dear Customers,

Today at 6:00am, the FBI conducted an unwarranted early morning raid
of our 2323 Bryan Street Datacenters, on the 7th and 24th floors.

I received a phone call at 6:05am from our NOC that the entire network
was powered off. I called Capstar Commercial and TELX, our landlord,
and was told that the FBI was in the datacenter with a search and
seizure warrant. I asked that the agent in charge call me immediately.

I received a call 15 minutes later from FBI Agent Allyn Lynd. Mr. Lynd
would not tell me why he raided our datacenter or what he was looking
for. He also accused me of hiding inside my house in Ovilla, Texas. I
was actually in Phoenix, Arizona when this happened. I told him that,
and he told me that he was "getting the dogs" after me, and hung up on
me. I found out from an employee that there were 15 police cars and a
SWAT team at my home in Ovilla.

The FBI has seized all equipment belonging to our customers. Many
customers went to the data center to try and retrieve their equipment,
but were threatened with arrest.

Neither I, nor Core IP are involved in any illegal activities of any
kind. The only data that I have received thus far is that the FBI is
investigating a company that has purchased services from Core IP in
the past. This company does not even colocate with us anywhere, much
less 2323 Bryan Street Datacenter.

Currently nearly 50 businesses are completely without access to their
email and data. Citizen access to Emergency 911 services are being
affected, as Core IP's primary client base consists of telephone
companies.

If you run a datacenter, please be aware that in our great country,
the FBI can come into your place of business at any time and take
whatever they want, with no reason.

I can be reached for further comment at: mnsclec@...
Further information will be given as it becomes available.

Yours,
Matthew Simpson
CEO, Core IP Networks, LLC
2323 Bryan Street, Dallas, Texas
-----------

2323 Bryan Street is the premier colocation, interconnection facility
in downtown Dallas, Texas. It is ideal for carriers and enterprise
customers seeking colocation and interconnection services. Making the
correct choice for colocation space involves having the best selection
of carriers available for interconnection at the TDM and fiber level;
availabilty and redundancy of power together with high quality
generator backup.

Telx acquired its facility at 2323 Bryan Street in December 2006. 2323
Bryan Street is one of the premier Internet gateways in North America
thus is ideal for peering. This facility offers a recently expanded
Meet Me Room Xchange Center.

Telx ColoXchange Centers offer premier conditioned space,
state-of-the-art access control and surveillance systems.
Telx Meet Me Room Xchange and ColoXchange Colocation Centers provide a
managed, carrier-neutral, secure environment for Core Interconnection
networking elements; whether you?re a carrier, ISP, content provider
or enterprise business.
All Telx installations are performed to comply with or exceed the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) industry standards.





DALLAS -- The FBI hauled away millions worth of computer servers from
a company called Core IP Networks during a Wednesday raid in downtown
Dallas.

But it affected a number of businesses that were not under
investigation and about 100,000 phone customers across the country
have lost part of their 911 service.

Matthew Simpson is the owner of that company. He says his home was
also raided.

Simpson says the FBI is after a former client who may have used
servers to pirate movies and software.

But innocent companies are also effected including AT&T, Google, which
both had equipment at the building at 2323 Bryant St.

Locally, Classic Chevy lost its e-mail. A small ad agency is locked
out of the internet and a small phone company-- Sitcom in McKinney--
says all its customers have lost service and access to 911.

"It's like an apartment building. If you have 500 tenants and one of
them has a meth lab inside his apartment, they don't hold the
apartment liable for that guys actions. But that's what the FBI is
trying to do here," said Simpson.

Simpson also estimates 100,000 phone customers across Texas, and the
country, are now without E-911 service, which provides dispatchers
with information about where you're calling from.

The FBI will not say who is under investigation.

And unfortunately for the companies who rely on those servers the FBI
says it may be several days or more before their service can be
restored.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/wfaa090402\
_lj_fbi.96b29611.html

The speculation in IT circles is that this is related to the pirating
of the upcoming X-Men movie. No less ominous... in fact, even more
incredible that copyright infringement investigation may result in an
entire hosting service-center being shut down.

The taxpayers are robbed of trillions and get nothing but pillow talk,
but the entertainment industry gets a film pirated and the FBI moves
in a task force.

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