This file documents the current crisis haunting the management collective of the alternative email provider Riseup. Over the course of the year 2018, monthly Riseup newsletters dried out, and when this fact became too obvious, were replaced with surrogate content devoid of any news. Over the recent weeks and months, Riseup users then received a series of hectic spoofs apparently produced only for distraction purposes, while relevant content was suppressed by the management collective due to intimidation efforts pursued by diverse intelligence agencies. Currently, the whole affair leaves Riseup in quite a bad light, because – I am sorry to have to say that – it exposes how intimidated most of its managers actually are, and how little self-confidence they have in their own souls defending themselves against totalitarianism.

.

March 2018

In its latest regular newsletter, Riseup warns users of data retention efforts plaguing the internet and as a remedy endorses the search engine Duckduckgo. I do the fine works of the German translation, because I have just followed a call to join the translation collective and help out with my skills to nurse an incompetent local translator.

https://riseup.net/en/about-us/newsletter/2018/03

.

April, May, Juny, July 2018

Total silence from Riseup.

https://riseup.net/en/about-us/newsletter/2018

.

August 3rd, 2018

A draft of an irregular newsletter comes up with nonsensical content, warning against perceived risks in clicking links. However, it does not elaborate that these risks depend upon whether it happens in a trustworthy environment, and fails to warn against much more serious threats luring in untrustworthy environments, such as captures of passwords or other sensible content.

.

September 2nd, 2018

Under the title „Please Help Save Indymedia“, I present a September newsletter proposal to the rest of the Riseup translation collective. Citing risks of data losses, it sums up the situation : „From an animal liberation point of view, [saving Indymedia] is a great opportunity to get on top of the paid and/or oathed perps we also face in corrupt corporations and authoritarian governments.“ However, I receive no answer from other collective members.

.

September 3rd, 2018

The Brasilian national museum burns down completely, following the fate Indymedia Brasil suffered many years ago. No one takes responsibility. In the subsequent national elections, a significant share of the Brasilian electorate panics and elects an aggressive intelligence agent running under an anti-corruption pretext into office.

.

September 3rd, 2018

Riseup translation collective members have supplemented the August draft with additional information elaborating when and why caution of clicking links matters. The Riseup management collective however trashes all the extra work performed to keep quality standards, and sends out a censored version with no other effect than scaring newbies and puzzling experts.

.

September 6th, 2018

A Riseup manager offers me money, leaving it open whether it is Riseup funds or his own, in a presumable attempt to draw me into fruitless bargaining. Once I mention my defaulting customers, it begins insulting me for failing to bite a lure.

.

September 19th, 2018

I collect forensic evidence of hostile penetration of Riseup services, documenting the loss of files appended to emails while the emails are being composed and sent. This form of data crime has happened for years, but now there is indisputable evidence which can be published without harming anyone´s privacy.

.

September 20th, 2018

I post a Riseup help ticket presenting the evidence and asking for appropriate security measures to prevent further tampering. In the following debate however, the Riseup management remains stuck on stupid and fails to realise that it has a penetration problem on its servers, despite screenshot evidence.

https://support.riseup.net/en/ticket/9515-imap-access-log-file-availability

.

September 21th, 2018

I post another help ticket regarding the corruption attempt, but receive no answer at all. Riseup managers censor the help ticket on corruption.

https://support.riseup.net/en/ticket/9557-corruption

.

September 25th, 2018

I consult a team of internet security experts from the national cyber defence federation (Chaos Computer Club e.V.) and post a detailed proposal to Riseup how the problems can be solved and unsolicited access prevented without making unwarranted changes to long-term Riseup policies. Riseup management however fails to take their work into consideration.

.

September 29th, 2018

After Riseup management fails to acknowledge the self-evident priority of abuse prevention over other maintenance issues, I go public with both the report on the penetration issue and newsletter censorship on three Indymedia sites in North America, Boston, New York and San Francisco. However, San Francisco (Bay Area) appears too intimidated to publish either.

https://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2018/09/127422.html
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/09/29/18817885.php
http://boston.indymedia.org/newswire/display/227195/index.php

https://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2018/09/127423.html
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/09/29/18817886.php
http://boston.indymedia.org/newswire/display/227196/index.php

.

September 29th, 2018

I send a technical instruction to the rest of the Riseup translation collective elaborating how to separate mailing lists from personal mail with the help of the filtering functions available on the account management page, which enables both fellow collective members to optimise their inboxes and provides possible content for a fresh newsletter. As a result, Riseup management kicks me out of the translation collective without reasonable explanation or criticism.

.

September 30th, 2018

I post German translations of both the penetration report and evidence and the uncensored August newsletter on Indymedia Germany. In the following debate, German Indymedia managers repeatedly remove my answers to commentary questions from the audience, so that in order to avoid the debate being summed up by bullshit assertions I need to post a supplementary report at Indymedia Belgium, as Indymedia Germany is not responding to email inquiries on its commentary handling problem.

https://bxl.indymedia.org/spip.php?article22206

.

October 23rd, 2018

After Indymedia San Francisco left email inquiries over its censorship unanswered for a legal response period, I repost the content censored at Indymedia San Francisco at Indymedia New Zealand. However, Auckland also is too intimidated to report the truth and censors my posting.

http://www.indymedia.org.nz/articles/16492

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/10/23/18818415.php

.

October 29th, 2018

Apparently despite censorship, publishing the issue outside of North America has stirred up sufficient awareness among Riseup and Indymedia users to bring about a climate of questioning and fact checking. As a result, Riseup management responds with a surrogate newsletter to Riseup users that contains no relevant news, but talks some lip-service about the threat intelligence agencies are to our human rights on the net without announcing any specific action against them.

.

Nov 4th, 2018

I post an unofficial newsletter for Riseup on Indymedia, detailing on the situation of intimidation by intelligence agencies concerning both. However, to my surprise given the character of the Greek protest movement against the German austerity policy, Indymedia Athens is too intimidated to publish both the urgent first aid request and the content censored in North America and New Zealand.

https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1592750/

https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1592749/

.

Nov 6th, 2018

Riseup managers are trying to distract from the attacks with another surrogate newsletter without news.

.

Nov 12th, 2018

After clarification requests to Greece remain unanswered, I repost the call to help save Riseup and Indymedia as well as the penetration evidence and uncensored August newsletter via Belgium.

https://bxl.indymedia.org/spip.php?article22622

https://bxl.indymedia.org/spip.php?article22621

.

Nov 15th, 2018

Riseup managers respond with another surrogate newsletter containing no news but approaching users in an aggressive ad-hominem style.

.

Nov 16th, 2018

I file a Riseup help ticket specifically concerning the failure of Riseup´s national branch manager for Germany, from where I write, to grasp the nature of the threat and support appropriate measures to interdict penetration of Riseup by intelligence agencies.

.

Nov 18th, 2018

After my help ticket was censored, I give up my effort to keep the intimidation traces and abuses inside Riseup, and repost it at Indymedia Belgium. Since Indymedia Belgium does not provide capacities for debate on global content, I outsource the debate to Boston, but this time Boston as well is too intimidated by the treat of intelligence agencies and censors any debate.

https://bxl.indymedia.org/spip.php?article22755

.

Nov 21th, 2018

Riseup management comes up with another surrogate newsletter devoid of any news content, in ever more hectic attempts of distraction from its penetration problem. It becomes clear that instead of solving the problem, the management is attempting to hide it, because its intimidation is too strong to allow tackling reality.

.

Nov 28th, 2018

The national spokesperson of Chaos Computer Club, despite of being presented with the forensic evidence, fails to properly handle Riseup´s penetration problem, and runs away from enlightened debate without providing a fallback option for the case of a worsening of the management crisis and intimidation efforts.

.

Dec 3rd, 2018

While Riseup increased storage space availability for its users, the configuration item for users to decide how much space of the quantity offered they actually want to take has gone missing and upload limits have not increased. Riseup management censors my help ticket on the issue.

https://support.riseup.net/en/topics/10162-quota-management/posts

.

Dec 5th, 2018

Due to the censorship regarding the missing configuration item, I once again need to go public with the issue.

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2018/12/436932.shtml

https://publish.nyc.indymedia.org/en/2018/12/127532.html

.

Dec 12th, 2018

Riseup management responds with another surrogate newsletter without news, the fifth in two months after nearly half a year without one. Apparently even inside North America a significant share of Riseup users has become aware of the threat intelligence agencies and the lack of ambition to defend the service against their abuses pose to their integrity, so that the management resorts to another clumsy and treacherous distraction attempt.

.

Dec 14th, 2018

I send an inquiry both to the public and to the remainders of the former newsletter translation collective detailing on the psychological fallacies in the attempt to resort to denial in response to intimidation attempts.

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2018/12/436932.shtml?discuss#455315

.

Dec 19th, 2018

Presumably out of shame of being confronted with the truth about its ignorance of clear evidence of crime, Riseup management blocks my login.

.

PROVISIONAL SUMMARY

Evidently, intimidation by intelligence agencies has reached a level badly threatening the sanity of Riseup managers, and seduces them to scapegoating, distraction efforts and denial. If this unhealthy development is not countered soon and strongly, it might become a threat to the further existence of Riseup.

.

Leonhard Bauer, freelance environmental activist, https://tinyurl.com/landschaftspfleger

Support my work with your donation : IBAN DE12 4306 0967 6051 1419 02.

Contact : e – L – B – e – AT – r – i – s – e – u – p – DOT – n – e – t.

PLEASE HELP DEMONOPOLISE THE INTERNET FROM ABUSIVE CORPORATE MONOPOLISTS AND RESTORE A CLIMATE OF INFORMATION FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE : https://tinyurl.com/entmonopolisierung