[IP] ISP moves its customers' e-mail to avoid possible surveillance

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

________________________________________
From: peter.capek@gmail.com [peter.capek@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Peter Capek [capek@ieee.org]
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 9:32 AM
To: David Farber
Subject: ISP moves its customers' e-mail to avoid possible surveillance

From a press release on the TeliaSonera web site; capitalization is mine, for emphasis.

            -- Peter Capek


04/01/2008 08:25:23 CET (TeliaSonera Finland)

Sonera moves its customers' e-mails to Finland
Sonera upgrades its e-mail system and moves its customers' e-mail services back to Finland at
the end of April. At present, the servers are running on TeliaSonera's shared e-mail platform in
Sweden. Later this spring, the size of Sonera's mailboxes will be increased tenfold in response
to customer wishes.  "We decided to move Sonera's e-mail services back to Finland IN ORDER TO
PROTECT THE PRIVACY OF OUR FINNISH CUSTOMERS. After the migration, e-mails sent from one Finn to
another will not cross Finland's borders at any stage. At the same time, we were able to
modernize our entire e-mail environment, thanks to which we are now better prepared for
various types of failures," says Juha-Pekka Weckström, Senior Vice President of TeliaSonera
Broadband Services Finland.

The removal is DRIVEN BY THE SWEDISH GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSED LAW which would allow the National
Defence Radio Establishment to intercept all electronic communications passing the national border.

The migration which takes place in April will be performed on a weekend to minimize user inconvenience.
Sonera will inform its customers about the exact schedule by email later this month. In total, the number
of email boxes to be transferred is approximately 500,000 of which 450,000 are used by private customers
and 50,000 by business customers. For Sonera's private broadband customers, the e-mail service is
available at no charge.

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