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Comment by mnm1 | Hacker News Reader

Dreamhost is a hosting provider. Why do they keep these records in the first place and especially over six months later? It seems to me that there will be a big market for hosts that don't keep such logs or delete them after a specified period where they might be useful to debug issues (24-48hrs).

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They received a preservation order requiring they do not delete the logs for this domain for period of time prior to the inauguration.

How is that legally sound?

18 USC § 2703(f) - A provider of wire or electronic communication services or a remote computing service, upon the request of a governmental entity, shall take all necessary steps to preserve records and other evidence in its possession pending the issuance of a court order or other process.

OK, let me be more specific. How is the request legally sound?

I don't understand your question. What's there to be legally sound about? The Feds make a request, the site has to comply.

Why are they allowed to request this with no reason? Why can the government dictate what I'm doing with no legal basis?

I'm asking why these records were held in the first place. If they didn't store the data in the first place, there'd be nothing to preserve. The government could send preservation orders all they want and Dreamhost wouldn't even have to go to court because they could comply without hurting their customers' privacy.

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