United States v. Ammons

207 F. Supp. 3d 732, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124503, 2016 WL 4926438
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Kentucky
DecidedSeptember 14, 2016
DocketCRIMINAL ACTION NO. 3:16-CR-00011-TBR-DW
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 207 F. Supp. 3d 732 (United States v. Ammons) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Ammons, 207 F. Supp. 3d 732, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124503, 2016 WL 4926438 (W.D. Ky. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Thomas B. Russell, Senior Judge

Dennis Ammons has been indicted for knowingly producing and receiving child pornography. His prosecution originates from the Government’s investigation of “Playpen,” a website dedicated to the distribution and discussion of matters pertinent to child pornography and the sexual abuse of children. Though a website, Playpen could not be accessed through the traditional Internet. Instead, Playpen existed on “The Onion Router” network (or “Tor,” for short). The Tor network conceals the internet protocol addresses of its users, thereby thwarting traditional techniques employed to identify Internet users. To circumvent Tor’s protections, the Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained a warrant from Magistrate Judge Buchanan of the Eastern District of Virginia to deploy a network investigative technique on Playpen’s server. The NIT would instruct a user’s computer to transmit certain information—such as the computer’s IP address—to the FBI after the user logged on to Playpen. Using the NIT, the FBI identified Ammons as a registered user on Playpen. The FBI obtained a warrant to search his residence located in Muldraugh, Kentucky on the basis of that information. Now, Ammons seeks to suppress all information seized pursuant to the NIT warrant, including the evidence obtained during or as a result of the search of his home.

The Court holds that use of the NIT was a “search” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. Though Magistrate Judge Buchanan issued the NIT warrant, she lacked authority to do so under the Federal Magistrates Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 631-639, and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(b). The ensuing search of Amnions’ computer, therefore, violated the [736]*736Fourth Amendment. Yet, under the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule, suppression is not an appropriate remedy for that unconstitutional search. Accordingly, Dennis Ammons’ Motion to Suppress, [R. 24], is DENIED.

I.

A.

The prosecution of Dennis Ammons originates from the Government’s investigation of “Playpen,” a website “dedicated to the advertisement and distribution of child pornography” and “the discussion of matters pertinent to child sexual abuse.” [R. 24-2 at 14, ¶ 6 (Special Agent Macfar-lane’s Affidavit).] Though a website, Playpen could not be accessed through the traditional Internet. [Id at 16, ¶ 10.] Instead, Playpen existed on “The Onion Router” network (or “Tor,” for short). [Id. at 14, ¶ 7.] Tor is designed “specifically to facilitate anonymous communication over the Internet.” [R. 24-5 at 17, ¶ 17 (Special Agent MacHenry’s Affidavit).] It accomplishes that task in two ways.

First, Tor thwarts traditional techniques employed to identify Internet users. [R. 24-2 at 27-28, ¶ 31.] For example, the Government typically identifies users by obtaining and tracing a computer’s internet protocol address. [See R. 24-5 at 23, ¶ 32.] Whenever a person accesses a website through the Internet, the website typically logs that computer’s IP address. [R. 24-2 at 15, ¶ 8.] If the Government were to seize control of that website, then it could retrieve the logs and discover which IP addresses accessed the site. [R. 24-5 at 23, ¶ 32.] By cross-referencing an IP address with publically-available databases, which list the IP address ranges assigned to various internet service providers, the Government could determine which ISP owned the target IP address. [Id.] The Government could then ascertain the identity of the user through an administrative subpoena issued to the ISP. [Id]

Tor changes all of that. Tor masks a user’s IP address by routing communications through “a distributed network of relay computers run by volunteers all over the world.” [R. 24-2 at 15, ¶ 8.] When a user on the Tor network accesses a website, the only IP address revealed to the site is that of the last computer in the relay, dubbed an “exit node.” [I'd] It is impossible, though, to trace that IP address back to the originating computer. [Id] Consequently, a user on the Tor network remains effectively anonymous to the websites he or she visits. [Id]

Second, Tor affords anonymity to those who host websites as “hidden services” on the Tor network too. [Id at 15-16, ¶ 9.] A hidden service functions just like any other website with a single exception: The website’s IP address is hidden and replaced with a Tor-based address consisting of a series of alphanumeric characters followed by the suffix “.onion.” [Id] There is no way to determine the IP address of the server hosting a hidden service. [Id]

A hidden service may only be accessed through the Tor network. [Id at 16, ¶ 10.] Even after connecting to the Tor network, though, a user cannot stumble across a hidden service while using an ordinary search engine, such as Google. [See id. at 16-17, ¶ 10.] Instead, a user must know the exact Tor-based address of the hidden service. [Id at 16,10.]

Playpen operated on the Tor network as a hidden service from around August 2014 to March 2015. [Id at 16-17, ¶¶ 10-11.] Upon registering for an account, potential users were warned not to enter a real email address or to post identifying information in their profiles. [Id at 18, ¶ 13.] Playpen informed potential users that the website and its administrators were unable to determine the IP addresses of any [737]*737users’ computer. [Id. at 18-19, ¶ 13.] In less than one year, more than two-hundred thousand members created and viewed tens of thousands of postings .related to child pornography. [R. 24-5 at 19, ¶ 22; see also R. 24-2 at 22, ¶ 19.] Images and videos shared through the site were extensively categorized according to the child’s age and gender, as well as the type of sexual activity involved. [See R. 24-2 at 19-21, ¶ 14.]

In December 2014, a foreign law-enforcement agency advised the Federal Bureau of Investigation that a United States-based IP address appeared to be associated with Playpen. [Id. at 25, ¶ 28.] Shortly after, the FBI confirmed that the IP address belonged to Centrilogic, a server hosting company headquartered in Lenoir, North Carolina. [Id. at 25-26, ¶ 28.] The FBI subsequently obtained and executed a search warrant in January 2015. [Id.] Upon discovering that the target server contained a copy of Playpen, the FBI transported it to a government-controlled server in Newington, Virginia, located in the Eastern District of Virginia. [See id. at 25-27, ¶¶ 28, 30.] On February 19, 2015, the FBI apprehended the suspected administrator of, and assumed control over, Playpen. [Id. at 26-27, ¶ 30.]

The FBI wished to continue operating Playpen for a limited time (from February 20 to March 5, 2015) so as to identify its users. [Id.] To that end, the Government sought and obtained a warrant from Magistrate Judge Buchanan of the Eastern District of Virginia to deploy a network investigative technique (or “NIT,” for short) on Playpen’s server. [Id. at 27-28, ¶ 31; see also id. at 2-4 (NIT Search Warrant).] The NIT is a series of code that instructed a user’s computer to transmit certain information to the FBI after the user logged on to Playpen. [Id. at 28, ¶ 32-33.] In detail, the information consisted of the computer’s IP address, oper-.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
207 F. Supp. 3d 732, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124503, 2016 WL 4926438, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ammons-kywd-2016.