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The company behind popular web blogging software WordPress said it has not received a single national security order in two years, according to its latest transparency report.
That’s a decline from the demands it received in the second half of 2013, which Automattic confirmed it received between zero and 249 demands.
However, software house Automattic said in its latest report it wished it “could tell you more” about the secret demands it receives from the US government.
The software maker was critical of the government’s rules it was obliged to follow when reporting its figures. Following the Edward Snowden leaks, the Justice Dept. allowed companies to disclose how many national security requests — including gag orders and warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court — as a show of good faith. But companies are still obliged to report in numerical ranges, which the software maker — and other firms — have criticized.
“Automattic continues to believe the ranges permitted by [Justice Dept.] in 2013 gave the false impression that smaller companies receive more legal requests than they did,” said a company spokesperson in an email. “Unfortunately, the recently passed USA Freedom Act continues much the same reporting structure. We would prefer to state the actual number of NSLs received or at least a smaller range that reflects reality.”
Aside from the national security requests, the company also reported it rejected 43 percent of all takedown requests made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the past six months.
Out of the 4,679 takedown requests received as of June 30, the company identified 12 of those requesters as “abusive,” which the company previously described as “automated systems scour the Web, firing off takedown notifications where unauthorized uses of material are found — so humans don’t have to.”
Article source: http://www.zdnet.com/article/wordpress-we-wish-we-could-tell-you-more-about-national-security-demands/