Special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on April 21 raided the premises of the Seattle Independent Media Center, after security plans for the Summit of the Americas were posted on its web site.

FBI agents seized computer log records but made no arrests. They warned staff at the centre that they would be held in contempt of court if they spoke publicly about the raid.

The centre's legal representative, Bob Goodman of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City, said the court order served on the IMC “contains a fairly broad gag order; therefore, we cannot talk”.

The security plans were taken from a car in Quebec City, where the summit was held from April 20-22, and were posted on the internet within hours.

According to some US legal experts, the IMC committed no clear-cut violation of US law by posting the document on the web and the action may be protected as free speech.

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