US Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Damian Williams and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are requesting “proposed changes” to the bail conditions of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. SDNY prosecutor asks court to prohibit Bankman-Fried from using a smartphone with an internet connection. Instead, the disgraced FTX co-founder would receive a government-issued flip phone with disabled internet capabilities.
Bankman-Fried can get a flip phone with strings attached
On March 3, 2023, DOJ and SDNY Attorney Damian Williams submitted a request to Judge Lewis Kaplan to modify the bail conditions of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former CEO of FTX. Prosecutors are seeking to limit SBF’s internet access through various devices, including smartphones, tablets, computers and video game devices that allow chat and voice communication. The proposed restriction would prohibit SBF from using smart devices with internet capability.
The government also wants the temporary measures added to SBF’s bail conditions to be adopted in full. These measures include not communicating with any FTX or Alameda Research staff without an attorney present, not using encrypted messengers such as Signal, and prohibiting the use of a VPN. SBF will receive a government-issued flip phone with a DOJ-verified serial number, IMEI number, IMSI number, MAC address and SIM number. The flip phone would allow SMS text messages and voice calls.
“With regard to the defendant’s computer use, the parties propose that the defendant’s new laptop be configured so that he can only log on to the internet using specified VPNs, and that the VPNs only give the defendant access to websites that have been whitelisted through the VPN -enes,” was the court document filed by the SDNY attorney. “Specifically, an authorized VPN installed on the laptop would allow the defendant to access the cloud-based FTX read-only database provided as part of discovery.”
In addition, federal prosecutors want to install surveillance software on SBF’s computer to log activity. If approved by Kaplan, SBF would have to surrender its electronic devices to the services investigation before the trial. The former FTX boss would also be banned from buying new mobile phones, tablets, computers or other electronic devices that can be connected to the internet. Before the DOJ’s request, SBF was known to play online video games, use Twitter, and he recently created a Substack blog to explain his side of the story.
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What do you think of the government’s proposed restrictions on Sam Bankman-Fried’s internet access and use of electronic devices? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman is the news editor at Bitcoin.com News and a financial technology journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open source and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
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