This is vague and I apologize... but it has to be that way... for now.
I couldn't compromise the system... but as it turns out the feds have a few secret capabilities the public doesn't about... they still need certain things in order to break the security though and that's what I'm fighting. Both for the ability to tell people what those secret methods are and the right to not be forced into helping the feds compromise my system/service...
The system was only designed to protect data at rest. I followed the NIST secure coding guidelines when processing sensitive data. That should have made it difficult to compromise the system without changing the code.
The question is whether our government can access the private data of people not involved in an investigation and whether companies can be forced to surrender their own sensitive info... or be forced to help subvert the security of their own products and services.
Personally I think bulk collection is wrong regardless of where a person is, or what passport they carry. But the constitution only protects our right to privacy on American soil...
Since Lavabit operates in the US and we can't tell which of our users is an American, and which are foreign, I'm of the opinion they all have the same rights.
It's looking like the district court appeal is going to cost between 70k and 100k. I'll need to raise allot more if the fight goes onto the supreme court. I'm told a typical supreme court case will cost 250k and up...
The lawyers setup a non profit and applied for status as a 501c3. All the donations are going towards legal expenses and any related travel...the team is spread out between San Francisco, NYC, DC and of course myself in Dallas.