Would have been great with a bit more transparency on the chain of events. Most countries more developed than Zimbabwe would have provided that as a service to its citizens.
Why would court records be sealed at all, and why would there be any speculation about the chain of events if you were given the very basic information about a case?
Throwaway accounts usually mean throwaway opinions. Do something more important with your life.
Warrants in cases under investigation are often sealed because if they weren't the targets would be immediately alerted by services like Lexis/Nexis that their names have popped up in a court record.
(I will remember for the future that "throwaway" users have invalid opinions but "numberwang" is a source of erudition and, apparently, productivity.)
That said, I agree that throwaway users can have very valid opinions, and furthermore agree that warrants are frequently sealed.
I do have a concern of perpetually sealed warrants, and worry that in this case the government would have preferred to seal the case forever.
Also, the seal should never have prevented Lavabit from talking to Congressmen about general concerns regarding forced SSL key delivery. The documents make it clear the judge considered even mentioning the possibility of this occurrence would be a violation of the seal.
This is absurd, because being forced to give up an SSL key for a popular service is unprecedented, and he absolutely should have been able to discretely contact his representatives.
