Amsterdam police seize Autistici/Inventati server for the US

Police in Amsterdam seized a server belonging to Autistici/Inventati (A/I), an Italian volunteer-run provider of email and web hosting, on October 13, 2026. They acted on a mutual legal assistance request from the US, a formal request for help with an investigation. Police are copying the server's data and handing the copy to US authorities. The seizure comes weeks after the US designated A/I a terrorist group, which cut the service off from its domain name and payment accounts.

What happened

Police seized the server at a data center in Amsterdam-Oost, the city's eastern district, ANP reports. They confirmed the seizure after the Dutch newspaper NRC reported it. Neither report names the data center.

A police spokesperson explained the process to NH Nieuws. "We extract the data and make it available to America," the spokesperson said, describing it as a kind of copy. Police said they do not review the content themselves. They also cannot say exactly which data will be transferred, ANP reports.

Once the police are finished, the server goes back to the data center. Neither report mentions any review of the request by a Dutch court.

A person involved with A/I told NRC, as quoted by NH Nieuws: "I'm not worried. Just surprised."

Why the US targeted A/I

The US government designated A/I a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" on August 26, 2026, according to the digital rights group EDRi. The US says A/I facilitates antifa, which the US government has designated as a terrorist organization, according to the Dutch reports.

EDRi lists what happened next:

• The US-based Public Interest Registry, which runs the .org domain, disabled autistici.org.
• PayPal seized A/I's account.
• The Italian bank Banca Etica may close its account.

A/I announced in early September that it would shut down its services because of the designation, EDRi reports. ANP says the group's volunteers decided to end the service after the US sanctions.

What A/I ran

A/I offered free email and web hosting to thousands of organizations for years, ANP reports. EDRi gives these figures:

Service	Count
Mailboxes	16,000
Blogs	10,000
Mailing lists	5,500
Websites	1,500

The reaction

EDRi called the designation "also an attack on independent internet infrastructure." It asked the US to reverse it and to raise any concerns about content through normal law enforcement channels.

The group also called on the EU to create a standing way to protect civil society groups from designations made by other countries. It urged EU banks and domain registrars not to act on foreign designations that have no force in EU law.

What this means for developers

For people who host services or rely on small providers:

• A provider can lose its foundations from outside its own country. A US registrar disabled A/I's domain and a US payment company seized its account. Small providers depend on services that answer to other governments.
• Hosting location is not the whole story. An Italian group's server in a Dutch data center was copied for US authorities through a legal assistance request. Data can cross borders through formal channels.
• Keep an exit plan. A/I's users lost their email and hosting provider within weeks. Keep regular exports of mail and sites, and use a domain you control so you can move quickly.
• Check every link in the chain. Domain registry, payment provider, bank and data center each sit in a jurisdiction. Know which ones your service depends on before you choose them.