The lawyers said they will pay for the technical expert to help the judge
Sam Bankman-Fried’s Electronic Device Security Needs to Be Revoked in the Presence of a Judge’s Benchmark
Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried agreed to pay for a security expert to help the federal judge overseeing his fraud case navigate technology issues as they seek to keep the FTX founder out of jail before his trial.
Bankman-Fried would not be allowed to scroll the internet, with access restricted to court-approved websites. The lawyers propose websites to help prepare his defense, which includes YouTube, read-only websites and research websites. Bankman- Fried asked to view many sites for personal use, such as news sites, football and baseball websites.
The judge in the case mentioned days ago that he wanted to restrict the use of devices that were not secured, but the entrepreneur decided to use a Virtual Private Network.
The lawyers have been working to find a solution to the concerns raised by Judge Kaplan who said he could possibly order Bankman-Fried’s bail to be revoked.
The use of a flip phone, or some non-smartphone, is one of several restrictions that prosecutors and Sam Bankman-Fried’s attorneys are jointly asking the judge to approve.
Bankman- Fried is living with his parents in Palo Alto, California, after being released on a $250 million bond.
The proposal states that Bankman-Fried’s new laptop will be configured so that it only allows him to access websites that have been white listed on the internet blacklist, and that he only be able to use a specified virtual private network.
Among the websites are programs he could use to prepare for his defense, including Zoom, Microsoft Office, Python, and Adobe Acrobat. He can’t buy electronic devices because he’s installing monitoring tools on his laptop.
The judge raised concerns about how Bankman-Fried was able to access his parents’ computers, phones and internet. Attorneys proposed the parents sign affidavits stating they won’t let their son use their devices, which would be password protected. In addition, each device would have software that would photograph or take video of the user.
