wikileaks

[addy]

He's not god nor the devil (probably LOL). He's a guy who helped set up wikileaks with presumably good intentions of providing the world an anonymous, organized force for transparency through the power of information... which is pretty good in a world of BP coverups, human rights abuses, etc. He got mixed up along the way, and figured it was Wikileaks' job ( or rather HIS job) to enforce accountability, when really they should hang back, focus on being an efficient and trustworthy source of leaks, and let vox populi do the talking.

I don't think the problem is that he made wikileaks a target. It's more like they should've focused on preserving the integrity of their enterprise through words and actions

[billy]

so now it's a war? does this include every government?

let's leak from whistle blowers by all means. but don't expect my vote when your organisation acts the very same way as those you try and unclothe. when internally it's told no leaks or else. when they they themselves can't be transparent. i least i know the govs lies. everyone reading the leaks think the sites stand for openness and full disclosure. sadly it's been shown not to be the case. instead of that it was a one man usa assault at trying to gain the downfall of the usa gov. he wasn't what he said he was, he didn't do what he said he did and the site wasn't run the way he professed it to be run. he and it was a sham. the idea was sound, the execution of the idea was not, it was so far away from the idea of truth and open disclosure as to be farcical.

i hold high hope for open leaks. it's isn't a one man band, it will hopefully be as open and transparent as it says it will be.

you want to know who the real enemy are? we're the real enemy, we're the whiners who cry and yet do nothing to stop the rot. we vote in the same parties and politicians time after time. we, us, you me; collectively, we're the real enemy.

[thethingy]

everyone reading the leaks think the sites stand for openness and full disclosure

except me , who thinks that wiki leaks is a criminal organisation who is out to profit from stolen property in any and all ways that it can, time will tell but the golden boy will spill all once the yanks get hold of him and he will turn the rest of his crew in at the drop of a hat, I'd seriously bet my house that by this time next year most of the wiki crew will be doing lengthy jail sentences for there receiving of the top secret & confidential documents and for breaches of several nations official secrets acts.

tonight on ITV (and ITVi player) at 10.30 is an interview with the golden boy that touches on these issues

[srijantje]

what about all the news papers that published the material,lock up the publishers and staff as well?what were these people supposed to do after receiving the documents,excuse me sir,you let this lying around,have it back,i didn't tell anybody?a nations official secrets act?balls,a gov.says,oh,this falls under secrets and everybody talking about it gets banged up,where will that lead us?put all in the open i'd say and see how everybody deals with it

[thethingy]

what about all the news papers that published the material,lock up the publishers and staff as well?what were these people supposed to do after receiving the documents,excuse me sir,you let this lying around,have it back,i didn't tell anybody?a nations official secrets act?balls,a gov.says,oh,this falls under secrets and everybody talking about it gets banged up,where will that lead us?put all in the open i'd say and see how everybody deals with it

the press republished, but the stuff he leaked from the UK comes under the official secrets act and bizarre as it is he was supposed to give it back, to the government, as keeping it or forwarding it or destroying it is an offence, don't really know about the US stuff but I think he should have done anything with it except associate himself directly with it and try to make cash out of it, that anonymous group have the right idea.................

[srijantje]

what about all the news papers that published the material,lock up the publishers and staff as well?what were these people supposed to do after receiving the documents,excuse me sir,you let this lying around,have it back,i didn't tell anybody?a nations official secrets act?balls,a gov.says,oh,this falls under secrets and everybody talking about it gets banged up,where will that lead us?put all in the open i'd say and see how everybody deals with it

the press republished, but the stuff he leaked from the UK comes under the official secrets act and bizarre as it is he was supposed to give it back, to the government, as keeping it or forwarding it or destroying it is an offence, don't really know about the US stuff but I think he should have done anything with it except associate himself directly with it and try to make cash out of it, that anonymous group have the right idea.................

as said before ,he should have spread it as torrents,without his name attached

[thethingy]

The British press, especially The Guardian newspaper, is having a good time publishing the leaked U.S. embassy cables that pertain to British matters.

I have enjoyed reading about it here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/u...-documents

that's a better laid out site than wiki for info, but the UK stuff I'm on about is stuff he released directly from the UK, I don't think the UK rules on disclosure apply to UK content in US documents, anyhow the interview mentioned in post 136: well I saw a 60 second trailer for it today and in that 60 seconds Julian openly admits to breaching the official secrets act with UK documents and admits to disclosure and publication of secrets, now this guy is either convinced he is invincible or just completely stupid as he has set himself up for a long stretch in jail for the relatively small fee he would have got for the interview..............

[billy]

and what? is that it? you enjoyed reading about it?
is peoples lives that said? really? tell us something you've read that was really juicy vf, something that was really really worth the reading of? most of it is trash talk, most of it can be assumed without reading a word. most of it is just every day tittle tattle.

i shall now exit the thread because like wikileaks it's more or less done for

[srijantje]

i wonder how many leaks have been blocked by now through pressure from various "interest"groups,for example i didn't read anything about banks yet

[billy]

you had to bring me back.

if were done right all of the juicey will still or would have got through. it could have been done via torrents in which case no one would have known where to go to stop the leaks but that would have been to easy.

what wikileaks did was a bit like saying i have a gin and i'm going to shoot you with it, btw, i live here and my name is....not to sharp a thing to do really.

[srijantje]

no.in the end it was pretty dumb,low profile is the word.

by the way,there are torrents around with all the [published stuff]on it

[billy]

and because everyone knows who they are who first released them, a lot of people could end up in jail.

and for what? the torrents could have been out there without all the faux heroics.

[srijantje]

yes,absolutely,but then lasagna[sorry]would have missed his short while in fame and his long time incarceration when[not if]the americans lay their hands on him

[thethingy]

he was let-out of jail 5 minutes ago....................

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange freed on bail

Julian Assange's lawyer, Mark Stephens: ''We are utterly delighted and thrilled''

The founder of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been set free on bail.

The 39-year-old was granted conditional bail on Tuesday but prosecutors objected.

He is fighting extradition to Sweden over sex assault allegations made by two women. He denies any wrongdoing.

Mr Justice Ouseley ordered Mr Assange be released on payment of £240,000 in cash and sureties and on condition he resides at an address in East Anglia.

He will be staying at a manor home on the Norfolk-Suffolk border owned by Vaughan Smith, journalist and owner of the Frontline Club in London.

Mr Assange's solicitor, Mark Stephens, said after the court appearance the bail appeal was part of a "continuing vendetta by the Swedes".

But the question of who decided to appeal against the granting of bail remains cloaked in contradiction.

A CPS spokesman said on Thursday: "The Crown Prosecution Service acts as agent for the Swedish government in the Assange case. The Swedish Director of Prosecutions this morning confirmed that she fully supported the appeal."

But earlier Nils Rekke, from the Swedish Prosecutor's Office, claimed it was "a purely British decision".

Mr Assange's mother, Christine, said she was "very, very happy" with the decision and thanked his supporters.

"I can't wait to see my son and to hold him close. I had faith that the British justice system would do the right thing and the judge would uphold the magistrates' decision, and that faith has been reaffirmed," she said.

Court four is the largest at London's Royal Courts of Justice. It seats 200 people. At 1130 GMT there was not a spare seat.

Julian Assange, in open-necked white shirt and black jacket, appeared behind the bars of the dock, flanked by two security guards.

At the start of the hearing, Mr Justice Ouseley told the journalists present from all over the world that he would not allow the use of Twitter or any electronic communication in court.

Later, apparently having been told someone might be making a recording of proceedings, he threatened any culprits with immediate imprisonment for contempt of court. All that remained to be resolved was the question of Julian Assange's liberty.

By 1330, he had been granted bail, although with strict conditions and financial sureties. But there was no immediate release. Legal formalities are rarely dealt with at speed or over lunch.



Gemma Lindfield, representing the prosecution, had told the judge there was "a real risk" Mr Assange would abscond and pointed to his nomadic lifestyle.

She said he had "the means and ability" to go into hiding among Wikileaks' many supporters in this country and abroad.

But Mr Justice Ouseley pointed out Mr Assange, who is Australian, had offered to meet the police in London when he heard the Swedish matter was still live and he said: "That is not the conduct of a person who is seeking to evade justice."

However, he did impose strict bail conditions including wearing an electronic tag, reporting to police every day and observing a curfew. Mr Assange also must stay at the Norfolk mansion of Wikileaks supporter Vaughan Smith.

Earlier, the judge made a ruling banning the use of Twitter to give a blow-by-blow account of Thursday's proceedings.

Mr Assange has received the backing of a number of high-profile supporters including human rights campaigners Jemima Khan and Bianca Jagger, and film director Ken Loach.
'Politically motivated'

Wikileaks has published hundreds of sensitive American diplomatic cables, details of which have appeared in the Guardian in the UK and several other newspapers around the world.

He has been criticised in the US where former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has said he should be hunted down like the al-Qaeda leadership.

An Assange supporter Mr Assange's supporters claim the charges are politically motivated

Mr Assange argues the allegations against him are politically motivated and designed to take attention away from the material appearing on Wikileaks.

One of his supporters, writer Tariq Ali, said: "I'm relieved. He should never have been denied bail in the first place."

He said Mr Assange had suffered from some "vindictive and punitive" decisions and he claimed: "The Swedes are acting on behalf of a bigger power."

Mr Assange is accused of having unprotected sex with a woman, identified only as Miss A, when she insisted he use a condom.



He is also accused of having unprotected sex with another woman, Miss W, while she was asleep.
source

[billy]

it had to happen. the swedes didn't bring anything new to the table.

[billy]

the usa has subpoenaed twitter for 4 accounts including a swedish polititian, assange , manning and someone else. they want all the messages, dates and time, phone numbers and any banking info they have and anyone they tweeted with. it seems they want to charge him and possibly other with conspiracey to steal u.s. gov secret documents,

will put a source up later.

[billy]

thanks vf. the icelandic mp whose having her account subpoenaed is under the impression it can't or shouldn't be done because she's not an american citizen. it does look like they're going for conspiracy charges, though it could just be the usa ruffling feathers.
it would be hard to believe sweden would allow an mp of theirs to be extradited for such charges.

[billy]

hehe. i agree though i think iceland might just err on the side of one it's mp's unless of course she's deemed a thorn in their side.

[thethingy]

Birgitta Jónsdóttir is one of three MPs representing The Movement, a small opposition party in the Althingi, the Icelandic parliament.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birgitta_J%...%C3%B3ttir

But I doubt that Iceland would permit her extradition to the United States.
The government would risk the population turning against it if they allowed that to happen.

Iceland is a very small country with a tiny population, but their parliament holds a great deal of respect.
It is the oldest functioning democratic parliament on the planet, having been in continuous operation for 1080 years, since 930 A.D.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Althing

The American imperialistic attitude and high-handedness pisses a lot of people off. In Iceland just as elsewhere.

the Icelandic MP is quoted here as saying

"USA government wants to know about all my tweets and more since 1 November 2009. Do they realise I am a member of parliament in Iceland?"

, that was the funniest thing I've read for sometime..............

[mrmod]

I wonder how this will turn out. Keep me posted boys .