wikileaks

[billy]

is this the end of whistle blowing?is assange working for the usa government now?nobody could do more than him to bring discredit to whistle blowing

good point sj but personally i can't see it.

however... it has as i said many months ago given a drive to those opposed to wikileaks to make it tougher for publishers of new leaks in the future, if this goes through then assange will have set back journalism immeasurably.
here's and excerpt;

Legislation aimed at helping the United States prosecute WikiLeaks and other sources of leaked information was introduced to the House of Representatives by Rep. Peter King (R-NY) Tuesday.

"Julian Assange and his associates who have operated and supported WikiLeaks not only damaged US national security with their releases of classified documents, but also placed at risk countless lives, including those of our Nation’s intelligence sources around the world," Rep. King, the chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, said in a statement.

"As international pressure has held back Assange, we now find that his colleagues are planning to spin off a new website called OpenLeaks, dedicated to the same dangerous conduct."

The bill, known as the the SHIELD Act, would amend the Espionage Act to make publishing classified information "concerning the identity of a classified source or informant of an element of the intelligence community" an act of espionage.

Sens. John Ensign (R-NV), Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Scott Brown (R-MA) introduced similar legislation in the Senate last week.
source:

not just that but it would have made wikileaks instrumental in the downfall of the whistle-blower and those who would assist them. basically he would have killed the 1st amendment and freedom of press across the world.