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.

[billy]

in truth i don't think any leaks will do that much damage. we became bored of them after the non exciting cablecage letdown.
i can't see anything worse than the helicopter vid being told about or shown and if it's as explosive as assange says it is then he'll be doing more harm to the freedom of the press and information act than he's already done so far.

if i remeber correctly when the bank of america got uppity he threatened a big expose on banke infering they would get screwed. he had to racnt and it all came to nought. i think he spent all his bullets and missed whatever target he was firing at . jmo

[thethingy]

Insurance file

there are a few on tpb, the key got busted and the files were really bad movies, not to say there aren't some "real" ones though.

[addy]

If he truly believes that what he's doing is for the greater good, then why not just expose all the incriminating info ASAP, instead of hostaging the info and using it as threats to world governments? Is he saying that if the US backs down and stops harassing him, he'll deign to keep that info "safe" and not release it to the public even though it's supposedly oh-so important? That's totally hypocritical to the wikileaks cause. Screw that "greater good" nonsense, he's now just using the info in his hands for a power trip. To him, getting the US to bow to the almighty Assange is what's important; screw social justice.

[addy]

... except according to its ethos wikileaks isn't supposed to play politics; it's there to fight for transparency, pure and simple. At least, I bet that's what they told the whistleblowers who risked their lives going to wikileaks.

What's the point of making threats at all, if Assange plans to trickle the leaks out whether or not the courts and the governments and the media kow tow to him? He's using the leaks as "ammunition" to blackmail the world into caving to his personal demands, according to his personal needs at the moment... and as you said to gain the limelight for himself as long as possible.

Wikileaks' mission is to allow for leaks that hold governments accountable, and indeed that's noble... but now what it's doing, hoarding and blocking and leveraging leaks (which were just given to wikileaks by the true whistleblowers) in order to amass prestige and influence for one man is just wrong, in my opinion.

[thethingy]

I was under the impression that wiki had just the rest of the cablegate stuff to disclose, wikis submission service has been removed and used in openleaks now and Julian is practically going solo and being monitored daily by the police so I doubt he is getting any new material and now his attitude has been made public will ever get more material.

[mrmod]

To me the Wikipedia institution just ended up being another tool in the media's hands. Now that they're not publishing things as attention drawing, they have basically forgotten about them.

Wikipedia (and Assange to an extent) were just being used to print out more copies. Most people cared about the cables, until Egypt came along. Once Egypt doesn't sell anymore, some other factor that we have "long overlooked" will pop in to print some more.

That's just how it is.

[srijantje]

i agree totally with you Dan

[mrmod]

The word that most originated from the portuguese embassy is "Portugal".

[mrmod]

Spare us your dry sense of humour, velvet. And stick to the topic.

So what is happening to Assange anyhow? Deported, jailed?

[srijantje]

still under house arrest in england

[srijantje]

to be extradited to sweden http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12564865

[thethingy]

to be extradited to sweden http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12564865

"There was no consideration during this entire process as to the merits of the allegations made against me, no consideration or examination of even the complaints made in Sweden."

I think he really believes that the Judge will take the role of the Jury yet he argued that he wont get a fair trial in Sweden but expects an unfair hearing in the UK

[billy]

To me the Wikipedia institution just ended up being another tool in the media's hands. Now that they're not publishing things as attention drawing, they have basically forgotten about them.

Wikipedia (and Assange to an extent) were just being used to print out more copies. Most people cared about the cables, until Egypt came along. Once Egypt doesn't sell anymore, some other factor that we have "long overlooked" will pop in to print some more.

That's just how it is.

when you say wikipedia, do you mean wikileaks ?

[srijantje]

http://www.bradleymanning.org/16185/payp...rt-effort/

[billy]

paypal has always been a twat of an operation.
they have a knack of holding accounts so you can't get your money out.
nasty effers if you ask me,

[srijantje]

it's getting wilder by the day


http://wikileaks.spreadshirt.com/

[srijantje]

i defenitely would sympathize with David in a Goliath situation,but then David turning around and trying to make money out of it........

[billy]

david and goliath. i think you have the roles reversed vf. assange seems to think and wants to be larger than anyone else. he has to trade mark his name to stop others selling t shirts with assange on them. the guys there for the cash and fame, nothing else. and while a lot will wear the t shirts, we have to remember the world has a lot of idiots and sheep. i think the ma gets more pathetic each day. now theres a jewish smear campaign against him. or so he says.

[billy]