Posted on 12/08/2010 5:12:52 PM PST by Kaslin
Cyberwar: As the U.S. shows itself to be a pitiful, helpless giant against WikiLeaks' dissemination of its stolen secrets, the private sector has dealt some of the best blows against these crooks. There's a lesson somewhere.
The information age has turned a lot of rules on their heads, but it would be hard to find a better example than in the response to WikiLeaks, the secretive criminal syndicate devoted to publishing millions of stolen U.S. government documents.
Things aren't going well, now that its founder, Julian Assange, has been arrested in the U.K. on a rape, rather than an espionage, charge in Sweden. Wired Magazine, quoting WikiLeaks sources, reported that the organization, driven by its founder's cult of personality, is now in "chaos."
If one were to dissect what's going on, all roads seem to point to the private sector, not government, as responding most effectively.
First, it wasn't a government agency that blew WikiLeaks off its regular Internet site and over to its mirror sites — it was an anonymous hacker, going by the handle of "the Jester," who claims he's nothing more than a "patriot" who got busy.
Then Amazon.com, whose server hosted WikiLeaks, kicked the site off, pointing out that the organization was trafficking in stolen documents, a violation of its terms of service. Amazon steadfastly denied that political pressure forced its decision. Seems their main concern was liability — and a consumer boycott.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
No way! I earned it and you were much milder than was deserved.
These leaks are basically frank assessments by US representatives overseas, and they are very influential in the US's foreign policy determining process. The assessments are frank because they are not designed for public or foreign eyes - there is no need for the authors to be "diplomatic", as it were.
Now, what happens if these people get the idea that their assessments may one day be public property? Will they start to "fudge" their assessments? Make them more circumspectual? Or "diplomatic"? If that happens, surely there is a chance that US foreign policy will become misdirected - because the politicians will be making decisions based on watered down or politically correct assessements?
That’s a distinct possibility.
Do you now nothing about the intelligence business? Every little bit of information, especially secret information, is put together with other bits of information, to make a whole scenario. It is all intel. Fool.
DG
These documents are all raw data, without editing, evaluation or security screening. This guy is clearly
trying to bring down the U. S.
By a good, strong rope ...
I would say it was all impossible without the aid and assistance of State Department insiders.
I understand that you are historically illiterate, but take this as your first lesson in the real world: No serious person has ever agreed with your idiotic perspective.
Cheers.
I have one: May I pull the lever?
“Hacking is a federal crime.”
So is stealing classified info. They are recipients of an illegally obtained set of information.
“all you “book burners” and Stalinist pipe down.”
what an offensive pile of garbage, calling people names for daring to tell the truth about the anti-American leader of wikileaks.
What the NYTimes did with Pentagon papers was scummy, what the NYTimes did in recent years in exposing classified info on the GWOT was scummy ...
Just because something is ‘protected’ by the 1st amendment doesnt make it right! the SCOTUS also protected some forms of child porn under the 1st amendment.
Julian Assange is engaged in the moral equivalent of child porn distribution. If you don’t see the wrongness of shared stolen classified information that harms our national interests, you have a screw loose.
I think they’re aiding and abetting in the creation of a crises that they can’t let go to waste.
Pssst..... hey, IBD: you think the gov’t is going to advertise its cyberwarfare capabilities?
The definition of treason is the act of a citizen betraying their nation. If he is not a US citizen, he cannot be a traitor to the US.
>>”If the “secret” information is nothing more than drivel being classified out of habit, then nothing is lost or harmed.”
IF? IF? Suppose you were an Afghan confidential informant. Then suppose some fool gave you up to the Al-qaeda. Would you still think this was just “nothing more than drivel being classified out of habit,”or that “nothing...[was] lost or harmed.” (except maybe your life,and your family’s lives)
Your being sarcastic and abusive doesn’t change any reality.
DG
“Wikileaks thing is basically about the inherently democratizing effect of technology”
It’s a fundametally biased issue. It’s only American important secrets that are leaked, because only America has a society that allows people who hate the country to be inspired by mass media and sneak into positions of responsibility.
If it were equal - ie. Russian/Chinese important secrets were also released, then it would be democratizing. Otherwise it’s just another burden on the only genuinely free country on the planet.
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