WikiLeaks

[BarTopDancer]

Supporters of Assange cripple MasterCard.

MasterCard announced on Monday that it would no longer process donations to WikiLeaks, which it claimed was engaged in illegal activity.

Visa, Amazon, Swiss bank PostFinance and others have also announced in recent days that they will cease trading with the whistleblowing site.

The moves have led to concerted attempts by hackers to target companies they deem guilty of "censoring" WikiLeaks.

Lots of thoughts on it and not enough time to type them out right now...

But it's sure interesting watching a Tom Clancyesque novel come to life.

[CoasterMatt]

It's terrifying.

[BarTopDancer]

The people doing the DDoS attacks aren't helping their cause. DDoS attacks are already illegal.

[innerSpaceman]

I think what bothers me most in this situation is that Eric Holder (the U.S. Attorney General) and various senators acknowledge that Assange broke no laws - because he did not steal the secrets himself - but want to pass new laws and make them retroactive, specifically so that Assange may be guilty of criminal espionage.

Of all the fascist moves since 9/11 - many of which Obama said he would reverse, but has NOT - this has got to be the most Stalinesque.

(Is Godwin triggered if I invoke Stalin?)


Anyway, Assange is under arrest for - get this: sexual assault by virtue of CONSENSUAL sex without a condom - and he is likely going to be extradited from the U.K. to Sweden to face these absurd charges, and then will be gulaged by the U.S.A. once they pass laws in order to find him guilty of them.


What.The.Fock?

[JWBear]

Moral of the story: don't embarrass the US Government.

[€uroMeinke]

I'm kinds glad there's a band of cyber anarchists out there ready to take on corporations and governments.

I also think the concentration on wikileaks is a way to deflect the fact that the reason this information is out there was poor security practices of our own government. The greatest revelation is the amount of stuff probably already know by savvy governments and individuals. Security, like privacy is but an illusion.

[Stan4dSteph]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Anyway, Assange is under arrest for - get this: sexual assault by virtue of CONSENSUAL sex without a condom

It's more than that. The charges are for assaults on two women:

• Used his body weight to hold down Miss A in a sexual manner.
• Had unprotected sex with Miss A when she had insisted on him using a condom.
• Molested Miss A "in a way designed to violate her sexual integrity".
• Had unprotected sex with Miss W while she was asleep.

Source, BBC News

[JWBear]

In other words, people weren't sufficiently horrified by the previous charges so they had to be made worse in order to smear him.

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by JWBear

In other words, people weren't sufficiently horrified by the previous charges so they had to be made worse in order to smear him.

Or he really did assault those women. I feel badly for them. With all the other sh*t surrounding him I can see them being harassed and dragged through the mud more than a normal investigation/trial for sexual assault.

[Stan4dSteph]

Originally Posted by JWBear

In other words, people weren't sufficiently horrified by the previous charges so they had to be made worse in order to smear him.

Innocent until proven guilty (at least in the USA, I have no idea about the UK/Swedish courts), but I find it rather disturbing that people dismiss these charges off hand just because they view this guy as some sort of internet hero. He could still be a scumbag rapist.