Digging Into the WikiLeaks Cables

A number of readers have sent in new WikiLeaks stories today, many of which focus on the content of the leaked diplomatic cables. The documents showed how the US government bullied and manipulated other countries to gain support for its Copenhagen climate treaty (though behavior from the US wasn't all negative), how copyright negotiations largely meet the expectations of critics like Michael Geist, and how Intel threatened to move jobs out of Russia if the Russian government didn't loosen encryption regulations. Perhaps the biggest new piece of information is a list of facilities the US considers 'vital to security.' Meanwhile, the drama surrounding WikiLeaks continues; Julian Assange's Swiss bank account has been frozen and the UK has received an arrest warrant for the man himself; the effort to mirror the site has gained support from Pirate Parties in Australia, in the UK and elsewhere; and PayPal was hit with a DDoS for their decision not to accept donations for WikiLeaks.

Re:Is this Wikileaks day?

[Danathar]

He should flee to the Pakistani side of the Afghan border. Seems a pretty safe place for fugitives.

Re:Said it once...

[mrchaotica]

Releasing the information was, at best, arguably illegal only on a case-by-case basis, as much of it was (supposedly) public information anyhow.

More importantly, it was only Pfc. Bradley Manning who leaked the information (and thus broke any applicable laws). Julian Assage/Wikileaks only published it afterward.

Re:Close your Amazon now!

[cdrudge]

...Amazon-owned (Paypal, eBay, Skype, etc.)...

Amazon doesn't own Paypal, eBay or Skype. eBay owns Paypal, but no longer controls even a majority of Skype. Skype is also in the process of being completely spun off with it's own IPO.

Re:Said it once...

[vxice]

A case recently where an American, Lawrence Franklin, leaked classified documents to Israel via AIPAC. He ended up with (from wikipedia) "On January 20, 2006, Judge T.S. Ellis, III sentenced Franklin to 151 months (almost 13 years) in prison and fined him $10,000 which Ellis later reduced to probation with ten months house arrest. The case was heard in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Ultimately, Franklin was charged with unauthorized disclosure of classified information, not with espionage." He ended up pleading guilty. There was also major political pressure from donors to many politicians to encourage a light sentence.

Swiss account was not frozen. It was closed.

[thesandbender]

This was an account with the Swiss Postal service (which also operates as a bank in Switzerland). Since he does not live (permanently) in Switzerland he should not have had an account to begin with so they closed it. He still has access to the funds he just can not accept anymore payments or transfers. I've taken and extended vacation in Switzerland and when I tried to open account (to avoid credit card fees from my US bank) I was told the exact same thing. I'm sure he can walk down to any of the commercial banks and open an account provided he meets the balance requirements.

Re:Conservatives against Wikileaks..

[vxice]

Britain actually. He is in Britain.

Re:Is this Wikileaks day?

[AchilleTalon]

Having sex with two women is not the definition of a sexual assault. Have you something else to tell us which could let us know you know what you are talking about? Hints: The information is widely available on the Internet as far as you are digging it a little bit.

Re:List of US facilities?

[Anonymous Coward]

This is not a list of US facilities, but a list of foreign infrastructure in other countries that the US considers critical. One way to think of it is that this again is the US using their diplomats as intelligence agents. That certianly makes the cable worthy of publication.

Re:Ya think?

[spun]

Yes, but there is still a line between diplomat and spy, and we crossed it. What we did was not normal for diplomats, and if any other country's diplomats were caught doing those things to us, they would be expelled from the US.