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WikiLeaks In New Legal Battle

Posted by Soulskill on from the sounds-like-something-needs-to-be-leaked dept.

geegel writes "The US Justice Department is now fighting in court demands from three WikiLeaks associates to disclose the names of several electronic service platforms that received requests to hand over user information. This comes after Twitter obtained a court order to unseal the demands in order to notify the three persons. The current legal row has seen both the ACLU and the EFF provide legal assistance to the WikiLeaks associates."

13 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. Hey Slashdot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Have you turned over any records to the Feds concerning Wikileaks members (or any records, period)? If you can't comment on that, then perhaps you could outline what Slashdot's policy is for turning over records to law enforcement when not accompanied by a Federal warrant or National Security letter.

    1. Re:Hey Slashdot! by Soulskill · · Score: 5, Informative

      We haven't received any such requests since I've been working here, so no, nothing's been turned over to the Feds or anybody else. I'm not aware of any requests happening before that either, but I couldn't say for sure.

      The closest we've come, to my knowledge, was a DMCA takedown request after copyrighted Scientology material was posted in a comment. The comment ended up being deleted, but I think the post pretty clearly illustrates how we felt about that. There was also a time Microsoft asked us to remove some comments back in 2000. Those comments stayed in place.

      I actually have no idea if we have a "policy" for such requests, since it hasn't come up. If it were up to me, I'd tell them to get stuffed. I suspect CmdrTaco would as well. Honestly, I don't know what records we'd have that would be worth requesting.

    2. Re:Hey Slashdot! by VortexCortex · · Score: 4, Funny

      We haven't received any such requests since I've been working here, so no, nothing's been turned over to the Feds or anybody else.

      Look. I know how this stuff goes. You can't exactly say that you did, but if you have, just give us a signal -- Maybe just cough twice (er, no -- something electronic...) OK just cause a few server errors -- that'll be the signal.

  2. Re:EFF by Yvanhoe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And regular newspapers absolutely never do that...

    --
    The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
  3. Re:EFF by el_tedward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'll bite.

    What about the new york times and bazillions of other news organizations? How does the type of organization you are determine the legality of ones actions?

  4. They have and they will by ArchieBunker · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Years ago someone posted the "top secret" scientology documents into the comments and they were deleted. I can't recall if it was court ordered or merely a scare letter from an attorney.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  5. Re:EFF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And people who aren't Freemasons can't wear the Freemason ring. However, since I'm not a Freemason, their prohibition doesn't affect me; therefore, I can wear their ring if I want to. The US's jurisdiction isn't supposed to reach outside its borders (even if it does in fact).

  6. Re:So many 503s by Soulskill · · Score: 5, Informative

    We're working on the 503 problems. Sorry it's been such a pain.

  7. Re:EFF by rainmouse · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I believe in the EFF. I wish they never defended wikileaks. What they did was illegal. You can't post classified and / or stolen information. Pretty simple.

    As your privacy is gradually stripped away, how many times have you heard the words "If you have done nothing wrong then you have nothing to fear."

  8. The real question here is... by SuperCharlie · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why would the justice dept want to hide who it is asking records from.

    If they are in the right.. well.. why hide it.

  9. Re:EFF by artor3 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Even if you accept the US's jurisdiction as world-wide, what Wikileaks did wasn't illegal. It falls squarely under freedom of the press. What Manning did was illegal, and he'll be punished for it, but once the information is out there, the media has no obligation to cover it up.

  10. Re:National Defense is Different by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Once upon a time, Haiti was going to increase their minimum wage from $0.24/hour to $0.61/hour. Levi Strauss and Hanes (among others) didn't like that, so the US State Department pressuredHaiti to create an exemption for textile workers.

    The only reason anyone knows that happened is because of wikileaks.

  11. Re:National Defense is Different by cold+fjord · · Score: 3, Informative

    Once upon a time, ...

    "Once upon a time"? What a splendidly evasive way to say, under the Obama Administration.

    WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap

    A Wikileaks post published on The Nation shows that the Obama Administration fought to keep Haitian wages at 31 cents an hour

    Once again we see Wikileaks essentially in the role of, "If you don't know it, it's news to you". Geeks that wouldn't give a damn about anything in Haiti are finally reading about it in Wikileaks, take whatever information is there with no context, and assume the worst.

    Haiti minimum wage protests escalate

    The debate has fuelled unrest across the impoverished Caribbean nation. Some critics argue that an increase would hurt plans to fight widespread unemployment by creating jobs in factories that produce clothing for export to the United States. . . .

    Many in the international community who view garment factories as the way to boost Haiti's economic development oppose the wage increase.

    With new trade advantages that allow for duty-free exports of clothing to the US, such factories could provide "several hundred thousand jobs to Haitians ... over a period of just a few years," according to a report submitted to the UN in January.

    But it said that plan requires that costs be kept down.

    The report had been requested by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and prepared by Oxford University professor Paul Collier. It is now being promoted by former US President Bill Clinton, the new UN envoy for Haiti.

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell