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Ecuador Acknowledges Limiting Julian Assange's Web Access (reuters.com)

Alexandra Valencia, reporting for Reuters: Ecuador's government acknowledged on Tuesday it had partly restricted internet access for Julian Assange, the founder of anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks who has lived in the South American country's London embassy since mid-2012. WikiLeaks said Assange lost connectivity on Sunday, sparking speculation Ecuador might have been pressured by the United States due to the group's publication of hacked material linked to U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. In a statement, Ecuador's leftist government said WikiLeaks' decision to publish documents impacting the U.S. election campaign was entirely its own responsibility, and the South American country did not cede to pressure from other nations. "In that respect, Ecuador, exercising its sovereign right, has temporarily restricted access to part of its communications systems in its UK Embassy," it added in a statement. "The Ecuador government respects the principle of non-intervention in other countries' affairs, it does not meddle in election processes underway, nor does it support any candidate specially."

19 of 412 comments (clear)

  1. Curses! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Assange should have signed up for the unlimited plan.

  2. Re:Uneducated voters, yay! by Rei · · Score: 4, Funny

    Of course. Just compare the way they speak. Trump has far more complex sentence structure than Hillary. That's appealing to educated individuals.

    --
    "99 dead duelists of Dios on the wall. 99 dead duelists of Dios! Take one's ring, pass it around..."
  3. And yet by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 5, Insightful

    preventing the distribution of information relevant to the candidates, Ecuador effectively allows the influence to be heavily one sided.

    Specifically, the side that filters, and releases only approved material in order to promote their candidate.

    The only way we truly know who the candidates are is when we have access to information about how they think and act when they believe no one is looking.

    Everything else, is just for show.

    Personally, I don't care WHO digs up the information. Hackers, Private Investigators, whatever.

    It does boil down to this: If you're going intelligently elect a leader, you need to know all there is to know about them. There can be no secrets.

    1. Re:And yet by rmdingler · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sure. Unless you consider Assange's very sanctuary in the embassy is essentially a big, Ecuadorian, middle finger to the US.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    2. Re:And yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In that case, you really should be clamoring for more from TRUMP. From his medical records to his taxes, he has released less information than any presidential candidate in the last half century. His claims about why should anger you as well. He claims that every one is entitled to privacy, and that's why he shouldn't have to release any such documentation. Or he promises to release it, then doesn't. Notice, also, that these documents are common for every major presidential candidate to release. We're not even getting into the private emails or videos or whatever that you want, we're talking about commonly release documentation that allows for a basic gauge of candidate health and possible financial conflicts of interest. There are rumors swirling around of video tapes and conversations that makes the current drip of Podesta emails look like a joke, and in light of what has already been released about Trump they are more than credible.

      Look, I get what you're saying, and for the most part I agree. But I can understand Ecuador's actions. Assange has made it clear that in this case he doesn't care about silly things like government transparency or anything like that. He has a personal vendetta. If it was really about getting the information out there, the hacked data would have been released all at once, as soon as possible, so that it could be thoroughly gone through an analyzed. But Assange's own comments, and the way he has been releasing the data, make it clear that this release is entirely politically motivated.

      That political motivation, and the method by which a lot of this data has been obtained, along with the high likelihood that Assange has active connections with the hackers that obtained it, are highly problematic for Ecuador. If Ecuador allows Assange to operate out of their embassy, using their resources, in a politically motivated and illegal manner, then they can be seen as giving government approval for that task. Any state that doesn't want people meddling in its OWN elections illegally had better not do anything that can be seen as meddling in someone else's elections illegally. If they believe that Assange has obtained this information in an illegal manner, through collusion with the hackers that performed the actual hack and exfiltration, and that the use of that material is for political attacks against specific targets and is intended to influence the democratic process of another sovereign state, then for ITS OWN GOOD Ecuador MUST stop their state resources from being used in any way that can be seen as condoning those actions.

    3. Re:And yet by Smidge204 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Personally, I don't care WHO digs up the information.

      You do, you just won't admit it.

      For example, in other posts you explicitly admit that you put more trust in foreign agencies over domestic agencies.

      So you clearly DO care, as long as it reaffirms your biases.
      =Smidge=

    4. Re:And yet by rwise2112 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Both candidates are corrupt scum.

      Yeah, I think Douglas Adams had it right: "It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it... anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."

      --

      "For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert"
    5. Re:And yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      You seem unaware that there is now a reasonably strong chain that links Clintons campaign to these faked paedophile allegations (see reddit wikileaks) and an attempt to entrap Assange with a million dollar bribe through a couple of shell companies connecting back to her camp. It appears it was a possibly criminal Democratic conspiracy/fraud/libel', that got quickly sprung

      Here's a helpful infographic to connect the dots..
      https://i.imgur.com/s27EVHS.jpg

      http://www.inquisitr.com/3609216/julian-assange-reportedly-being-investigated-for-alleged-online-sexual-molestation-of-8-year-old-girl/

      Assange is a twat, but his antipathy towards Clinton is perhaps understandable when there are reports that Clinton discussed assassinating him back in 2010 (and didn't leave the impression she was joking)

      Both candidates are appalling. Trump is an ill-disciplined narcissistic dickhead (though has at least proposed some positive reform - like term limits). But Clinton appears to be a nasty sociopath, and has so much unethical immoral history (going back decades), and what seems like total disregard for the rule of law - from seeming threats to Bills victims' to whitewater, to server shennanigans, to (in last 2 days) filmed admissions from her team about paying people to incite violence at Trump rallies and rig voting. Not really surprising in someone who has been in the game so long and has put up with marriage to Bill to give her the shot at the big chair, but it simply can't be tolerated in a President - even if she might otherwise be a relatively safe pair of hands. Option 3 please.

    6. Re: And yet by Jodka · · Score: 4, Informative

      from parent post:

      Preventing the distribution of information that Hillary Clinton made speeches where she said in private the same things as she said in public? ..."

      from one of Hillary Clinton's paid Wall Street speeches:

      Clinton: “But If Everybody's Watching, You Know, All Of The Back Room Discussions And The Deals, You Know, Then People Get A Little Nervous, To Say The Least. So, You Need Both A Public And A Private Position.” You just have to sort of figure out how to -- getting back to that word, "balance" -- how to balance the public and the private efforts that are necessary to be successful, politically, and that's not just a comment about today.

      Not only does Hillary Clinton advocate in private paid meetings to Wall Street bankers policies opposed her own public positions, she confesses in one of those meetings that she does. The contradictions between her public statements and private statements made to Wall Street bankers are why she suppressed the release of transcripts or recordings of those paid speeches during the primary and why their release by Wikileaks has been politically damaging to her.

      --
      Ceci n'est pas une signature.
    7. Re:And yet by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Party before all else. Loyalty to the party has killed America.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    8. Re:And yet by jbwolfe · · Score: 4, Informative

      She will sleep comfortably while you are begging for help to save your life

      You're likely just echoing conservative dogma about "Benghazigate". Do you get you get your news from any sources other that Fox? Not to diminish the tragedy, but the Obama administration's errors here (in actuality, lower level security personnel in the State Dept. rather than Clinton directly though she accepted responsibility as Sec.) was in its flawed strategic decisions regarding the size of the ambassadorial mission there and what actions to take in light of the decreasing stability. To portray Clinton as slumbering comfortably while her charges were begging for help is patently false. Further, conservative efforts to discredit Clinton through endless Benghazi hearings are disingenuous, unceasing and utterly wasteful, but shows them as the true exploiters of the tragedy. Ronald Reagan's Benghazi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombings was not politicized at all and it happened six months after the embassy there was bombed.

      If there is a rule or a law, she will break it without a moments hesitation if she perceives the benefit in added power, money or prestige outweighs the risks.

      Opinion stated as fact. Please support with evidence... BTW, factually speaking, Trump has boasted of sexual assault and is busy right now planting the seeds of insurrection by absurdly claiming the election is"rigged"- sounds like treason (the crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government) to me. Tell me who's lawless again.

      ask yourself what would it be like if she had the powers of Presidential Pardon and Executive Privilege?

      Sorry, too busy pondering what would happen if Trump were CIC. Didn't he say he would carpet bomb ISIS and steal the oil? He knows more about ISIS than "tha generals". K then, Like I said,: too busy pondering Armageddon under Trump....

      --
      Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
  4. Re:Mobile phone access? by Richard_at_work · · Score: 5, Informative

    He isn't in Ecuador, he's in a flat in London - whether the Ecuadorian Embassy allow him an alternative method of access is debatable at this point, they don't have to allow him the use of a mobile phone or his own line (the issue seems to be with with his actions, not with the fact that they are being done over an Ecuadorian-linked internet connection) and they can ask him to leave if he has an issue with that.

  5. A pringles can is now seen sticking out his window by DirkDaring · · Score: 4, Funny

    A little wiring and duct tape and he's good to go.

  6. Unruly house guest by ronmon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's like having someone stay over and he starts pissing in the neighbor's yard.

    As the host, it's up to you to keep him in line or kick him out.

    1. Re:Unruly house guest by penandpaper · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well. Well. Speak of the devil. You got a lot of questions to answer in this thread buddy. And don't give me that "oh, I am not the Ecuador TFA was talking about. I'm the innocent Ecuador! Promise!" we've heard that excuse before.

  7. Election interference by Kohath · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When you learn information about Hillary that she doesn't want you to know, it's called election interference. You people out there need to know your place and learn to just do what your designated leaders tell you. When they want you to know something, they'll tell you.

  8. The Silent Majority Fails to Speak by XXongo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I suspect that while the most vocal and prolific posters on Slashdot seem to be pro-Democrats

    I haven't notice that.

    I'd like to see statistics.

    , the vast majority of silent readers are more pro-Republicans.

    That was an argument originally made by Richard Nixon! How can you disprove that the "silent majority" favored him, when they're silent? The really great thing about that argument is that it is supported by the absence of facts: you're pointing to the silence as support for what you say.

  9. Moral High Ground by DarthVain · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, however the reason that Ecuador feels the need to thumb their noses (by offering refuge) at the US is that they are a little angry about the US meddling in Ecuadorian affairs, least of all their own government processes. By allowing Assange to do the same with the US election they would be seen as a bit hypocritical. By not allowing, or more accurately by *publicly* not allowing they are taking the moral high ground, not only thumbing their collective noses again, but drawing to attention the afore mentioned fact. I wouldn't be surprised if they were fully aware of what he was doing and this was all planned out in advance (or at least they took proper advantage of the situation as it evolved).

    Slow golf clap. wp.

  10. Re: Clintons Evil Knows No Bounds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And as I’ve mentioned, we’ve all been quite content to demean government, drop civics and in general conspire to produce an unaware and compliant citizenry.

    As always, context is key.

    First, that quote came from Bill Ivy, in an email to John Podesta -- this is not Hillary's statement, and there's no indication of whether or not she agrees with or condones that statement. So, while it's a rather ugly sentiment, to declare that it's reflective of Hillary's position, absent other data, is impossible.

    Second, the comment is made in the context of counteracting Trump's strong presence in the media:

    Money isn’t all that important if you can conflate entertainment with the electoral process. Trump masters TV, TV so-called news picks up and repeats and repeats to death this opinionated blowhard and his hairbrained ideas, free-floating discontent attaches to a seeming strongman and we’re off and running.

    What he is lamenting is the strategic position the campaign finds itself in: for so long, their strategy has been to "demean government and drop civics," and the result is an electorate that takes Donald Trump's positions about government and civics seriously.

    Given the repeated condemnations I've seen here in the past few years of the intelligence and critical thinking ability of the average US voter here on Slashdot, I wouldn't think this to be a controversial statement. What he is noting is that both political parties have been happy to cultivate unthinking and obedient voters, and now, when they need the voters to actually do some critical thinking... they're having difficulties with it.

    I actually give him high marks for that comment - he's willing to declare that their strategy has failed them, and needs to change such that the political conversation turns back to actual civics once more.

    Or were you just knee-jerking because he used the word "conspire", and Trump 2016 has taught you that knee-jerk reactions are the best way to govern?