You either don't comprehend that WikiLeaks is not just a few people, or your head is in the sand. Given the globally distributed nature of its architecture, and the fact that it is "operated" by literally thousands of volunteers around the world, the Internet itself would have to be shut down to actually do anything about WikiLeaks. Your premise that the US would declare any and all persons assisting with or volunteering services and support to WikiLeaks to be "enemy combatants" and initiate renditions on everyone they could round up, is ridiculous. That would be equating them to actual terrorist organizations (i.e. al qaeda) who actively seek to kill and destroy on a daily basis. That's not exactly comparing apples to apples.
There is no legal issue. Nobody has legal jurisdiction over WikiLeaks. It's a globally distributed network supported by individuals across the world. There is no main office maintained; Instead, the staff of volunteers moves from place to place, country to country, working out of spaces provided by supporters. Its content is mirrored across thousands of servers on virtually every continent. Additionally, the leaked materials are almost immediately available on multiple bitTorrent sites, ensuring unstoppable propagation. So, you tell me, what legal remedy is there?
WikiLeaks is by all standards, a neutral repository and conduit for all sorts of leaked information and materials. Before the War Diaries were published, many documents from several other countries were published, as well as leaked documents related to foreign businesses. Those leaks didn't have the global impact of the latest releases, but I think the fact that the leaks are from our government is more circumstantial than by design.
While WikiLeaks is an open repository, Assange and his staff have a moral obligation to carefully examine each document and redact the names of individuals, or other identifying descriptions that could put innocent lives in danger. This by no means affects the neutrality of the organization, which simply publishes leaks provided by individuals around the world.
I have a sneaking suspicion that this newly scheduled announcement is in some way related to the latest WikiLeaks release. Is NASA trying to get ahead of some potential situation with this announcement?
It certainly doesn't surprise me that the US Government initiated such a ridiculous faux pas. Remember, these are the same people who run the DMV. And I have serious doubts about the competency of anyone in the IT field who would choose to work for the government.
While I don't think that using a cell phone to vote would go over very well in this country,
the article sheds some light on the disgraceful state of our (American) voting system. Last time I checked, a fair and accurate system of tabulating election votes is the absolute keystone to the democracy we claim to live in. In an age where advancements in RFID technology make possible everything from automatic point-of-sale transactions, to secure, high-speed highway toll collection, it unconscionable that our voting and election system has become such a ridiculous mess.
Everyone registered to vote gets a voter registration card. In our current system, this is just another piece of paper most of us stuff into our wallets. It has no purpose other than it's own existence. Why not slap a smart-chip on that card and create a voting machine that reads the smart-chips? Every registered voter would have an individualized, one-time-use smart card that can be used to tabulate the vote, then deactivate the chip. No more senior citizens sitting at folding tables asking us to sign a book, no more miscounts in the hands of error-prone humans, and perhaps most importantly, no more use for the completely unnecessary "Electoral College". All the votes of the people, accurately tabulated, can determine the winners and losers.
I know the opposition to such a plan will raise the issue of Big Brother and the National ID movement, and I don't necessarily disagree with those points. They are valid and need to be addressed in conjunction with the creation of such a system. In the end, no solution is going to make everybody happy, but for Christs sake, we GOTTA be able to bring the voting and election process into this century. As long as we continue to fumble around with multiple voting machine vendors, with varying capabilities and vulnerabilities for the sake of saving political face, we'll continue to wear a big black eye in the international community, and our Democracy will continue to suffer embarrassments (i.e. our current "President").
There is now a petition being circulated to have the disgusting charges against Michael W. Stone dropped. You can add your name and post your comments by going to http://www.petitiononline.com/mwstone/petition.htm l.
Along with the demand to drop the felony charges, the petition also calls for the resignation or termination of the prosecutor, Mr. Frank Forchione.
People, charging an 18yo kid with a felony for posting a "call to action" on a blog is criminal in and of itself. Telling people to "hit F5" and refresh a site's content is by no means a DoS, or an attempted DoS. It's stupid, and at the absolute most harassment. Anyone who thinks that this kid's actions constitute an attempted DoS obviously doesn't have a clue what a DoS is or how it works. As usual, there are opinions on both sides. However in this case, the opinion that this was an attempted DoS is technically and factually incorrect.
The bottom line is that Michael Stone is facing the possibility of wearing the badge of "Convicted Felon" for the rest of his life because he told readers of his blog to "hit F5" and reload the school's web page. And despite the ludicrous statements made by the prosecutor and the blatantly false "technical" information broadcast by the top-notch local news team, Michael didn't cause any damage to any hardware, software, or service. If a bunch of kids refreshing the web site was enough to slow it down, maybe the school should consider upgrading from their 56K dial-up connection. In the end, I think we all know that the intent of the prosecutor was to teach Michael a lesson and send a message to the vicious hacker underworld that has overrun the quaint lil' town of Canton. And if that's the case - that the prosecutor's plan was to give Mike a felony scare and accept a plea to a lesser charge, then that is nothing short of reckless and malicious prosecution which calls for the termination of Canton's tough-as-nails prosecutor.
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You either don't comprehend that WikiLeaks is not just a few people, or your head is in the sand. Given the globally distributed nature of its architecture, and the fact that it is "operated" by literally thousands of volunteers around the world, the Internet itself would have to be shut down to actually do anything about WikiLeaks. Your premise that the US would declare any and all persons assisting with or volunteering services and support to WikiLeaks to be "enemy combatants" and initiate renditions on everyone they could round up, is ridiculous. That would be equating them to actual terrorist organizations (i.e. al qaeda) who actively seek to kill and destroy on a daily basis. That's not exactly comparing apples to apples.
There is no legal issue. Nobody has legal jurisdiction over WikiLeaks. It's a globally distributed network supported by individuals across the world. There is no main office maintained; Instead, the staff of volunteers moves from place to place, country to country, working out of spaces provided by supporters. Its content is mirrored across thousands of servers on virtually every continent. Additionally, the leaked materials are almost immediately available on multiple bitTorrent sites, ensuring unstoppable propagation. So, you tell me, what legal remedy is there?
WikiLeaks is by all standards, a neutral repository and conduit for all sorts of leaked information and materials. Before the War Diaries were published, many documents from several other countries were published, as well as leaked documents related to foreign businesses. Those leaks didn't have the global impact of the latest releases, but I think the fact that the leaks are from our government is more circumstantial than by design. While WikiLeaks is an open repository, Assange and his staff have a moral obligation to carefully examine each document and redact the names of individuals, or other identifying descriptions that could put innocent lives in danger. This by no means affects the neutrality of the organization, which simply publishes leaks provided by individuals around the world.
I have a sneaking suspicion that this newly scheduled announcement is in some way related to the latest WikiLeaks release. Is NASA trying to get ahead of some potential situation with this announcement?
It certainly doesn't surprise me that the US Government initiated such a ridiculous faux pas. Remember, these are the same people who run the DMV. And I have serious doubts about the competency of anyone in the IT field who would choose to work for the government.
Everyone registered to vote gets a voter registration card. In our current system, this is just another piece of paper most of us stuff into our wallets. It has no purpose other than it's own existence. Why not slap a smart-chip on that card and create a voting machine that reads the smart-chips? Every registered voter would have an individualized, one-time-use smart card that can be used to tabulate the vote, then deactivate the chip. No more senior citizens sitting at folding tables asking us to sign a book, no more miscounts in the hands of error-prone humans, and perhaps most importantly, no more use for the completely unnecessary "Electoral College". All the votes of the people, accurately tabulated, can determine the winners and losers. I know the opposition to such a plan will raise the issue of Big Brother and the National ID movement, and I don't necessarily disagree with those points. They are valid and need to be addressed in conjunction with the creation of such a system. In the end, no solution is going to make everybody happy, but for Christs sake, we GOTTA be able to bring the voting and election process into this century. As long as we continue to fumble around with multiple voting machine vendors, with varying capabilities and vulnerabilities for the sake of saving political face, we'll continue to wear a big black eye in the international community, and our Democracy will continue to suffer embarrassments (i.e. our current "President").
Along with the demand to drop the felony charges, the petition also calls for the resignation or termination of the prosecutor, Mr. Frank Forchione.
People, charging an 18yo kid with a felony for posting a "call to action" on a blog is criminal in and of itself. Telling people to "hit F5" and refresh a site's content is by no means a DoS, or an attempted DoS. It's stupid, and at the absolute most harassment. Anyone who thinks that this kid's actions constitute an attempted DoS obviously doesn't have a clue what a DoS is or how it works. As usual, there are opinions on both sides. However in this case, the opinion that this was an attempted DoS is technically and factually incorrect.
The bottom line is that Michael Stone is facing the possibility of wearing the badge of "Convicted Felon" for the rest of his life because he told readers of his blog to "hit F5" and reload the school's web page. And despite the ludicrous statements made by the prosecutor and the blatantly false "technical" information broadcast by the top-notch local news team, Michael didn't cause any damage to any hardware, software, or service. If a bunch of kids refreshing the web site was enough to slow it down, maybe the school should consider upgrading from their 56K dial-up connection. In the end, I think we all know that the intent of the prosecutor was to teach Michael a lesson and send a message to the vicious hacker underworld that has overrun the quaint lil' town of Canton. And if that's the case - that the prosecutor's plan was to give Mike a felony scare and accept a plea to a lesser charge, then that is nothing short of reckless and malicious prosecution which calls for the termination of Canton's tough-as-nails prosecutor.
I ask that you all consider the lunacy and malice of the prosecution's case and add your name to the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/mwstone/petition.htm l.