Live data from Hacker News

Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

bbc.co.uk

351–360 of 1001 posts

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, "state actor" could certainly refer to Ecuador deciding to turn off Assange's access. WikiLeaks tends to be fairly economical with the truth about its own operations, so being purposefully ambiguous isn't anything new for them. And, while Ecuador hasn't had to deal with meaningful diplomatic repercussions from sheltering Assange, the high-profile role WL is taking in the 2016 elections, and specifi…

It just may turn out that the embassy changed the wi-fi password and didn't give him the new one.

LOL! Actually that would be AMAZING if true (almost as funny as Assange being on Wifi in the first place).

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#352
post #187

I am getting so damn sick of all of the corruption we're seeing in governments all around the world, including the US/UK. Makes me want to vote for Trump and take the whole crooked system down (unfortunately, that would cause a LOT of pain for good everyday people).

But Trump is just as crooked if not even more crooked. He isn't going to change anything.

Our current crop of "leaders" are content to play a game of chicken, pushing the limit further and further to see how much we will stand. Trump is nuts enough to knock the whole house of cards over.

I have sympathy with where Doug is coming from, let's just get it over and done with already.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#353
post #235

I'm a bit confused by all the comments here spinning off down conspiracy theories, but not much on facts. "State actor" can only really mean UK or Ecuadorian government - or at the very least one of those two must be pulling the trigger. If it's Ecuador that makes some sense, they control the connections to the outside world - they could just change some passwords and internet is cut. But that would be very obviously…

> "State actor" can only really mean UK or Ecuadorian government - or at the very least one of those two must be pulling the trigger. Not necessarily. Russia could think that it's best interest is that Wikileaks' dead man switch goes off. They could be pressuring Ecuador or actually have cut the connection themselves. > Also, this is central London - the internet floats freely through the air. Contingency measure is…

Right, but if Russia is cutting it off that will be a snip the cable type job, killing internet for the whole embassy (or even building). Something you'd expect to be noticed pretty widely. And it would be fixable by phoning BT.

As for signal jamming. Not an area I know a lot about, but I assume it is achieved by flooding an area with noise. Pretty detectable is what I'm saying - anyone nipped down to see if that's actually happening? Would be quite a scoop.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#355

Perhaps this is this election cycle's "October Surprise"? If this is Clinton attempting to seal-the-deal on the election, I'm officially not voting. Anyone that uses the power of the state (read: the power of the gun) to silence speech is a non-starter in my book.

I don't feel comfortable telling anyone who to vote for - a personal decision that is no one else's business. I will say that for myself, when I was filling out my early mail-in ballot yesterday, it was an easy decision voting for Jill Stein. Our political system is corrupt and when lots of people (in the many millions) vote for 3rd party candidates, that at least makes it harder for the establishment to maintain the misdirection that our two party system gives voters any real choice.

EDIT: you may have noticed the establishment propaganda instruments like MSNBC and Fox News have a real campaign to discredit all 3rd party candidates in all elections. Chuck Todd did a particularly shameless review of many 3rd party candidates, mocking them, and mocking people who would vote for any 3rd party candidates. What an asshole, and what un-American behavior. Everyone's opinion should be respected.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#356

He is, at the instigation of a hostile foreign government, eyeball-deep in criminal activity designed to interfere with a democratic election being conducted by an Ecuadorean ally. Cut off his wifi? Little toad is lucky they just don't boot him out onto the pavement.

Your description of the situation is of course opinion, as there has been no proof of allegations that Wikileaks is acting on behalf of anyone other than their own interests.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#357
post #339
post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if the embassy was shut down surely just a cheap smart phone would rectify the situation and get him back online. Are they somehow blocking mobile signals as well?

State actors can jam the spectrum and make wireless communication impossible.

Don't Hamm operators have a low speed data protocol?

Also, I bet some industrious hackers could hack together a microcontroller, photodiodes, and cheap lasers for a line of sight connection as a bridge.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#358
post #339
post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if the embassy was shut down surely just a cheap smart phone would rectify the situation and get him back online. Are they somehow blocking mobile signals as well?

State actors can jam the spectrum and make wireless communication impossible.

Yeah, but not secretly while in the middle of central london

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#359
post #63

Aaaaaand like all of Wikileaks' dumps, this one turns out to be completely overblown BS. Boots on the ground confirm that absolutely NOTHING is happening at the embassy, no one is breaking in and the report out of London is the standard Monday morning complaint about the morning rain and the annoying signal failure on the Central line that is messing with commutes. If Assange did lose internet access it is because th…

Would you please provide a link to these "boots on the ground" sources? Otherwise your comment doesn't really contribute much.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really unlawful or did CNN lie about that?

The anchor is tweeting about his side of the story: https://twitter.com/ChrisCuomo . E.g., https://twitter.com/ChrisCuomo/status/788025611730227201 I am not a lawyer but I'd say this is a legal gray area. The leaker probably broke a law. E.g., hacking Podesta's private emails would have been illegal under computer fraud and abuse. It's alternately possible that the leaker had legal access but breached contract to rel…

It seems like his tweet defends the possibility of it being illegal, but not the idea that somehow it could possibly be legal for CNN & "the media" while still illegal for everyone else, which seems like the most absurd part to me.

I guess he never explicitly said it was legal for CNN -- maybe he was claiming that CNN is generously taking on all that legal risk so the rest of us don't have to?

Post reply on HN