Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut' • Hacker News Board

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

#461

Post by matt4077 » Mon, Oct 17, 2016, 5:21 PM UTC

staticelf wrote: post #130

From a Swedish perspective the Julian Assange case is particular close to the heart since it really shows how corrupt even our courts and politicians are. Sweden is rated as one of the countries with the lowest corruption but still 6 years have passed without even interviewing him for the pathetic accusations. The entire case is a joke and whatever the US-election result is, it's bad for the entire world since our co…

In a legal system, the accused doesn't get to negotiate the details of his interview. Assange, being the narcissistic idiot that he is, chose to imprison himself because for him, being imprisoned in an embassy at least feels a bit like a spy novel instead of just a case of him getting a bit too rapey.

And how is this supposed to be "corrupt". Are you implying a vast conspiracy were the CIA is orchestrating everyone from a random prosecutor up to the highest courts of Sweden (Not that that would even be corruption as it's traditionally defined)?

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

#462

Post by cryoshon » Mon, Oct 17, 2016, 5:22 PM UTC

anthony_romeo wrote: post #237

We're in the middle of some crazy propaganda war right now, and it's been this way for quite a while. It became completely transparent when the Podesta e-mails were released mere minutes after Trump's videos regarding possible sexual assault were released. Ever since the DNC leaks and the subsequent accusations against Russia, it became clear to me that, at some point, the attempts to tarnish Wikileaks's name was to…

> it became clear to me that, at some point, the attempts to tarnish Wikileaks's name was to prime the listening audience in a way such that when information so irreparably damaging would get released, the voters would have to choose between continuing a corrupt government and choosing an apparently mad authoritarian, and to soften the landing on the former.

correct. you saw the exact same defamation routine a few years ago with the iraq leaks, and again (not as strongly) with the diplomatic cable leaks. the only twist this time is the attempt to conflate russia-us geopolitical tensions with wikileaks involvement.

does the source of the information matter, if the information is legitimate? no. the dems live in fear of wikileaks and the endless dirt on hillary.

it's clear that russia does view assange as an asset, however-- the whole RT show a few years ago spelled that out for me. what is also clear is that unhappy facts are more effective propaganda than mere rhetoric. assange seems content to be a participant in russia's propaganda schemes, so long as he is actually releasing documents whose beef was agnostic to the context of geopolitical rivalry.

in other words: i want the dirt, too. i don't care if russia helps assange, we need all the help we can get against our own government at this point.

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

#463

Post by admax88q » Mon, Oct 17, 2016, 5:22 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #386

edanm wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty well known that Assange has a vendetta against Hillary Clinton. Just searching for Assange Clinton on Google brings up lots of articles on the subject.

No, it's pretty well known that Assange claims to have a vendetta against HRC. The details of that vendetta don't make much sense. It's clearly easier for him and his supporters to claim that they're acting out of enmity towards Clinton --- a minor figure in virtually all of Assange's dealings with the US --- than to simply cop to the fact that they are aggressively and overly supporting Donald Trump. Nerddom and the…

> The simple fact is that Assange is campaigning for Donald Trump.

This is classic US politics. This A vs B mentality is what leads to such a fierce two party system.

If you don't support choice A, then you are assumed to support choice B. Any attack on Hillary is viewed as support for Trump and vice versa.

I don't think that's a fair interpretation.

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

#464

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Oct 17, 2016, 5:22 PM UTC

olivermarks wrote: post #162

An enjoyable Twitter thread https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/782906224937410562

[deleted]

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

#465

Post by _spoonman » Mon, Oct 17, 2016, 5:22 PM UTC

Redoubts wrote: post #424

_wp3r wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sarcasm aside. There is a caveat to the legality of classified materials, usually you must have been "entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of". Which alludes to the fact that you would first have to have been read in, or taken the material that you knew was classified. There is also a "requirement" to "knowingly" cause harm. I put these in quotes because the wording and the enforcement of that requir…

> That being said. If you do currently hold a clearance, visiting Wikileaks is a violation of your NDA/ReadIn, Employment Agreement, and the UCMJ for service members. Interesting. Could you explain that more?

In order to access classified information, you must posses two things: 1) the appropriate clearance level (confidential, secret, top secret) 2) a need to know

So even possessing the appropriate clearance level doesn't give you the right to just start reading anything that interests you on a classified network. You're supposed to have a "need to know" in case you're questioned about it.

We always get stuff here (contractor on AFB) about "don't read this or that" or else you could be in trouble. But I've never heard of anyone actually getting in trouble.

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

#466

Post by dpweb » Mon, Oct 17, 2016, 5:24 PM UTC

sanjeetsuhag wrote: post #425

monocasa wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, it's because Clinton and her staff have called both publicly and privately for him to be executed, extrajudicially if need be. I'd have a grudge too.

I'd like a source on Clinton herself calling for Assange's execution.

She didn't deny it, but said “It would have been a joke, if it had been said, but I don't recall that.” I say that indicates she likely said it, although maybe jokingly.

Speaking for myself I know I would never say that, so the response would be "No, I never said that."

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

#467

Post by jonwachob91 » Mon, Oct 17, 2016, 5:24 PM UTC

zamalek wrote: post #292

throwawayIndian wrote: post #148

> so what exactly will this accomplish… Many things! Instill a fear may be. Demonstrate their power to kill at will and their willingness to do so. Prevent outing of more truths about the Silicon Valley-Washington DC alliance. Meh. Let the downvotes begin… :)

> Demonstrate their power to kill at will and their willingness to do so. As history has shown, you cut off the head of one state problem and then you have six problems. Be it Osama, Ulbricht or Assange. Two of those three problems could have been solved permanently by other means (decriminilization and thorough transparency, respectively). Dogma seems to rule our rulers. Silencing Assange, by whatever means they cho…

Are you honestly suggesting that UBL, Ulbricht, and Assange deserve to be treated the same way? Cause killing THOUSANDS of innocent citizens around the world is the same as leaking state secrets.

I'll refrain from commenting ill about Ulbricht on this site...

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

#468

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Oct 17, 2016, 5:24 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #399

joshuaheard wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Assange is a partisan. He's Australian after all and has no stake in this election. I think he is releasing info on Hillary because that is what he has and is timing the release for maximum public exposure. If he had similar info on Trump, I firmly believe he would be doing the same thing.

There is Assange's alleged Russian sponsorship [1]. The lack of Wikileaks activity critical of Russia and the attribution of some of its content to Russian intelligence operations [2] supports that. [1] http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/world/europe/wikileaks-... [2] http://www.salon.com/2016/10/11/russian-propaganda-on-wikile...

[deleted]

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

#469

Post by ComteDeLaFere » Mon, Oct 17, 2016, 5:25 PM UTC

From the article -

"There was no way to immediately verify if he had been knocked offline, and if so, how a state actor was suspected."

As far as I can tell, no one has verified any of this. Given JA's recent bizarre state of mind, I'm not sure where all of this breathless HN commentary is coming from.

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

#470

Post by jayess » Mon, Oct 17, 2016, 5:25 PM UTC

alistproducer2 wrote: post #328

anthony_romeo wrote: post #237

We're in the middle of some crazy propaganda war right now, and it's been this way for quite a while. It became completely transparent when the Podesta e-mails were released mere minutes after Trump's videos regarding possible sexual assault were released. Ever since the DNC leaks and the subsequent accusations against Russia, it became clear to me that, at some point, the attempts to tarnish Wikileaks's name was to…

>We're in the middle of some crazy propaganda war right now Agreed. It's like some people somewhere woke up and realized hiring some script kiddies to hack old people that use the same password for all their accounts is a lot cheaper and easier than old-fashioned espionage. The frenzied pace at which all of this is happening reminds me a child with a new toy. >gaslighting from both sides I disagree that Clinton is tr…

> I disagree that Clinton is trying to distort reality. She is more old school - she just stright up lies from time to time. Trump, on the other hand, is quite literally trying to create an alternate reality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IuJGHuIkzY