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Wikileaks kicked out of Amazon's cloud

arstechnica.com

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Re: Wikileaks kicked out of Amazon's cloud

#11

Post by redthrowaway »

sigzero wrote: post #9
wccrawford wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like the commentary on the TechDirt one: "Look at who's complaining the most about Wikileaks and you realize that it's the people who benefit from not being held accountable for their actions."

At this point is it really about that? I think it has gone past that point to the criminal with Assange. I realize that isn't a popular opinion. I get what he thinks he is trying to do and all but that isn't how the world really works nor is it going to bend to wikileaks. Some of this stuff should be secret because that is how countries trust each other. I have no sympathy for him at all.

Read Secy Gates' response to the notion that this leak will hurt them or that countries work with the US because they trust their interactions will be kept secret:

http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2010/11/quotable-secretary-...

Re: Wikileaks kicked out of Amazon's cloud

#12

Post by mattmanser »

sigzero wrote: post #9
wccrawford wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like the commentary on the TechDirt one: "Look at who's complaining the most about Wikileaks and you realize that it's the people who benefit from not being held accountable for their actions."

At this point is it really about that? I think it has gone past that point to the criminal with Assange. I realize that isn't a popular opinion. I get what he thinks he is trying to do and all but that isn't how the world really works nor is it going to bend to wikileaks. Some of this stuff should be secret because that is how countries trust each other. I have no sympathy for him at all.

The key word in your argument is some.

Too much is conveniently wrapped in a cloak of secrecy that should never have existed in the first place.

Re: Wikileaks kicked out of Amazon's cloud

#16

Post by grandalf »

Wow, it would be one thing if Lieberman wrote a bill to ban all US ISPs from hosting Wikileaks content, but in this case he is simply using his clout and acting like a thug by pressuring Amazon (an e-commerce retailer first and foremost) right around the holiday season.

Re: Wikileaks kicked out of Amazon's cloud

#17

Post by viraptor »

pigbucket wrote: post #10
arvinjoar wrote: post #6

Oscar Swartz[1] is the man behind Bahnhof, the Swedish company that Wikileaks are using for their infrastructure needs. Oscar is a man of principle and would never sell out to the establishment the way Amazon did. There's acutally a bunch of swedes that are standing up for the internet as we know it. Among them the guys over at the pirate bay. What's cool about this is that when you have people being activists in the…

The Pentagon has claimed that they could have shut Wikileaks down if they wanted to, but decided not to, reserving "that capability for threats of much higher consequence." Generally, the rhetoric coming out of the Pentagon is not nearly as charged as that emanating from overwrought, fear-mongering senators like Lieberman Senator Lieberman: "WikiLeaks' illegal, outrageous, and reckless acts have compromised our natio…

> "The Pentagon has claimed that they could have shut Wikileaks down if they wanted to, but decided not to"

WikiLeaks the organisation, or WikiLeaks the site? I bet they can shut the site down for most of the world simply by messing with internet routing in crucial points. But then, what would it do? The information is sent to news organisations directly before the public release. Torrents don't depend on their site. Everything works like before.

If they meant WikiLeaks the organisation - that would be interesting. Who exactly would they stop and how? I don't believe they know every source, or there would be no serious leaks to begin with. Also, I believe that J.A. is the same to WikiLeaks, like J.Wales is a to Wikipedia - a face, creator of some guidelines and the ultimate moderator. Even if he disappeared, we'd see some new leaks. He's probably not even reachable for the original sources - if he was, finding him would be trivial, wouldn't it?

Re: Wikileaks kicked out of Amazon's cloud

#18

Post by jpcx01 »

Makes sense to me. Wikileaks is violating laws by posting other people's private and classified information. Amazon has no business aiding them in criminal activities. Free speech != exposing classified documents.

Free speech is about original content. You can say / publish whatever you want online. But you can't take other people's content and post it, especially when it could endanger lives.

Re: Wikileaks kicked out of Amazon's cloud

#19

Post by matus »

jpcx01 wrote: post #18

Makes sense to me. Wikileaks is violating laws by posting other people's private and classified information. Amazon has no business aiding them in criminal activities. Free speech != exposing classified documents. Free speech is about original content. You can say / publish whatever you want online. But you can't take other people's content and post it, especially when it could endanger lives.

is it illegal, did for example the nytimes violate any laws? it would be good if someone expands on this.

Re: Wikileaks kicked out of Amazon's cloud

#20

Post by jacquesm »

viraptor wrote: post #17
pigbucket wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Pentagon has claimed that they could have shut Wikileaks down if they wanted to, but decided not to, reserving "that capability for threats of much higher consequence." Generally, the rhetoric coming out of the Pentagon is not nearly as charged as that emanating from overwrought, fear-mongering senators like Lieberman Senator Lieberman: "WikiLeaks' illegal, outrageous, and reckless acts have compromised our natio…

> "The Pentagon has claimed that they could have shut Wikileaks down if they wanted to, but decided not to" WikiLeaks the organisation, or WikiLeaks the site? I bet they can shut the site down for most of the world simply by messing with internet routing in crucial points. But then, what would it do? The information is sent to news organisations directly before the public release. Torrents don't depend on their site.…

If they did it would put them right up there with China and their great firewall.
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