The More Some Try To Kill Wikileaks, The More It Spreads

from the ultimate-streisand-effect dept

Mon, Dec 6th 2010 1:12pm — Mike Masnick

One of the earlier events in Wikileaks' life that got the site a ton of attention was when a California court ordered the entire site blocked, after the site revealed a document that the Swiss Bank Julius Baer wanted to keep hidden. That story got a ton of attention -- in part because of how much more attention the document got after the court's ruling. In fact, that story was also a story that got the concept of the Streisand Effect into the popular mindset (and got me on All Things Considered chatting about the Streisand Effect and the Julius Baer situation). So it's been amusing seeing all of the attempts by US politicians to get Wikileaks blocked. As of this posting, the site has now listed over 500 mirror sites and the number keeps growing. And that's just mirrors of the site itself. The actual documents are being copied and offered up from a lot more places. Trying to shut down something like Wikileaks only gets it more attention...

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Filed Under: mirrors, streisand effect, wikileaks
Companies: wikileaks

49 Comments

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Rajio, 6 Dec 2010 @ 1:23pm

obvious
I'd imagine that any reader of Techdirt would already realize this.
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Designerfx (profile), 6 Dec 2010 @ 1:25pm

Re: obvious
sadly though, the parts of that government that should read this, probably don't.
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BBT, 6 Dec 2010 @ 1:32pm

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
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Anonymous Poster, 6 Dec 2010 @ 1:40pm

Re:
Aw crap, you know what comes next.

So, when do you think we'll launch the nuke at Europe?
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2010 @ 1:59pm

Wrong quote
Wrong quote.

"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can imagine."
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JC, 6 Dec 2010 @ 2:01pm

Secrets for Assange?
"Assange making arrangements to meet police, lawyer says-
"We are in the process of making arrangements to meet with the police by consent in order to facilitate the taking of that question-and-answer as needed," Stephens told the BBC."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/06/wikileaks.investigation.assange/index.html

I'm looking forward to Wikileaks making all the documents in this case available to everyone. I have no doubt Assange would approve. He's shown no doubt that private communications should be shared with everyone in the world.
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Richard Kulawiec, 6 Dec 2010 @ 2:07pm

Re: Wrong quote
"The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote."
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2010 @ 2:08pm

Re: Secrets for Assange?
Pft, if he does that, then you'll call him an ego case trying to boast about his own importance.
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@jonathanchill, 6 Dec 2010 @ 2:08pm

Re: Secrets for Assange?
Great comment - it's all a bit too easy to think this situation is so straight down the line one sided.
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Richard Kulawiec, 6 Dec 2010 @ 2:10pm

Re: Re: obvious
No doubt. I'm sure only a tiny fraction of them can even imagine what 500 or 5000 mirrors of Wikileaks can accomplish. But that's not what should alarm them.
What should alarm them are 500 or 5000 Wikileaks.
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jjmsan (profile), 6 Dec 2010 @ 2:19pm

Re: Re: Secrets for Assange?
No it is not. Did Assange suddenly become the head of a government? Make secret treaties? Had the ability to supress the information from newpapers? If the information is taken the state would control the release. Try to troll a little better than that.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2010 @ 2:20pm

a quick search of the pirate bay reveals a rather large number of people seeding wikileaks/cablegate files.

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5723136/WikiLeaks_insurance
this one looks interesting too. i wonder whats inside
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The Invisible Hand (profile), 6 Dec 2010 @ 2:20pm

Re: Secrets for Assange?
Don't worry. Those that seek to destroy him will make sure they are available. Although that won't change much.

The "damage" is already done and destroying wikileaks won't prevent any further "damage". As long as there is an Internet, those that hold "The Power" will have to answer for their actions.
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Matt, 6 Dec 2010 @ 2:34pm

Dude, you seem to misunderstand this, greatly. It's not about stopping the already leaked documents from further proliferation. Even bureaucrats under that already leaked is a past tense, water under the bridge situation. All the people who it would be bad to have that information had it in the first day, probably the first hour. It's about preventing the next leak, or, in fact, just being plain punitive.
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Chris Rhodes (profile), 6 Dec 2010 @ 2:37pm

Re: Secrets for Assange?
Government now has the right to privacy? Thanks for clearing that up for us.
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Jason, 6 Dec 2010 @ 2:48pm

Re: Re: Wrong quote
Begun, the Clone Wars have.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2010 @ 2:51pm

Re: Re: Re: Wrong quote
I thought they smelled bad on the outside.
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J, 6 Dec 2010 @ 3:00pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Wrong quote
3263827!
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2010 @ 3:06pm

Re:
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5723136/WikiLeaks_insurance
this one looks interesting too. i wonder whats inside

You can bet the NSA are trying their damnedest to figure that out. But this is what JA does best so I guess they won't find out.

Considering how people have been "rendered" from European cities by the CIA in the past, and given that the UK police claim to know where he is, I can only assume he's still free because either
- the UK and USA are not co-operating
- the USA know nothing good will come of him being "removed" from circulation. And I'm sure this relates to the contents of the "insurance" file.

So the plan is presumably to have him arrested for something unrelated to the actual leaks and hope he does not release the stinkbomb.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2010 @ 3:07pm

Re:
"It's about preventing the next leak"

I'm no pro at this, but I think that the Titanic wouldn't sink any slower if you blasted the iceberg after the Titanic had hit it.
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johnny canada, 6 Dec 2010 @ 3:19pm

Try to Kill
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Calgary+looking+into+possible+charges+after+Flanagan+comments/393509 8/story.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+canwest%2FF228+%28Th e+Province+-+News%29&utm_content=Google+International

Calgary looking into possible charges after Tom Flanagan comments

Calgary police said Monday they were compiling evidence for the Crown to determine whether to press charges against Tom Flanagan, a former adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, for comments he made suggesting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be assassinated.

The Calgary police join their Vancouver counterparts as the second department to act on public complaints against Flanagan, who now works as political science professor at the University of Calgary.

"Due to a number of calls we have received from the public regarding this matter, the Calgary Police Service will be compiling all facts and compiling a package that will be forwarded to the Crown prosecutor's office for review," said Supt. Kevan Stuart in a prepared statement. "The Crown's office will then determine if this is a criminal matter."

Flanagan, appearing on the CBC program Power & Politics last week, told host Evan Solomon that he thought Assange "should be assassinated, actually. I think (U.S. President Barack) Obama should put out a contract and maybe use a drone or something."

Flanagan retracted his statement two days later, apologizing for the "glib" comment and said it shouldn't have been taken seriously.

On Saturday, Vancouver lawyer Gail Davidson submitted a complaint to police in that city, asking them to review whether or not Flanagan was inciting murder with his comments.

Section 464 of the Criminal Code of Canada makes it a crime to "counsel another person to commit an indictable offence", regardless of whether the offence in question is committed.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/Calgary+looking+into+possible+charges+after+Flanagan+comments/3935098/sto ry.html#ixzz17NPomrPC
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2010 @ 3:20pm

Re: Re:
Wrong again! It's clearly a message to the other icebergs out there that we will take action against all threats to the nation of Titanica!
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2010 @ 3:53pm

Re: Secrets for Assange?
Shoot the messenger with a message? I'm almost certain that'll work!
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2010 @ 3:55pm

Re:
I heard the next major leak will be about some multi-national investment bank and how corrupt as fuck they are.

I'm sure that and how much the US wants to take out WikiLeaks have absolutely nothing in common.
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Overcast (profile), 6 Dec 2010 @ 4:42pm

Awesome - keep pushing - I'd love to see Wikileaks get even more popular.
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Overcast (profile), 6 Dec 2010 @ 4:44pm

Look at it grow!! :)

Wikileaks is currently mirrored on 729 sites (updated 2010-12-06 22:32 GMT)
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JC, 6 Dec 2010 @ 4:47pm

Re: Re: Secrets for Assange?
Thanks for telling me what I would do if he did.
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Trish, 6 Dec 2010 @ 4:49pm

Thank you Wikileaks!
Thanks to Wikileaks, I now know that us Canadians have an 'inherent inferiority complex' vis a vis americans that prevents our politicians from dicussing the state of american politics during our elections! And I thought we were just being polite! Well, I'm glad at least we don't have a superiority complex vis a vis the rest of the world eh...
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JC, 6 Dec 2010 @ 4:51pm

Re: Re: Re: Secrets for Assange?
Assange inserted himself into international politics. Is it not my right to know what's happening in any of his secret meetings?

Many claim these charges are related to his releasing of documents. I would like to know whether this is true, or not.
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Roger, 6 Dec 2010 @ 4:53pm

Re: Secrets for Assange?
Glad you feel that way. Please forward all your emails, phone messages, letters, and especially your financial accounts information.
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JC, 6 Dec 2010 @ 4:56pm

Re: Re: Secrets for Assange?
I can clear up this much for you. I never stated that any government has the right to privacy.

I'm more curious about how Assange adheres to his own philosophy. He willingly asserted himself into this situation. I'm interested to see how this is handled by him and his lawyers.
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JC, 6 Dec 2010 @ 5:01pm

Re: Re: Secrets for Assange?
You first.
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JC, 6 Dec 2010 @ 5:04pm

Re: Re:
I think you make a good point.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2010 @ 5:15pm

Re: Re: obvious
Politicians can read?
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Matt, 6 Dec 2010 @ 5:37pm

Re: Re: Re:
More like the iceberg won't take out the next ship.

C'mon, you set up my rebuttal for me.

But I don't mind the other icebergs being scared, either.
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cc (profile), 6 Dec 2010 @ 5:47pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Secrets for Assange?
It's true: http://my.firedoglake.com/kirkmurphy/2010/12/04/assanges-chief-accuser-has-her-own-history-with-us-f unded-anti-castro-groups-one-of-which-has-cia-ties/
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JC, 6 Dec 2010 @ 7:39pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Secrets for Assange?
What? That's your proof?

Your burden of proof is laughable.
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Darryl, 6 Dec 2010 @ 9:27pm

Wikileaks is as good as dead Dept
wikileaks did not publish all the information it had in its posession.

He has and had many more documents..

So all the mirrors can do is mirror what has allready been release,, and that is a case of 'move along, nothing new here'.

But no new information can be released, and wikileaks, is not capable of doing the job it was intended to do.

Release information, if it cannot do what its job it, it has been killed.

Yes, lots of mirrors, and mirrors are only able to mirror what has allready become available.

So the claim that wikileaks is dead, is correct, it is not capable of performing the job it was started for.

It is not anymore a central point to contact to whistleblow, therefore it is no longer wikileaks, and therefore it is dead..

And julian assange was in it for the money, and to blackmail people, he claims he has more information that he will not release !!!..

so he is censoring information to his readers, why not release it ?

One reason, it is not in his benefit to release that information, even though it may be in the 'public benefit' according to the supporters of wikileaks.

So, how can you claim wikileaks is working for freedom of speech, or freedom of information, or against censorship.

When Wikileaks ITSELF engages in censorship, restriction of information and control of information for your own personal gains.
(blackmail)

Would google be dead if you could log onto a google web site but you could no longer perform search ?

Its dead because it does not do what it was intended to do, and it is dead also because it has NEVEr done what it was intended to do..

Wikileaks engages in censorship, and witholding of information, for personal gains, just as much as anyone else.

If you think wikileaks is there for any other reason but to make some money you are badly mistaken...

(typical Darryl Comment)
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techflaws.org (profile), 6 Dec 2010 @ 9:40pm

Re: Wikileaks is as good as dead Dept
(typical Darryl Comment)

Exactly! Tl;dr.
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Black Patriot (profile), 7 Dec 2010 @ 1:57am

Re: Re: Wikileaks is as good as dead Dept
Tl;dr.

Don't worry, you're not missing much.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Dec 2010 @ 4:02am

Re: Re: Re: Secrets for Assange?
No you didn't. But your line of reasoning is pathetic.

You're implying that because Assange has leaked communications between goverment officials he shouldn't mind sharing personal data about himself with the world.
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Joe Browncoat, 7 Dec 2010 @ 6:18am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wrong quote
You can't stop the signal!

Shoot! Wrong movie.
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Hephaestus (profile), 7 Dec 2010 @ 6:25am

Re:
" i wonder whats inside"

If you have a little time ... you can try guessing 256^256 times. :)
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Dec 2010 @ 6:28am

How to kill WikiLeaks
Get with the program, there's really only one way: Nukes and EMPs, there was no WikiLeaks in the stone age.
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Hephaestus (profile), 7 Dec 2010 @ 6:32am

Re: Re:
You also have the russian government, and chinese ??spying?? documents. Which I am guessing are going to be worse than the corporate influence and back dealing you see in the US documents.

One thing is for certain. The next year its going to be fun to watch as the news agencies all say how evil Asange, villify him, and then use all the information they would be to afraid to open up for public viewing to gain greater ratings.
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Hephaestus (profile), 7 Dec 2010 @ 6:37am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wrong quote
These are not the droids you are looking for ...
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Gwiz (profile), 7 Dec 2010 @ 7:26am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Ok, I'm play along with this iceberg analogy....

Blast the first iceberg and create a seismic event that breaks off a huge chunk of the ice shelf and then suddenly you have thousands of icebergs bearing down on you.

That makes a lot of sense....
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Anthony M. Freed, 7 Dec 2010 @ 12:27pm

Hacker Who DoS'd WikiLeaks
To see the interviews with hacker who took out the WikiLeaks site, known as The Jester, including two videos of his XerXeS DoS attack tool in action see the following posts:

https://infosecisland.com/blogtag/427/Jester.html
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BearGriz72 (profile), 8 Dec 2010 @ 1:04am

Re: Re:
Otherwise known as 3.231700607131100730071487668867*10^616
-OR-
32,317,006,071,311,007,300,714,876,688,670
with 585 0's behind it

AES-256bit key, breaking a symmetric 256-bit key by brute force requires more computational power than you would believe. A device that could check a billion billion (1018) AES keys per second would in theory require about 3*10^51 years to exhaust the 256-bit key space.

Good Luck with That....
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