Whistle blower site taken offline

[subsuelo]

Source: BBC News

A controversial website that allows whistle blowers to anonymously post government and corporate documents has been taken offline in the US.

Wikileaks.org, as it is known, was cut off from the internet following a California court ruling, the site says.

The case was brought by a Swiss bank after "several hundred" documents were posted about its offshore activities.

Wikileaks claimed that the order was "unconstitutional" and said that the site had been "forcibly censored".

The site was founded in 2006 by dissidents, journalists, mathematicians and technologists from the US, Taiwan, Europe, Australia and South Africa.

It so far claims to have published more than 1.2 million documents.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7250916.stm

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. WHAT? Why was it taken offline "in the U.S.?" Does that mean wiki took it off? nt

[psychopomp]

77. We don't need no stinkin DNS: Wikileaks link--->http://88.80.13.160/

Access Wikileaks here:

http://88.80.13.160/

[file83]

80. Pffft...... gone.

web sever is down

[Blue State Bandit]

81. I just got it.

[Starfury]

83. Thanks for the address - amazing resource!

[OKthatsIT]

98. Just go to their UK mirror site

It's ridiculous. Anyone can retrieve webpages which have been taken down.

[Bo]

94. Thanks Psycho!

:-)

[fshrink]

97. Instantly bookmarked. Thanks.

[subsuelo]

2. US court attacks web freedom

related article from The Peoples Voice

One of the most important web sites in recent months has been Wikileaks.org. Created by several brave journalists committed to transparency, Wikileaks has published important leaked documents, such as the Rules of Engagement for Iraq , the 2003 and 2004 Guantanamo Camp Delta Standard Operating Procedures, and evidence of major bank fraud in Kenya that apparently affected the Kenyan elections. Wikileaks has upset the Chinese government enough that they are attempting to censor it, as is the Thai military junta.

Now censorship has extended to the United States of America, land of the First Amendment. As of Friday, February 15, those going to Wikileaks.org have gotten Server not found messages. Today I received a message explaining that a California court has granted an injunction written and requested by Cayman Island’s Bank Julius Baer lawyers. It seems that the bank is trying to keep the public from accessing documents that may reveal shady dealings. Wikileaks was only given a couple of hours notice “by email” and was not even represented at the hearing where a U.S. judge took such a drastic step attempting to totally shut down an important information outlet. The result was this totally unprecedented attempt to totally wipe out the existence of Wikileaks:

“Dynadot shall immediately clear and remove all DNS hosting records for the wikileaks.org domain name and prevent the domain name from resolving to the wikileaks.org website or any other website or server other than a blank park page, until further order of this Court.”


If this injunction stands, it will set an incredible precedent for all of us who use the web to unveil misbehavior by the rich and powerful. Fortunately, Wikileaks is fighting this unconstitutional attack on press freedom, aided by six pro bono attorneys in San Francisco. While Wikileaks has so far not issued any particular call for support, all who value freedom should stand ready to offer whatever support they need.

[panzerfaust]

3. K&R

[formercia]

8. Bank Julius Baer

http://www.juliusbaer.com/global/en/institutionalclients/investmentproducts/privatelabelfunds/Pages/default.aspx

Enjoy the benefits of Private Labelling

Private labelling (also known as white labeling) comprises customised fund-based investment solutions that Julius Baer supplies on a contractual basis for interested banks, insurance companies or companies from the asset management sector.



Nobody will ever know who you are. Now, who would operate in such a fashion?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

57. The rich and criminals. nt

[SpiralHawk]

11. "Smirk." - Commander AWOL & corrupt reublicon homelander cronies

"You noisy proles can just sit down, shut up, and tune into Faux News, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity for the latest Propaganda Specials from the Republicon Homelander Ministry of Trush. Smirk."

- Commander AWOL

[AntiFascist]

37. K&R, it's too bad the Justice Dept. hates us for our freedom....

the internet is the only hope for whistleblowers providing evidence of corruption at the top. Once this is gone, then the fascist agenda of those who would oppress the rest of us has even greater power to take more control. We must fight this decision and not allow it to stand!

[damntexdem]

38. If a judge can order this, what is to prevent one from ordering DU off the net?

Can you say China? Burma?

[peacetalksforall]

89. judic law - like martial law? but with little men sitting behind tall table with big hammer

judic from judicial, judges, in case anyone is wondering or unless someone has a more precise term.

[High Plains]

4. Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage

Most likely causes:
You are not connected to the Internet.
The website is encountering problems.
There might be a typing error in the address.


Hmmm, doesn't list government censorship.

[Occulus]

5. They have contingency sites

wikileaks.cx and wikileaks.be still function.

TERRIBLE precedent, though.

[Davros]

6. It's been archived too (for now)

http://web.archive.org/web/20070810175129rn_1/wikileaks.org/mirror/static/w/i/k/Wikileaks.html

[Whoa_Nelly]

42. And other cover names

http://wikileaks.cx/wiki/Wikileaks:Cover_Names

[MrsBrady]

76. see, thanks for that.....

i was about to ask why don't they have sites originating elsewhere...thanks.

[Mnemosyne]

86. Do you happen to know which language wiki.be is in?

"Deze pagina komt nog niet voor in de "Draaipagina2/Naam boek"-pagina;

plaats de pagina (met de juiste syntax) op die pagina om dit sjabloon te doen werken"


I find the attempt to 'disappear' wikileaks quite disturbing also. Even though the gov knows we archive, etc., still it would try. It is an 'unsubtle' message, a threat. jmho.

[PSPS]

7. Still available at http://88.80.13.160

Still available at http://88.80.13.160

[nashville_brook]

9. k n r for thread and cache link!

[subsuelo]

13. I wonder how long until

viewing that will be outlawed

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

65. It stopped being legal right before you checked it out.

:tinfoilhat:

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

10. .

http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks.org_under_injunction

Read this, still on web outside US domain

[ozymandius]

61. excerpt

The Wikileaks.org injunction is ex-parte, engages in prior restraint and is clearly unconstitutional. It was granted on Thursday afternoon by California district court judge White, Bush appointee and former prosecutor.

The order was written by Cayman Island's Bank Julius Baer lawyers and was accepted by judge White without amendment, or representations by Wikileaks or amicus. The case is over several Wikileaks articles, public commentary and documents dating prior to 2003. The documents allegedly reveal secret Julius Baer trust structures used for asset hiding, money laundering and tax evasion. The bank alleges the documents were disclosed to Wikileaks by offshore banking whistleblower and former Vice President the Cayman Island's operation, Rudolf Elmer. Unable to lawfully attack Wikileaks servers which are based in several countries, the order was served on the intermediary Wikileaks purchased the 'Wikileaks.org' name through -- California registrar Dynadot, who then used its access to the internet website name registration system to delete the records for 'Wikileaks.org'. The order also enjoins every person who has heard about the order from from even linking to the documents.

In order to deal with Chinese censorship, Wikileaks has many backup sites such as wikileaks.be (Belgium) and wikileaks.de (Germany) which remain active. Wikileaks never expected to be using the alternative servers to deal with censorship attacks, from, of all places, the United States.

[Savannah_H]

12. pfft

How convenient!

[cuncator]

14. Bizzaro Land

Someone remind me again where all those liberal activist judges are?

[McCamy Taylor]

15. You can't BUY publicity like that! Bet wikileaks gets millions of hits today!

:applause: :woohoo: :applause:

[annabanana]

18. Well, they can't get any hits from inside the US. . . (NB:

THIS is how quickly DU could disappear, if the powers that be so chose.

[pleah]

16. Only a temporary setback. They cannot stop the flow of information.

People will find ways around this and already have, I'm sure.

[Demagitator]

17. Well , just change the name....

and put the web server -- in a country -- that allows free speech, and journalism.

[RainDog]

19. Hooray for REAL investigative journalists!!

I didn't know this site was around. the injunction is GREAT publicity for it, tho. now hopefully millions will find it, including some who have docs to post about the bushies.

surely they have mirror sites.

the internets remind me of the era of progressive journalism.. Ida Tarbell, George Seldes.. the true heroes of democracy in the fight against totalitarianisms.

[subsuelo]

20. Question to ask: What does it mean for DU?

Will DU and other progressive sites be considered too controversial some day?

How about Alex Jones site? Or What Really Happened?

How about 9/11 truth sites?

How far is considered "too far" before shut-down orders get sent?

Is this just the tip of the iceberg?

[Grateful for Hope]

53. I think this could well be the 'tip of the iceberg'. n/t

[RainDog]

55. the internets are pretty safe, seems to me.

read other people here about the ways in which sites can be mirrored in other countries, for instance. if your service provider decides to block some site, stop using them. when they lose tons of biz, they might not want to be in league with big brother. you can go to a state university and access all sorts of things via their powerful servers. (take your i.d. and get a library acct... again, needs to be a state U, not private.) the uni's would not be too easily messed with b/c of the number of ppl there who know open source and have work acquaintances around the world.

bizzes would scream bloody hell if the internets were blocked b/c they make so much money off it now. if you can get online, you can get to information.

all this does is make the site better known.

don't be scared.

[Grateful for Hope]

59. Thanks for this

Hopefully you are right.

Thank you again.

[peacetalksforall]

90. Out of country means a country that is not dependent on aid or big U.S. Swiss

contracts and does not have a dictator who can be blackmailed by the Rovian teams. It could even be a country who has paid us for to place and maintain a satellite for them.

I think Europe leaders support our criminals in chief more than we think. UK France Italy under Berlusconni) Switzerland, all the countries who are allowing rendition stops, all those who host our torture prisons.

[annabanana]

21. Here's the Judge that "pulled the plug"

Judge Jeff White, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California AND (of course) a B*sh appointee:

[Javaman]

22. LIke moron* once said, "money trumps freedom". nt

[Selatius]

23. Totalitarianism on the march. First, they came for the journalists... n/t

[L0oniX]

24. This is a good reason to mirror websites so that there are so many of them...

that they can't be eliminated. Maybe something like Indymedia would be a solution to this censorship which is only for keeping the truth from being known. Trust no corporation!

[truth2power]

30. Could you give me a brief explanation? Do the admins of a site

have to do the mirroring, or can any individual?

I don't know much about this, but, any important documents that appear should be saved right away to some secure site. I wonder if "geeks" are doing this. I wouldn't have a clue.

It seems that in this day and age, when you can snatch info out of cyberspace and put it on a flash drive, it's important to be proactive and preserve as much as possible for future reference.

[L0oniX]

33. Anyone that hosts a site with good bandwidth can mirror a site.

If it is an open source public site then permission should not be needed only that you give credit where it is due.

[truth2power]

40. Thanks. n/t

[Gonnuts]

25. But... but ... it can't happen here ...

... oh, yeah?

[Joshua N]

26. We live in a fascist state!

What are we going to do?! We have to take action...

p.s. 2nd post!

[Vektor]

63. Welcome to DU, Joshua N!

Glad to have you here on DU! :hi:

[Joshua N]

71. Thanks Vector! I'm happy to join ranks with

such politically conscious folks as the ones here at DU.

[Vektor]

73. We're happy to have you.

Though I caution - you've joined at a time when DU is about as crazy as it can get - primary season.

Don't let the incredibly heated discourse intimidate you. During the GE most of us will come together just fine. :-)

Right now everyone's all riled up.

[gateley]

69. Yes we do - and it becomes more apparent every day.

Welcome to DU!! :hi:

[AzDar]

27. K & R...

:kick:

[Zorra]

28. Judge White is a Bu*h appointed Fascist Judge. Friends, get used to fascist

judges taking away your freedom. Bu*h appointed enemies of democracy and freedom to US Courts, including the Supreme Court.

You ain't seen nothin' yet.

[subsuelo]

29. They hate us for our freedoms

[Enthusiast]

82. subsuelo

"They hate us for our freedoms." I love it!

[damntexdem]

41. The lame duck strikes back ...

and will continue to do so for decades through these so-called judges.

[peacetalksforall]

91. Why don't we just say it - as guided by the Federalist Society which

is going to tell us what their NEW CONSTITUTION says - which will become our NEW CONSTITUTION unless we wake up and keep trying to wake others.

[friendly_iconoclast]

31. Time for the "I'm Spartacus!" routine

I've downloaded the BJB documents and as much else of Wikileaks as I can and
have burned several copies of them to DVD-ROM. These copies are now no longer at
my residence, nor are they in my control. If my computer is seized, others will be posting them on the Net in my stead.

I urge others to do likewise. Chances are that you or I will not be bothered by the authorities, but I am prepared for them. Let them do what they may.

I will email the BJB documents to anyone who asks.

It is past time to let the powers-that-be be aware that "censorship is damage"

Fuck Bank Julius Baer and fuck Judge White.

"Let a hundred mirrors bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend."

f_i

[Jim Sagle]

32. Many mirror/pseudonym sites are listed at Daily Kos:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/18/91556/1784/766/458936

[Joshua N]

34. I just sent a message to moveon

I hope that they find a way to take this up.

[whistle]

35. It would be very interesting to know exactly who gave the order

...to the California judge who made the ruling to remove the Wikileaks.org site. Corporations and governmental agencies continue to receive protection and inmmunity.

[joeglow3]

36. Okay, I am ignorant here

What did they post? Were the documents known to be illegally obtained? What type of information was being posted?

Personally, I am all for free speech, but some of the things I read here make me wonder if there was a legal basis to post everything that was posted.

[sailor65]

54. Many of the docs had no business being up there

The ruling would probably served better had it ordered only a restriction on content, not an outright ban.

For example, military documents such as tactical rules of engagement are not meant to be public record and posting such things is dangerous to military personnel.

But financial records and sleazy political stuff shouldn't be censored when that prevents the public from knowing what the bums are up to.

[Broadslidin]

39. Getting a bit to close to the Bush Family Stash....

:nuke: :hide: :nuke:

[whistle]

43. BushCo, BlairCo, UK's Northern Rock Bank...this was bunker-buster hit

...and now we have the highest levels of government pulling the plug and covering up here! :wtf:

[Demagitator]

44. Following the money makes some powerful people uncomfortable n/t

[Judi Lynn]

45. Thanks, subsuelo, for the O.P., and thanks to DU'ers for additional links.

Very interested in reading everything I can on this. We need to know.

[OwnedByFerrets]

46. K and R

[trthnd4jstc]

47. Hope Someone with Money starts a new site.

Please, anyone with the cash, and the ability, get another site going?

[drm604]

48. I'd be careful about linking to other wikileak domains.

I'm not a lawyer but it seems to me that if you do you might be in violation of the injunction.

[friendly_iconoclast]

62. Actually, that's not so...

Unless you've been enjoined personally, it's still legal to link away (I'm sure that
BJB and Judge Jeff White would have it otherwise.)

My offer on another thread to email the BJB documents this to any who would like them still stands. I hope that the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU are on this like ugly on a cheap suit.

I am heartened to see my fellow Netizens give a hearty "up yours" to Bank Julius Baer
and the (ahem) Honorable Judge White.

Please, DUers:

1. Email your friends who are politically aware and tell them the story.

2. Post links to the mirrors and the media coverage.

3. Download the documents in question, or a mirror of Wikileaks if you are able.

Remember, if they get away with it now, they will assuredly do it again later.

Remember what Benjamin Franklin said about hanging together.


f_i

[ExPatLeftist]

49. I'm not in the US and still can't open wikilinks.org (nt)

[santamargarita]

50. Fascist Pigs! Next to DU, my favorite site!

K&R

[santamargarita]

96. The site is back up!

http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks

[Auggie]

51. A reminder to KEEP FIGHTING for Net Neutrality!

[Laelth]

52. k&r

:dem:

-Laelth

[gravity]

56. I don't think this is an issue of just freedom

A website that allows users to post secret documents raises a lot of legal and ethical questions. Although a lot of good can come from the site, I can see lots of potential for abuse.

I don't know too much about the site is runned and regulated, but I think there should be some oversight to the process. If you leak something to a journalists, the have ethical standards they have to uphold. On the internet, I don't see the same standards being applied.

I think the website has good intentions, but there could possibly be better ways to offer protection to whistle blowers.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

60. What ways do you recommend for offering protection to whistleblowers? nt

[gravity]

64. There could be a team of impartial judges that determines what should be made public

And still allow users to submit anonymous sources. There needs to be someone who oversees this to see if the ethical and legel issues involved in basically violating someones privacy or exposing clasified information.

There are probably problems with my suggestion, but I am open to any other ideas

[Sarah Ibarruri]

66. :( Where will you get impartial judges?

The govt. always wants to protect itself, corporations always will try to shut people up through filing legal papers. I believe things just have to "come out" and that's that. If the wrongdoings of a huge enterprise have to be first analyzed before coming out, they will never come out.

[gravity]

72. It isn't perfect

but neither is letting people govern themselves on this issue. Assuming that their should be some oversight is something reasonable to consider. Posting private and classified information shouldn't be taken lightly.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

75. That's one area where I'm quite libertarian - on the issue of letting people govern their own mouths

and ideas

[peacetalksforall]

93. I believe you are missing the point. This is about whistle blowing.

This is about exposing a wrong. Should there be a middle court to determine if it is whistle blowing or not?

Drastic crime exposed drastically?

Or crime unending?

The practical application of whistle blowing means someone is willing to go through the consequences, but the purpose is anaonymity in some cases.

Should we have crime unending.

[trthnd4jstc]

74. Idea? Caymen Islands. Some Richy to set the Website up There.

Corporations have almost complete immunity from US prosecution in the Caymens. If Criminals from this country get away with using the Caymens, maybe a Wikileaks in the Caymens can get away from Republican Persecution there.

[bonito]

58. Reddit has been keeping up on this

http://reddit.com/

[lovuian]

67. its ok for the Swiss to participate in theft but heaven help

those who expose it to the world

this is crap
who are the SWISS to tell Americans what to do

Freedom of Speech

the beautiful thing is everybody has seen it already

its kinda has them crying after the fact

[micraphone]

68. Not available in NZ!

I am in NZ and our cover name wikileaks.org.nz is not available today. I have emailed the registrant in Australia and wikileaks gmail account to explain/check out.

The usual.org address is not available to us either and has not been for more than a day.

Bastards!

[AnOhioan]

70. K&R

[f the letter]

78. This is wild.. Jesus.

But it's hard to stop information nowadays.. well until net neutrality ends anyway

[Timbuk3]

79. Links to backup sites

Here: http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/2008/02/18/us-court-attacks-web-freedom-enjoins-wikileaksorg-out-of-existence/

[Divine Discontent]

84. DU gonna get shutdown now for members giving out alternative addresses to go view this site

and other "subversiveness"? I can see that as a good excuse for them to shut us all down from commenting here also. I said it before, we really need a backup plan beyond that yahoo group for when the site goes down. If it's been discussed, I'd like to know of other locations discussed.

HIGHLY SCARY PRECEDENT, FOLKS! They better get back up soon, or we'll see even more of this with site not quite as damning as wikileaks - obviously - they started with the one that causes them the most grief - then they work their way down!

http://88.80.13.160/
http://88.80.13.160/
http://88.80.13.160/
http://88.80.13.160/
http://88.80.13.160/

[austinhook]

85. DNS and hosts files

Anyone who is using a BSD, Linux or MAC OS X, or other Unix type system can edit
their hosts table in /etc and define

88.80.13.160 wikileaks.org

Oh, and if you just connnected, or reconnected, by a dynamic (dhcp) connection, check to see if you have a line

lookup file bind

in your /etc/resolv.conf file. Add it if you don't.

What's nice about that is that any sub-pages that are referenced by the full link name,
even though internal to the site, will not be taken back to any non-working dns elsewhere.

I don't know how that works for Windoze folks, do they have a hosts table?

For the latter perhaps someone could set up a public nameserver that people could change to (and override their dhcp nameserver, if it is dynamically set).

This is a good example of why the root nameservers should not be under US control.

Austin Hook
OpenBSD distribution.
Milk River, AB, Canada

[micraphone]

95. Yup Windoze has a hosts table..

In WinXP it's in <system drive>\Windows\system32\drivers\etc folder and the file is called (!) "hosts" without an extension.

Simply add the entry in Notepad or any text editor just like austinhook's to the list and hit enter to add a carriage return to the line. Save it. Re-open browser and this should work straight away for IE and Firefox at the very least. If not just do the usual Windoze re-start.

If the file is write protected you will need to disable this with Windows Explorer (right click file and uncheck 'Read-only' in properties) and if you are running Zonealarm, which locks the Hosts file by default, you need to close it and re-start after the edit.

[lynnertic]

87. I'm totally digging this incredible blocked website. I wonder if they've heard of freenet

[bobthedrummer]

88. shhh...

INTELWIRE Releases FBI Documents Given To The 9/11 Commission
by J.M.Berger (2-18-2008 INTELWIRE)
http://intelwire.egoplex.com/2008_02_18_exclusives.html

[Bo]

92. Very disturbing.....

:-(