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Wikileaks Court Decision Reversed, Main Site Back Online

Wikileaks Court Decision Reversed, Main Site Back OnlineA few weeks ago we reported on the developing story of online whistleblower site Wikileaks. It exists as a safe haven for would-be exposers of corruption and dirty deeds, but after it got involved with a bank, hosting documents indicating some shady operations and potential money laundering, a judge in California ordered the site off-line. Now, that same judge has reversed his earlier decision, citing both First Amendment concerns and also seeming to shrug his shoulders at the futility of the move.

The futility factor comes in because the ruling was simply to shut down the primary URL for the site, Wikileaks.org. However, the site is currently mirrored in many countries around the world with international web addresses like Wikileaks.cx, Wikileaks.org.uk, Wikileaks.cn, and Wikileaks.in. So, shutting down the central URL had little or no impact on the overall access to and operation of the site, a site many see as a vitally important tool for ending corruption, and others see as simply an opportunity for the carefree disclosure of classified and private information.

That debate is still raging, so while the site may be back and this court order seemingly finished, don't think that this story is.

From AP

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Court Shuts Down Whistleblower Site

Court Ruling Orders Shut Down of Online Whistleblower SiteNobody likes a snitch, but the whistleblower, someone who exposes corruption, is often held in quite high regard. There's a fine line between the two types of tattletales, but most everyone is almost always happy to see shady and illegal back room dealings exposed.

Everyone, it seems, except the American courts. The U.S. Supreme Court made exposing misdeeds a little more dangerous last year when it ruled that whistleblowing employees had no protection against retaliation from employers. Now, a California District Court judge has ordered the online anonymous whistleblowing site, Wikileaks.org, to shut down.

Wikileaks, which is currently available at the address Wikileaks.be, launched in December of 2006 as a place for the anonymous posting of information by whistleblowers. It was responsible for the revealing of the controversial "Standard Operating Procedures for Camp Delta" at Guantanamo Bay, which exposed some potential civil rights violations. The site hosts thousands of other posted documents, which range from supposed e-mails from U.S. Ambassadors to videos showing a nuclear accident in Japan.

Last week's ruling from the California judge is in response to a lawsuit by the Julius Baer Group, a Swiss bank that was alleged to be involved in money laundering. The allegations were backed up by documents posted -- illegally, according to the bank -- to Wikileaks. The judge ruled that the Wikileaks.org domain name could no longer be renewed or resolved.

Given that the site is mirrored in many countries around the world with suffixes besides ".org," however, it's likely that Wikileaks won't be affected too much by this immediate ruling. All that said, we expect a more concerted effort against this site in the not too distant future, given that the site's main purpose of exposing secrets more less always creates enemies.



From Computerworld and Wikipedia

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