Reply to: Wikileaks & D-Notice

[Sysman]

Interestingly Wikileaks is down. Probably due to the number of hits on it, but you never know!!!

Not down, but extremely slow.

Wikileaks claims it's being DDoSed to death

[MarillionFan]

The insurance file supposedly contains material that they have yet to release and if it seems that the powers-that-be are about to be successful in getting them shuttered once and for all then they'll release the key, meaning the information will still see the light of day as hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of people all over the world will have it.
I've got a copy of it here somewhere...

I could do with something like that for when RealityHack is moderating!!!

Interestingly Wikileaks is down. Probably due to the number of hits on it, but you never know!!!

[NickFitz]

I had the wrong end of the stick before, thinking that a mole had released the encrypted files to Wikileaks.

In fact what happened, AIUI now, is that Wikileaks themselves are disseminating the encrypted file as the "insurance", the idea being that if Assange is mysteriously topped, or killed by a lightning bolt or something, then the decryption key will be released.

Although lots of bloggers with over-active imaginations have represented it as insurance against CIA assassination plots and so forth, WikiLeaks (and Assange himself) have always presented it more along the lines of insurance against attempts to shut them down.

The insurance file supposedly contains material that they have yet to release and if it seems that the powers-that-be are about to be successful in getting them shuttered once and for all then they'll release the key, meaning the information will still see the light of day as hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of people all over the world will have it.

I've got a copy of it here somewhere...

[OwlHoot]

I had the wrong end of the stick before, thinking that a mole had released the encrypted files to Wikileaks.

In fact what happened, AIUI now, is that Wikileaks themselves are disseminating the encrypted file as the "insurance", the idea being that if Assange is mysteriously topped, or killed by a lightning bolt or something, then the decryption key will be released.

[NickFitz]

So, about this Aussie Wikileaks bloke, 'Assange'...

I had a google around, and found that this 'insurance' file was meant to be his own insurance to make sure he wasn't killed by the likes of the CIA, MI6, etc.
So, if he's not dead and they're going to release the files anyway, what will happen to Assange?

I just imagine snipers training their cross-hairs on him 24x7, awaiting the 'kill' codewords from the CIA.

Nobody has said that the new stuff they're supposedly going to release is the contents of the insurance file.

[Sysman]

Wikileaks is probably how they leak things these days.

It's certainly coming from somewhere.

Why can’t the authorities track down the Wikileaks leakster?

It is time to ask questions that no-one has asked yet, about Wikileaks. With thousands and thousands of files leaking onto the world wide web, how come no-one has tracked down who or what is leaking this stuff? This is a lot of data. Data can be tracked.

Something happening at 22:30 CET tonight

and just for fun:

• Rights Groups slam short consultation on RIPA changes
• Wikileaks claims D Notice issued to UK press over leaks - "I am a UK editor, but haven't received my D Notice yet...."
• UK police want power to shut down websites

[CheeseSlice]

So, about this Aussie Wikileaks bloke, 'Assange'...

I had a google around, and found that this 'insurance' file was meant to be his own insurance to make sure he wasn't killed by the likes of the CIA, MI6, etc.
So, if he's not dead and they're going to release the files anyway, what will happen to Assange?

I just imagine snipers training their cross-hairs on him 24x7, awaiting the 'kill' codewords from the CIA.

[OwlHoot]

It's being suggested that It will contain:

a) Comments about Gordon Brown - we can assume they aren't flattering.
b) Suggestions of Turkish government collusion with terrorists in Iraq that will damage their chances of joining the EU.

Both sound like great positives to me.

Maybe, but if it is encrypted as I said, and relates to negotiations with Israel, and the Israelis are being intransigent, then it could have been officially leaked in some devious ruse to scare them into compliance - the idea being that the diplomatic letters are now public, albeit encrypted, and all it takes is for the decryption key to be mysteriously leaked too ...

[xoggoth]

It's being suggested that It will contain:

a) Comments about Gordon Brown - we can assume they aren't flattering.
b) Suggestions of Turkish government collusion with terrorists in Iraq that will damage their chances of joining the EU.

Both sound like great positives to me.

[NickFitz]

It doesn't matter a damn anyway. D-Notices (more accurately described as DA-Notices since 1993) are merely a request from the Government that certain information isn't published. They have no standing at law and cannot be enforced. If a newspaper, TV station, or radio station chooses to go ahead and report on the subject matter of a DA-Notice, the Government can't do a thing about it other than wave its arms about and whine to its cronies at its pet newspapers.

The really amusing thing about this particular piece of stupidity is the way neither side dares to admit the truth of the matter: the Government has to keep on pretending that it's issued the notice for Very Important Reasons That Must Not Be Disclosed when in reality it's just willy-waving, and the WikiLeaks acolytes are desperately keen to be able to claim that they are Being Repressed even though they aren't.

IMNSHO WikiLeaks has done a lot of good by publicising information that embarrasses the powers that be, but it does itself no favours when it pretends to be a virgin spinster crying "Rape!" whilst loving the kudos gained from the supposed violation.

[AtW]

The password is sasgu...

[OwlHoot]

Well? Anyone seen all this stuff? I had a 404 when I tried Old Holborn's link.

Some Wikileaks material is quite interesting, but the majority is deathly dull IMHO.

edit: The link was OK - I mistyped it.

It seems the new "insurance" files are encrypted using 256-bit AES. So for all practical purposes they may as well be locked in a safe in the Pentagon.

[AtW]

As long as the don't leak list of sockies on here with names of real sockie-meisters I am ok...

[TimberWolf]

Wikileaks is probably how they leak things these days.

[HairyArsedBloke]

As Old Holborn saids, "Off you go"

Myself, I can't be arsed.

I give the gov 24 hours before everyone knows and thinks to themselves, "was it worth making a fool of yourselves over that".