Whistle-Blower Site Taken Offline
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.
Other versions of the pages, hosted in countries such as Belgium and India, can still be accessed.
However, the main site was taken offline after the court ordered that Dynadot, which controls the site’s domain name, should remove all traces of wikileaks from its servers.
The court also ordered that Dynadot should “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.”
Other orders included that the domain name be locked “to prevent transfer of the domain name to a different domain registrar” to prevent changes being made to the site.
Wikileaks claimed that the order was “unconstitutional” and said that the site had been “forcibly censored”.
Web names
The case was brought by lawyers working for the Swiss banking group Julius Baer. It concerned several documents posted on the site which allegedly reveal that the bank was involved with money laundering and tax evasion.
The documents were allegedly posted by Rudolf Elmer, former vice president of the bank’s Cayman Island’s operation.
A spokesperson for Julius Baer said he could not comment on the case because of “pending legal proceedings”.
The BBC understands that Julius Baer asked for the documents to be removed because they could have an impact on a separate legal case ongoing in Switzerland.
The court hearing took place last week and Dynadot blocked access from Friday evening.
Wikileaks says it was not represented at the hearing because it was “given only hours notice” via e-mail.
A document signed by Judge Jeffery White, who presided over the case, ordered Dynadot to follow six court orders.
As well as removing all records of the site form its servers, the hosting and domain name firm was ordered to produce “all prior or previous administrative and account records and data for the wikileaks.org domain name and account”.
The order also demanded that details of the site’s registrant, contacts, payment records and “IP addresses and associated data used by any person…who accessed the account for the domain name” to be handed over.
Wikileaks allows users to post documents anonymously.
Information bank
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.
It provoked controversy when it first appeared on the net with many commentators questioning the motives of the people behind the site.
It recently made available a confidential briefing document relating to the collapse of the UK’s Northern Rock bank.
Lawyers working on behalf of the bank attempted to have the documents removed from the site. They can still be accessed.
Dynadot was contacted for this article but have so far not responded to requests for comment.
© 2008 BBC News
INTERNET FREEDOM!
[INTERNET FREEDOM]
…IS ABOUT TO BE PERMANENTLY CURTAILED
it’s not available here in southern europe either…………
Another arrogant judge thinks he can censor and regulate the net……….
Governments and corporations who feel that they have a right to conceal their activities from the world are fundamentally corrupt and dishonest. To paraphrase a famous French lady of times past “let them eat crow”. It is not a crime to expose this sort of thing….. it is a duty. The Daniel Ellsbergs of the world are heroes……not criminals!! Had America been able to produce men of true courage willing to take risks for liberty and for justice, for their country, and for their constitution which all military men are sworn to uphold and protect…… We would not now be sunk billions of dollars deep in Iraq, nor would our hands be stained with the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
Howard
This was posted over at DKos on this issue:
“Meanwhile, Wikileaks still exists. Its founders, knowing that governments and institutions will go to extreme lengths to censor the truth, have created an extensive network of cover names from which one can access their materials or continue leaking the secrets of governments and the corrupt rich and powerful. Thus, everything is available at Wikileaks.be, among other names. Let the leaks continue!”
This link will give you some of the other names that you can access Wikileaks at:
http://wikileaks.cx/wiki/Wikileaks:Cover_Names
Spread the word! We can outsmart these monsters!
Welcome to the reality of “Push Button Democracy”…where ONE group or “Interest” has the ability to..with the PUSH OF A BUTTON..decide the availability of, and access to, information.
Now..make the obvious..and TERRIFYING leap to the NEXT STEP..sooo..what happens when Corporations have control of..WATER? and..oh yeah…I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE “CASHLESS” SOCIETY…that will be really fun..when ONE Corporate entity can simply..with the push of a button..render you..DESTITUTE!..so NOT ONLY will they be able to stifle BROAD DISSENT and STIFLE DISCUSSION VIA CENSORSHIP..but they will be able to SHUT DOWN INDIVIDUALS WHO MAKE…”NOISE”…THEY ARE TRYING SO HARD TO DO THIS IT IS ALMOST FUNNY..DESPERATE TO CONTROL OUR ACCESS TO OUR OWN FINANCES..
I also agree with the 1st poster…INTERNET FREEDOM IS ON THE ROPES..IT REALLY IS..THE TESTS HAVE BEEN GOING ON IN CHINA FOR 3 YEARS..TO DETERMINE JUST HOW SIMPLE IT WILL BE TO LIMIT..SEVERELY..ACCESS TO INFORMATION..
((PS CHINA OLYMPICS IS A TRAVESTY..AND A THINK TANK MOVE TO SHOW THE WORLD JUST HOW GREAT A CLOSED SOCIETY IS..”GEE FASCISM ISN’T SO BAD…SEE? LIFE IN THIS DOME IS JUST AWESOME..!” CHINA IS BERLIN IN 39(?) THESE ARE THE SECOND “FASCIST OLYMPICS” ))
Lastly..WHERE ARE THE HACKERS????? c’mon you guy’s…where are the email worms that add “Scary Words” to millions of emails to shut down Echelon and the snoop programs? Where are the private servers that can host soon to be “restricted” information?
Oh yeah..DO NOT PAY YOUR TAXES..TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION IS THE CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS..WE ARE PAYING THAT JUDGES SALLERY, AND WE DO NOT AGREE…WE ARE PAYING FOR THE ILLEGAL SPYING, FOR THE ILLEGAL WAR, FOR THE ILLEGAL KIDNAPING AND TORTURE OF..ANYONE…WE ARE PAYING BILLIONS TO HELP FORM THE ARMIES OF MERCENARIES WHO WEAR THEIR BASEBALL HATS BACKWARDS AND HAVE NO PROBLEM HANGING YOU IN THE TOWN SQUARE AND RAPING YOUR WIFE..SO STOP PAYING..IT IS PERHAPS THE ONLY ACTUAL “POWER” WE HAVE LEFT..THE POWER OF THE PURSE..
CURRENTLY..AMERICA IS A COMBO OF ‘THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU’ AND ‘TOBBACCO ROAD’ AND WE ARE ALLOWING IT TO HAPPEN..FIGHT THE OPPRESSOR!
Wikileaks may still be accessed at this URL:
http://88.80.13.160
This was posted over at DKos on this issue:
“Meanwhile, Wikileaks still exists. Its founders, knowing that governments and institutions will go to extreme lengths to censor the truth, have created an extensive network of cover names from which one can access their materials or continue leaking the secrets of governments and the corrupt rich and powerful. Thus, everything is available at Wikileaks.be, among other names. Let the leaks continue!”
This link will give you some of the other names that you can access Wikileaks at:
http://wikileaks.cx/wiki/Wikileaks:Cover_Names
Spread the word! We can outsmart these monsters!
awesome! thank you sir!
‘You can’t handle the Truth…’
Hmmm … this all started because a BANK didn’t like it’s dirty laundry aired in public. Can anyone find out if the bank heads noted in the article - Julius Baer and Rudolf Elmer - are related to the Rothschilds? Is Mr. Greenspan on the board of the bank in question? How many of the other Rothschilds and Bilderbergs and Rockefellers or their relatives are on the board?
Or maybe Mr. Baer and Mr. Elmer are on the payroll of the CIA - one of the biggest international drug dealers?
So very interesting that this didn’t start with the military whistleblowers. Oh no. The BANKS. The controllers of the money supply. Am I the only one to find this terribly interesting?
Ugh. Corporate State no-like questions. Ugh.
I don’t know all the ins and outs of this case.
But I would like to say that I am fundamentally against complete anonymity.
While understanding that whistle-blowers require protection from those upon whom they blow their whistles, someone still needs to log such information in a way that ensures that people are held accountable for libel.
It’s not right that a disgruntled employee who was fired for just cause can anonymously post a bunch of lies for the purpose of vengeance. I’m not claiming that is the case here, but anonymity leads to abuse.
I have been the subject of such abuse recently. We are trying to form a sustainable community here. We are on land that is zoned agricultural, but some of our “gentrified” neighbours think “agriculture” means rich-people’s crops: hay for their horses and grapes for their wine. They don’t like the smell of hogs or the early crowing of roosters. But BC’s strong “Right To Farm Act” meant those complaints fell on deaf ears.
So now we’re being plagued with “anonymous” complaints to the building inspector and other regulatory agencies.
Again, I’m not claiming this is the case with the Swiss bank. But anonymity can be a fertile breeding ground for abuse. I wouldn’t be surprised to visit the site and discover that we are devil worshippers who sacrifice human infants every full moon — and who also keep roosters that interfere with our gentrified neighbours who have forgotten where their food comes from.
The comical thing is, of course, before their actions i had never heard of Wikileaks, thanks to this attempt at suppression, I am now browsing away at one of their safe alternate sites…
And, based on how slow the site and it’s documents are downloading, I suspect they are breaking all records for people accessing their site.
Good job, fascist judges!
Yeah, if this had not happened, I would not have heard of Wikileaks. Now me and all of my friends will access and learn!
Is wikileaks going to take any legal action? It appears that the judge made a desperate move to get its managers out in the open for a confrontation. Wikileaks has no reason to hide, and the judge is clearly wrong, so I hope this will come to a legal head.
Where’s the power flow in this case (and it’s treatment by this court) vs the treatment afforded wiretapping by the feds.
Let them howl! They don’t see “of, by, and for the people” establishing responsibility for actions taken in their name, or to demark any social responsibility, either.
How might one commence a blog meant to be surveiled. A sort of levitate the Pentagon effort?
Butt hen it might make us terrorists.
It is not surprising that Bank Julius Baer, who’s stock in trade is “private banking,” is the party behind the takedown of wikileaks. Private banking is all about helping rich people keep as much of their money out of the reach of tax collectors, lien holders, etc. The court case which generated the injunction involves their Cayman Islands branch. The Cayman Islands is an off-shore tax haven, in addition to being a favorite incorporation site (American corporations that go off-shore to incorporate and avoid US taxes often do so in the Cayman Islands). BTW: the original name of Bank Julius Baer is Bank Julius Bar.
bobpomeroy: All blogs are meant to be surveilled, obviously, unless you think people are writing lots of crap in the hope that no one will read it. On the other hand, if that’s the case, most blogs are successful.
People once commonly exposed peeping toms. Revealing what is actually being spied upon might educate the public as to the value of spying. Isn’t there a hacker out there who can build a web to catch and id spies?
No. Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but are you suggesting that a member of the federal government who reads something that you publicly distribute is spying on you? This is the least scary idea of “spying” that I’ve ever heard of.
Wow, I’d never heard of this site before now. The mirrors are pretty easy to find. Make for some interesting reading.
The funny part about this story is that a foreign bank and a US judge collaborated to censor what Americans may not see.
What’s the point of being patriotic if our own leadership marches to the beat of non-Americans? Apparently the new patriotism must be international in scope as well?
So much for freedom.
Well guys every time you post the new website, “they” take it down.
I am not as astute about using the web as you all are and I for one would like to find the other websites to see what is going on. Any suggestions?
How can we fight this? When are the people in this country going to demand and take back their rights? This is our country and am willing to share it with anyone as long as they stand at my side and help me to preserve its integrity and what this country is supposed to stand for.
Yes, this country is FULL of its self; however the “idea” of this country is a standard by which we are all suppose to aspire to. Whether we like it or not, the rest of the world does look to us and right now they see the apple starting to rot.
Is it too late? Are we already screwed? They are chipping away at our self-determination. Soon you will hear the crack and the “tree” will fall. What then?
bobpomeroy February 18th, 2008 11:21 pm
“Isn’t there a hacker out there who can build a web to catch and id spies?”
Only if the hacker would like to travel abroad with a hood over his head, earmuffs and gloves to block all sound and touch, with a “knock your lights out” suppository to keep him manageable.
Afterwords he can have some interesting conversations while being placed in some difficult “yoga positions” for 10 hours at a time. If they don’t like his answers they shove a garden hose up his ass and turn the water on Full. Spies prize their privacy too.
Keep your eyes on the Prize.
Pieces of 8.
And just what do you think clintobamacain stand on this issue? Do the little pissants have the wherewithal to demand FREEDOM? Can you imagine being TORTURED in Hanoi and not wanting to grab a gun and go judge hunting? They’re coming to take me away, ha ha!!!
We need to send a crawler over to one of the Wikileak site mirrors and suck all the content down and archive it safely…. then when the fascists pull it down, it can go right back up again… over and over and over again.
Jan Steinman said: “It’s not right that a disgruntled employee who was fired for just cause can anonymously post a bunch of lies for the purpose of vengeance. I’m not claiming that is the case here, but anonymity leads to abuse.”
With the sheer ferocity that the fascists go after anyone who dares speak out against them, especially when they have real evidence, DEMANDS anonymity. As far as being “held accountable for libel”, that’s way smaller potatoes than bringing down the empire. Besides, libel suits are just another tool in the fascist’s quiver to stifle dissent.
this company probably finances military crap
their ceo’s need to go fishing also
I will put this on some of my web sites
then they can come fishing with us
Muchas Gracias Senor’s for the url for these guys
hey first one will be fairtradefish.org and elfrenteverde.org
Viva La Revolucion
There are numerous greedy racist fraudulent scientists funded by NASA and the NSF with strong links to industry who tried to do the same to us. Obviously, they were not successful.
http://www.bccmeteorites.com/misconduct-planetary.html
SuperNova
oh yeah, the fight is on,,,,spill the blood, spred the truth, those chicken shit bastards hiding behind a judges cloak, sad, that they can’t take it like a man, and live up to the truth, with integrity, Adam Smith said Capitalism would not work without morals, boy is that coming home to roast,,,toast, burn in hell, i hope, slimy crooks, been more money robbed, by the sroke of a pen than any stickup, and then the suck-up to money judges uphold the crime, just look at the pension robbery that has/is going on in America,