The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Interviews Available -- Attacks on WikiLeaks Violating the Law?

WASHINGTON

CHRISTOPHER SIMPSON
Simpson is a professor who teaches about media, propaganda and media law at the School of Communication at American University in Washington, D.C. He said today: "The ongoing information war campaign against WikiLeaks conducted by U.S. security agencies, politicians and crackpots is illegal under U.S. law as well as under international treaties. In addition to the usual propaganda attacks, the companies that provide commercial website services to WikiLeaks websites have been the focus of hundreds of thousands of denial of service attacks and other forms of online sabotage during the past two weeks. In the case of the DNS.org service, these attacks threatened to shut down WikiLeaks and some 500,000 other websites. DNS.org and others succumbed to the pressure. But so far, the FBI and similar U.S. agencies have ignored these clear violations of the U.S.'s own cyber security laws, which usually classify cyber attacks on this scale as terrorism.

"Cyber sabotage across international borders is viewed as economic warfare under international law. It is illegal during peacetime and must conform to the laws of war during wartime. The U.S., China and other powers have indisputably developed aggressive cyber sabotage capabilities, some of which have been documented by WikiLeaks itself.

"Cyber sabotage attacks against WikiLeaks have been carried out across national borders and at a moment's notice against computer services in the United States, Switzerland, France and Sweden, as well as against WikiLeaks mirror sites wherever they can be found. Only the United States and a handful of other national governments have the resources and expertise necessary to launch a campaign of this scope, rapidity, and focus.

"This campaign is being closely watched by security agencies and corporations. Cyber weapons and tactics that are developed and tested during the campaign threaten any movement in any country that wishes to use peaceful and democratic means to change the present world order."

Also, see: "The lawless Wild West attacks WikiLeaks" and other pieces by Glenn Greenwald

Note: wikileaks.org is now back up forwards to another WikiLeaks page. See also wikileaks.ch and twitter.com/wikileaks; also wlcentral.org.

A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.