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View Full Version : Talked, blogged or posted Wikileaks? You committed a felony under the Espionage Act.




Anti Federalist
12-18-2010, 08:28 PM
This is another "gotcha" story to be waved under the nose of those among us who think that some of us are not "being rational", and are too "conspiratorial minded".

It's not paranoia if they really are coming to get you.



Espionage Act makes felons of us all

http://blogs.computerworld.com/17521/espionage_act_makes_felons_of_us_all

Dear Americans: If you are not "authorized" personnel, but you have read, written about, commented upon, tweeted, spread links by "liking" on Facebook, shared by email, or otherwise discussed "classified" information disclosed from WikiLeaks, you could be implicated for crimes under the U.S. Espionage Act -- or so warns a legal expert who said the U.S. Espionage Act could make "felons of us all."

As the U.S. Justice Department works on a legal case against WikiLeak's Julian Assange for his role in helping publish 250,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables, authorities are leaning toward charging Assange with spying under the Espionage Act of 1917. Legal experts warn that if there is an indictment under the Espionage Act, then any citizen who has discussed or accessed "classified" information can be arrested on "national security" grounds.

According to the Act, anyone "having unauthorized possession of, access to....information relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense" which "could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation" and "willfully retains" that information, can be fined or imprisoned "not more than ten years, or both."

Benjamin Wittes, who specializes in legal affairs, blogged, "By its terms, it criminalizes not merely the disclosure of national defense information by organizations such as Wikileaks, but also the reporting on that information by countless news organizations. It also criminalizes all casual discussions of such disclosures by persons not authorized to receive them to other persons not authorized to receive them-in other words, all tweets sending around those countless news stories, all blogging on them, and all dinner party conversations about their contents. Taken at its word, the Espionage Act makes felons of us all."

This may be why the State Department has warned certain people not to read or to discuss WikiLeak content on social media -- not unless they wished to be considered a security risk. CNN reported that "unauthorized federal workers and contractors have been warned not to attempt to read the classified documents on WikiLeaks." According to the recently hacked Gawker, an anonymous tip revealed that the U.S. military warned soldiers not to read "about the Wikileaks disclosures-or read coverage of them in mainstream news sites." Even students at Columbia University that might wish to be hired by the State Department were warned not to comment upon or post links to the WikiLeak cables.

Although Cablegate and the leaked secret cables might be embarrassing for the government, Wittes noted that the majority of them don't contain information that directly relates to "national defense." The Espionage Act does not "cover the overwhelming bulk of the material that Wikileaks disclosed," he stated.

A recent report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) suggests that there may be sufficient legal precedent to keep the news media from being held liable. The EFF stated, in an effort to oppose online censorship, that the CRS is a "must read" for anyone who reports on, mirrors or hosts the U.S. diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks. "Hopefully, this information will help counter much of the fear that our government's so-called 'war' against Wikileaks has generated."

QueenB4Liberty
12-18-2010, 08:31 PM
*Shrugs* Oh well. It's just another notch in the belt for most of us, I'm sure.

But really, what are they going to do? Come and get us all? Realistically?

Anti Federalist
12-18-2010, 08:35 PM
*Shrugs* Oh well. It's just another notch in the belt for most of us, I'm sure.

But really, what are they going to do? Come and get us all? Realistically?

No, they will come and "get" enough mid levels folks and turn them into "unpersons" so as to make the rest grovel in fear, never knowing if tonight is the night of the 0400 SWAT/DHS raid.

libertybrewcity
12-18-2010, 09:11 PM
all they need to do is invade one persons house and put them in jail, get it in the media to scare the shit out of the average internet user.

Kylie
12-18-2010, 09:21 PM
Fuck em.

They can't house or kill us all. If they could, they would have already done it.

QueenB4Liberty
12-18-2010, 09:30 PM
Fuck em.

They can't house or kill us all. If they could, they would have already done it.

This is how I'm feeling.

KCIndy
12-18-2010, 09:32 PM
Well, I wish I could say that if everyone is a criminal, "they" can't build a prison big enough to hold the entire population....

I really WISH I could say that.

Damn, how I wish I could say that... :(

QueenB4Liberty
12-18-2010, 09:34 PM
Well, I wish I could say that if everyone is a criminal, "they" can't build a prison big enough to hold the entire population....

I really WISH I could say that.

Damn, how I wish I could say that... :(

We're already living in a police state.

speciallyblend
12-18-2010, 09:40 PM
felon by proxy

KCIndy
12-18-2010, 09:46 PM
We're already living in a police state.

My point exactly.

Jandrsn21
12-18-2010, 09:51 PM
No, they will come and "get" enough mid levels folks and turn them into "unpersons" so as to make the rest grovel in fear, never knowing if tonight is the night of the 0400 SWAT/DHS raid.

I think that is an interesting point. Most of this is just psychological. To be honest there are 300 million+ in this country and keeping all of us from talking about or spreading this information is impossible , and they know that. Fear tactics, plain and simple.

Jandrsn21
12-18-2010, 09:52 PM
all they need to do is invade one persons house and put them in jail, get it in the media to scare the shit out of the average internet user.

IMO, this has nothing to do with the average internet user. This scare tactic is targeted at good people in the government and media that would expose wrong doing by corrupt groups in the government and business.

Edit, this maybe a beta test to see how people respond to the government's attempt to censor the media and the public. If the media censors itself and the people stop talking about it over the internet, then they win round 1, if the opposite occurs then we watch for the gauntlet to tighten. Either way bumpy roads ahead for free speech and the freedom of the internet.

Anti Federalist
12-18-2010, 10:53 PM
I think that is an interesting point. Most of this is just psychological. To be honest there are 300 million+ in this country and keeping all of us from talking about or spreading this information is impossible , and they know that. Fear tactics, plain and simple.

There is a passage in 1984 where Winston Smith is considering how constant the thought police's surveillance is.

While it was conceivable that they were listening to everybody, all the time, the fact is, they did not have to.

Just the knowledge that they may be, at any time, unknown to you, was enough to self censor and "toe the line".

libertybrewcity
12-18-2010, 10:56 PM
IMO, this has nothing to do with the average internet user. This scare tactic is targeted at good people in the government and media that would expose wrong doing by corrupt groups in the government and business.

Edit, this maybe a beta test to see how people respond to the government's attempt to censor the media and the public. If the media censors itself and the people stop talking about it over the internet, then they win round 1, if the opposite occurs then we watch for the gauntlet to tighten. Either way bumpy roads ahead for free speech and the freedom of the internet.

It is aimed at everyone. They not only do not want anymore leaks, but they don't want anyone to talk about it. They are trying to control the spread of information, but it will ultimately fail as it always has.

Anti Federalist
12-18-2010, 11:25 PM
It is aimed at everyone. They not only do not want anymore leaks, but they don't want anyone to talk about it. They are trying to control the spread of information, but it will ultimately fail as it always has.

Not to be harsh here, but that's a way too lackadaisical attitude to have.

Yeah, it will fail, yeah they can't put all of us in jail, but they can make life a living hell while they try, and that might take years, decades, unless we stand up and holler and scream blue murder now!