Round Two: US Government v.s. Julian Assange

Pamela Anderson on the arrest of Julian Assange yesterday, “How could you Equador? (Because he exposed you.) How could UK? Of course–you are America’s bitch and you need a diversion from your idiotic Brexit bullshit.”

J.A. surely knew this day was coming, it was not a question of if but rather of when after Equador’s current president Lenin Moreno replaced Rafael Correa in 2017. Now the focus shifts to the US and their attempts to make an example of Assange. The aim is to gain political points even if the message to other hackers working with whistle blowers within the public and private sector know it is an excercise in futility.

(How can an American corporation respond to a Wiki attack? Lawsuits won’t work: WikiLeaks is legally shielded in the U.S. by its role as a mere conduit for documents. Even if a company somehow won a judgment against WikiLeaks, that wouldn’t shut it down. Assange spreads the site’s assets over many countries. “There’s no single target to drop a bomb on,” says Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University. The best protection? With a dash of irony Icelandic Wiki­Leaks staffer Kristinn Hrafnsson suggests that companies change their ways to avoid targeting. “They should resist the temptation to enter into corruption,” he says.) Forbes