why was this thread locked?

[JSt0rm]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2125558


Fucking bullshit.


I'll bring it up for discussion right now.

Anandtech Admin
Red Dawn

 

[Infohawk]

Mabye because Anandtech is a business not a wannabe-anarchist support group?

You might as well complain that people aren't allowed to discuss how to pirate games...

 

[yllus]

I'm sure it'll be unlocked after the moderators have their discussion upon its possible legal consequences. Nothing wrong with being cautious.

Ultimately I think it's clear that organizations that publicize information that comes to light as a result of WikiLeaks aren't liable in any way, and that it's pointless to lock a thread that simply summarizes information available in multiple other threads on the site or practically anywhere else on the Web. Thus I'm confident that discussion in the thread will re-commence before too long.

 

[Infohawk]

Ultimately I think it's clear that organizations that publicize information that comes to light as a result of WikiLeaks aren't liable in any way, and that it's pointless to lock a thread that simply summarizes information available in multiple other threads on the site or practically anywhere else on the Web. Thus I'm confident that discussion in the thread will re-commence before too long.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks#Legal_status
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage_Act_of_1917

It's not so cut and dry. Corporate lawyers at Amazon, twitter, and paypal seem to disagree with you.

Obviously people are going to discuss the leaks. Your thread goes further by promoting copying and linking to mirrors that governments around the world are rushing to shut down. It's like if you linked to pirated video games. Sure, nobody can stop you from discussing the game play, but is it really necessary for you to link to it?

People can find this stuff on their own. Maybe if you take those parts out it would be more kosher.

 

[yllus]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks#Legal_status
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage_Act_of_1917

It's not so cut and dry. Corporate lawyers at Amazon, twitter, and paypal seem to disagree with you.

Obviously people are going to discuss the leaks. Your thread goes further by promoting copying and linking to mirrors that governments around the world are rushing to shut down. It's like if you linked to pirated video games. Sure, nobody can stop you from discussing the game play, but is it really necessary for you to link to it?

People can find this stuff on their own. Maybe if you take those parts out it would be more kosher.

It's well publicized that the WikiLeaks had its access to Amazon and PayPal revoked due to pressure from the U.S. government. So as to not appear completely at the beck and call of government they may have spouting legalese about being worried about their servers being used for illegal purposes, but it's all bull until a lawsuit is actually filed. In any case, AnandTech is not in a comparable situation.

That governments are rushing to shut down something does not necessarily mean that thing is wrong or illegal.

The comparison to linking to pirated material is incorrect. It is not illegal to read the Cablegate material on The Guardian, The New York Times or Der Spiegel. These forums are not facilitating an illegal act by linking to a page that instructs people on how to host material - material that has already been publicized by other mirrors and the aforementioned three media sites. Of course, the administration of these forums could decide they do not want links to any of the above on their site, but that would be due to their political persuasions, not because it's illegal.

 

[Infohawk]

It's well publicized that the WikiLeaks had its access to Amazon and PayPal revoked due to pressure from the U.S. government. So as to not appear completely at the beck and call of government they may have spouting legalese about being worried about their servers being used for illegal purposes, but it's all bull until a lawsuit is actually filed. In any case, AnandTech is not in a comparable situation.

That governments are rushing to shut down something does not necessarily mean that thing is wrong or illegal.

The comparison to linking to pirated material is incorrect. It is not illegal to link to The Guardian, The New York Times or Der Spiegel. It is not illegal to link to a page that instructs people on how to host material already publicized by other mirrors and the aforementioned three media sites. Of course, the administration of these forums could decide they do not want links to any of the above on their site, but that would be due to their political persuasions, not because it's illegal.

You don't think pressure means legal threats? Most of the time that's exactly what pressure is. "Why don't you avoid a lawsuit and not do what you're doing?" It happens every day.

No, it's not illegal to link to publications. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you linking to the actual content?

Bottom line is why should Anandtech take any risk unless it's management somehow sympathizes with Wikileaks, which has now shown itself to want to release information that has nothing to do with corruption and only attacking global stability?

 

[yllus]

You don't think pressure means legal threats? Most of the time that's exactly what pressure is. "Why don't you avoid a lawsuit and not do what you're doing?" It happens every day.

No, it's not illegal to link to publications. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you linking to the actual content?

Bottom line is why should Anandtech take any risk unless it's management somehow sympathizes with Wikileaks, which has now shown itself to want to release information that has nothing to do with corruption and only attacking global stability?

No, I don't think the pressure by the U.S. government involved legal threats.

What do you think the difference between the actual content and the information found on The New York Times or The Guardian is? Both sites also host their own searchable database of the actual cables. In any case, do you think those sites somehow escape liability because they post summaries instead of a copy-and-paste of the cable content?

 

[Perknose]

Unfortunately, this action took a little while to come to my attention, and a formal but time-limited discussion is now underway. We will have our decision within the hour, tops.

 

[Perknose]

The thread is now unlocked.