More USA documents get released by Wikileaks

[Bloodstain]

[bleep] USA and their copyright boner.

A yet to be released cable from the US Embassy in Stockholm will reveal that the United States Government was very concerned about file-sharing related issues in Sweden. The US Embassy actively worked with the Swedish authorities to reduce file-sharing related threats, which included The Pirate Bay which was raided in 2006 following US pressure.

pirate bayIt is no secret that the US Government has been actively involved in copyright enforcement in other countries, including Sweden. After the raid on The Pirate Bays servers in 2006, it became clear that the US had threatened to put Sweden on the WTOs black list if they refused to deal with the Pirate Bay problem.

 

But that was not the end of the collaboration between the US and Sweden on this front.

According to an unreleased US Embassy cable in possession of Swedish Television, the US pressure on Sweden to deal with file-sharing issues continued in the years that followed. In the cable, which dates back to 2008, the US Embassy presented a list of six items that they wanted to see addressed, all related to online copyright infringement.

A year later, five of these six items were indeed turned into action, including the appointment of more copyright police and prosecutors, backed up by educational anti-piracy campaigns. Of course, the Pirate Bay wasnt left unmentioned in this cable either.

The cable writer mentions that it was hard for the Embassy to get openly involved in piracy related issues, because most of the press coverage was unfavorable towards the copyright industry.

 

After the raid on The Pirate Bay on May 31, 2006, the issue of internet piracy was fiercely debated in Sweden. Press coverage was largely, and still is, unfavorable to the positions taken by the rights-holders and the United States Government, the cable reads.

 

The Pirate Bay raid was portrayed as the Government of Sweden caving in to United States Government pressure. This delicate situation made it difficult, if not counter-productive, for the Embassy to play a public role in IPR issues, it adds.

Excerpt from the cable

 

se cable

 

In a response to the revelations, Minister of Justice Beatrice Ask denied that Sweden ever responded to pressure from the US Government. She hinted that the cable writer was making these remarks just to get a better payday.

 

Former Pirate Bay spokesman Peter Sunde was surprised about the leaked cable, although the fact that the US put pressure on the Swedish Government was not that new to him.

 

We all knew for a long while that the US was behind the raid and pressured Sweden, but that theyre still doing it was news to us, Peter Sunde told TorrentFreak. And that the Minster of Justice just says that the cable writer is lying to get a higher salary shows that she doesnt even care if her government is corrupt.

 

The cable in question has not been published by Wikileaks yet, but is expected to be released in the near future. This, and other cables, are likely to add more insight into the backroom deals related to file-sharing and copyright issues.

 

http://torrentfreak.com/wikileaks-cable-shows-us-involvement-in-swedish-anti-piracy-efforts-101207/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20Torrentfreak%20%28Torrentfreak%29

 

Hope this gets released soon, or we get more confirmation

[Bloodstain]

Some other interesting tid bits

 

Texas company helped pimp little boys to police

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2010/12/wikileaks_texas_company_helped.php

 

As another poster put it:

 

Well our money already goes to directly killing hundreds of thousands of civilians, employing slave labor to build embassies, torture (including anal rape with flashlights), ethnic cleaning in Israel and elsewhere, the training of death squads, the execution of innocent people, and wow I'm just going to stop now.

 

[bleep] it! Throw in child rape in there too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WikiLeaks cables: Jihad? Sorry, I don't want to miss Desperate Housewives

 

Satellite broadcasts into Saudi Arabia doing more to dissuade youths from militancy than US-funded propaganda

Satellite broadcasts of the US TV shows Desperate Housewives and Late Show With David Letterman are doing more to persuade Saudi youth to reject violent jihad than hundreds of millions of dollars of US government propaganda, informants have told the American embassy in Jeddah.

 

Broadcast uncensored and with Arabic subtitles alongside sitcoms such as Friends on Saudi Arabia's MBC 4 channel, the shows are being allowed as part of the kingdom's "war of ideas" against extremist elements. According to a secret cable titled "David Letterman: Agent of Influence", they have been proving more effective than Washington's main propaganda tool, the US-funded al-Hurra TV news channel.

 

Diplomats said they believed the allure of actors such as Eva Longoria, Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer meant commercial TV had a far greater impact than al-Hurra which, according to one report, has cost US taxpayers up to $500m (£316m).

 

"It's still all about the war of ideas here, and the American programming on MBC and Rotana [a channel part-owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation] is winning over ordinary Saudis in a way that al-Hurra and other US propaganda never could," two Saudi media executives told a US official in a meeting at a Jeddah branch of Starbucks. "Saudis are now very interested in the outside world and everybody wants to study in the US if they can. They are fascinated by US culture in a way they never were before," the May 2009 cable says.

 

A senior al-Arabiya news channel director said US programming on MBC 4 and MBC 5 had become the most popular in Saudi Arabia and "told us that this programming is also very popular in remote, conservative corners of the country, where he said 'you no longer see Bedouins, but kids in western dress' who are now interested in the outside world".

 

The diplomats told Washington that certain themes in American movies seemed to appeal to the Saudi audience: heroic honesty in the face of corruption (George Clooney in Michael Clayton), supportive behaviour in relationships (an unspecified drama that was repeated during an Eid holiday featuring an American husband dealing with a drunk wife who smashed cars and crockery when she wasn't assaulting him and their child), and respect for the law over self-interest (Al Pacino and Robin Williams in Insomnia).

 

In further evidence of the advance of US media in Saudi Arabia, the same cable revealed that one of Rupert Murdoch's sons held talks with the board of al-Eqtisadiah, a Saudi Arabian daily newspaper, about a deal to publish an Arabic version of the Wall Street Journal. The meeting was said to have been called at the behest of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a billionaire businessman and shareholder in News Corporation. The 35% Bin Talal-owned SRMG media group, which owns al-Eqtisadiah, was also trying to win a contract to publish the International Herald Tribune uncensored in Saudi Arabia, the cable reveals.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/07/wikileaks-cables-letterman-housewives-saudi

 

I cut some stuff out, but got most of the important stuff.

[sees_all1]

I cut some stuff out, but got most of the important stuff.

Drivel.

[Bloodstain]

I cut some stuff out, but got most of the important stuff.

Drivel.

:rolleyes:

 

Oh yeah, and before I forget

 

 

The US is playing hardball to get other countries to take freed detainees from Guantanamo Bay . Barack Obama agreed to meet the Slovenian President only if Slovenia took a prisoner. Our Pacific neighbour Kiribati was offered millions of dollars to accept detainees.

[Howlin1]

So it looks like 4chan is well underway of helping Assange.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/08/4chan-takes-down-mastercard-site-in-support-of-wikileaks/

In retaliation for refusing to let Mastercard customers donate to Wikileaks, 4Chan-based hackers and the Internet vigilante group Anonymous have successfully taken down the website of Mastercard.com with orchestrated DDOS attacks.

 

The Anonymous-backed Operation Payback which is taking responsibility for these attackes, has also lead previous efforts against the RIAA. Operation Payback is organizing its WikiLeaks and Julian Assange support efforts through the @Anon_Operation Twitter account and here.

 

Attacks have also hit Paypal and Swiss bank PostFinance and other sites which have refused service to Assange. EveryDNS.net, Visa as well as Amazon are also possible targets.

 

Assange himself was arrested in London yesterday under allegations of sexual mis-conduct and will be held in custody until December 14th. It remains to be seen how the WikiLeaks saga will play out, but it is very obvious that the entire Internet will be the battleground.

I think this isn't going to end well...

[Youmu]

...and once again, 4chan proves their brutality.

 

Why can't we all be one happy family ;_;

[Bloodstain]

I think this isn't going to end well...

 

Anon will get bored and forget about it, then it'll be business as usual for the companies

[Bloodstain]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0xLyoc9DxU&feature=player_embedded#!

[Zierro]

With home addresses, bank accounts, anatomic privates, and Christmas gift shopping lists being the only exceptions, I say [bleep] censorship.

 

But I'll let you be. After all, questioning authority is sinful, right?

 

Oh no you didn't. :eek:

 

That said, I have seen a bizarre and disgusting number of rape apologists regarding this specific case when the charges were less than clear (although they're still partially unclear, imo). I've seen many say that because they already consented, then it's a done deal; they can't give up consent if they tell him to "stop" in the middle of it. This is rape apologia beyond the pale. If someone says "stop" while you're having sex and you don't stop, it's rape, period, no questions asked. If your condom breaks and they say "stop" to put on a new one and you don't, it's rape just the same. So if Assange had a condom on with the one woman and it broke, and she asked him to stop and he didn't, then he raped her, period.

 

I do agree that continuing the sex after the person takes away their consent should be considered a severe sexual offense, but putting it on the same level as a woman who gets gang raped in a back alley with absolutely zero consent is an insult. It is still "rape", but a different kind - one situation is quite a bit more grave and emotionally damaging than the other.

[mikehild]

U.S. to Host World Press Freedom Day in 2011

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/12/152465.htm

December 7, 2010

 

...

 

The theme for next years commemoration will be 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers. The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals right to freedom of expression. At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information. We mark events such as World Press Freedom Day in the context of our enduring commitment to support and expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age.

 

...

 

Does anyone else find this painfully ironic?

[Danqazmlp]

Less ironic than an anonymous group fighting for freedom of information.

[obfuscator]

Less ironic than an anonymous group fighting for freedom of information.

Game, set, match :P

[Bloodstain]

Does anyone else find this painfully ironic?

 

Yes, when it was posted yesterday

[Range_This11]

Less ironic than an anonymous group fighting for freedom of information.

Game, set, match :P

Don't exactly think they're fighting for freedom of information. I think they're just being the morons that 4chan-ers are.

[Bloodstain]

Update time

 

 

Shell's grip on Nigerian state revealed

US embassy cables reveal top executive's claims that company 'knows everything' about key decisions in oil-rich Niger Delta

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-cables-shell-nigeria-spying

 

Rampant corruption 'could push Kenya back into violence'

• Country's ruling elite part of a 'culture of impunity'

• American diplomats keep watch on rise of China in Africa

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-cables-kenya-violence-china

 

 

 

 

And have a funny chat log

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rDQB8KUPLpcJ:anonops.net/anonops/Chat+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

 

 

(Stephen is some dude, Thomas is support for Heihachi.net, which hosts Anonops)

stephen: your customer is hositng on your ip. about 1000 hacked computers, and he is running a sophisticated ircd server on your ip which is listening on port ....

[...]

Live Support | Thomas: he attacks you? with this botnet?

stephen: he has

stephen: but you shouldn't ask me this question

stephen: if he din't attack me? do you allow botnets on your servers?

stephen: BOTNET ARE ILLEGAL AND YOUR COMPANY MUST NOT HOST SUCH CLIENTS

stephen: your company is involved on illegal activities

Live Support | Thomas: and now?

stephen: what do u mean now?

Live Support | Thomas: we allow botnets.

stephen: excusme ?

stephen: you must be joking

Live Support | Thomas: Yes, sure, we allow. Give us money and we host you and we will [bleep] the german police

 

[...]

 

stephen: who am i speaking 2?

Live Support: Your mother

Live Support: [bleep] off

[Skeptical]

If even Glenn Beck understands what's going on, we should probably worry:

 

http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/world-mainmenu-26/europe-mainmenu-35/5432-are-the-sex-charges-against-assange-bogus

[Bloodstain]

 

"While the account will remain restricted, PayPal will release all remaining funds in the account to the foundation that was raising funds for WikiLeaks."

 

https://www.thepaypalblog.com/

 

 

 

PayPal has just released the remaining funds in the account associated with WikiLeaks today, after restricting access to the account last week, according to a PayPal blog post.

 

The release of funds follows a number of denial-of-service attacks earlier this week that were aimed at the document-leaking sites providers. Most of the providers are now refusing to work with WikiLeaks after the U.S. government accused it of being in possession of documents that were provided in violation of U.S. law.

 

http://emoney.allthingsd.com/20101208/paypal-releases-funds-to-wikileaks-as-supporters-strike-back/?mod=ATD_rss

[magekillr]

MasterCard and Visa reportedly stopped transactions for those wishing to donate money to WikiLeaks, due to a "technicality". But anyone who wants to donate to the Ku Klux Klan can still whip out their plastic or do some Christmas shopping and buy "Klan Novelties" like this lovely little ceramic tchotchke:

 

 

The "Knight's Party" makes it clear they are the Ku Klux Klan (or at least what's left of it). They aren't hiding it.

 

White Sheet -- $10

Burning cross -- $50

Veneer of respectability -- Priceless

There are Some Things Money Can't Buy. For Everything Else, there's HTTP Error 408 Request Timeout

[Bloodstain]

Hahahahhahahahahhahaa

 

Some sites have received federal court orders to cease any further online documentation of the attacks, which targeted Visa, Mastercard and other financial companies who froze Wikileaks accounts, a source close to the situation tells us. Among the sites where content is coming down is Encyclopedia Dramatica, which we're told received one of the orders. The 4chan-affiliated reference wiki within the past hour had the number three Google hit for a search on "Operation Payback." It has since deleted its article, though the entry remains accessible via Google cache (NSFW). Here's what it looks like now (click to enlarge):

 

http://gawker.com/5709789/noose-closes-around-pro+wikileaks-vigilantes

 

Can't wait to see what they're trying so hard from getting out

 

Also yeah, refusing service to Wikileaks but giving it to the KKK is pretty hilarious

 

 

 

 

 

Also something another person brought up on a different forum:

PAO [Public Affairs Office] now has relationships with reporters from every major wire service, newspaper, news weekly, and television network in the nation. This has helped us turn some 'intelligence failure' stories into 'intelligence success' stories. and it has contributed to the accuracy of countless others. In many instances we have persuaded reporters to postpone, change, hold, or even scrap stories that could have adversely affected national security interests or jeopardized sources and methods.

http://www.cia-on-campus.org/foia/pa01.html

http://www.disclosureproject.org/docs/pdf/CIAMemo.pdf

[sees_all1]

If only wikileaks could leak the World's conspiracy against it :rolleyes:

[Bloodstain]

Damn, I could post [cabbage] all night if I didn't have to study. Last one tonight I think

 

America: Working with China to stop stopping climate change.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,733630,00.html

 

 

 

WikiLeaks cables: Secret deal let Americans sidestep cluster bomb ban

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-cluster-bombs-britain

[Will H]

The muscle that all of these different companies and services, the things that have come to define our lives in the last decade, are employing according to what the US government says is terrifying. The internet seems much more like a battleground for free speech, rather than a haven of it nowadays. There's a lot of people who acknowledge that a lot of these cables aren't particularly earth-shattering, and they're right, but they're missing where the real leak is. It's the true face of the US government when faced by organisations like Wikileaks. To US citizens, please help stop this madness, the whole world will suffer from it.

[obfuscator]

MasterCard and Visa reportedly stopped transactions for those wishing to donate money to WikiLeaks, due to a "technicality". But anyone who wants to donate to the Ku Klux Klan can still whip out their plastic or do some Christmas shopping and buy "Klan Novelties" like this lovely little ceramic tchotchke:

 

 

The "Knight's Party" makes it clear they are the Ku Klux Klan (or at least what's left of it). They aren't hiding it.

 

White Sheet -- $10

Burning cross -- $50

Veneer of respectability -- Priceless

There are Some Things Money Can't Buy. For Everything Else, there's HTTP Error 408 Request Timeout

I lol'd hard :D

 

I mean, visa & MC have the right to deny service to whoever they want, but still....government pressure or something else seems pretty likely here.

[Zierro]

MasterCard and Visa reportedly stopped transactions for those wishing to donate money to WikiLeaks, due to a "technicality". But anyone who wants to donate to the Ku Klux Klan can still whip out their plastic or do some Christmas shopping and buy "Klan Novelties" like this lovely little ceramic tchotchke:

 

 

The "Knight's Party" makes it clear they are the Ku Klux Klan (or at least what's left of it). They aren't hiding it.

 

White Sheet -- $10

Burning cross -- $50

Veneer of respectability -- Priceless

There are Some Things Money Can't Buy. For Everything Else, there's HTTP Error 408 Request Timeout

 

Good point. I think you just gained a level in Witticism.

[Danqazmlp]

The difference is publicity, but I agree that it is bad.

 

On bloodstains post about sites not being allowed to host news and articles on the anon attacks, it is what should happen. Anon are basically internet terrorists. They are stopping companies from doing business, therefore hurting their income. They are trying to spread fear in this manner. You would not think twice if a site which supported Taliban activities was taken down.