Civil liberties groups call for end of Wikileaks blackout Nick Juliano

Published: Wednesday February 27, 2008



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Print This Email This Claim shutdown of leaked docs' site violates First Amendment Civil liberties and open government activists are joining whistle-blower Web forum Wikileaks in a court battle after a California judge ordered an internet provider to shut down the site's domain name this month. The American Civil Liberties union says Wikileaks, which allows users to anonymously post sensitive government and business documents, serves the public interest and argues that the Wikileaks.org blackout violates the Constitutional rights of its users. ï¿½The public has a right to receive information and ideas, especially ones concerning the public interest," says Aden Fine, a senior ACLU attorney. "This injunction ignores that vital First Amendment principle.ï¿½ The ACLU was joined by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in filing a motion to intervene in the court battle between Wikileaks and Swiss bank Julius Baer, which was implicated in money laundering activities in documents posted to the site. On Feb. 15 a federal judge in California issued a permanent injunction against Dynadot LLC, which registered Wikileaks domain name, ordering it to ban access to wikileaks.org. Wikileaks' content is still available through several mirror sites, but EFF says the case should warn Internet users about the influence companies have over access to their content. "This unwarranted injunction should remind everyone who hosts critical information on the Web that such information may only remain accessible as long as your service provider or registrar is willing to stand up for you against obviously overreaching legal attacks," said EFF Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman. Documents posted to Wikileaks have had global impact, documenting censorship in Thailand and political corruption in Kenya. The site has sparked much discussion in the US as well, revealing details about the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo bay and rules of engagement for US troops in Iraq. ï¿½Journalists, academics, and the general public have a legitimate interest in accessing the materials found on Wikileaks in order to inform their work and participate in public debate,ï¿½ said Ann Brick, staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California. ï¿½Blocking access to the entire site in response to a few documents posted there completely disregards the publicï¿½s right to know. Itï¿½s unconstitutional and un-American.ï¿½



