A careful reading of the Espionage Act makes clear that anyone who obtains and retains classified information -- regardless of whether or not they communicate or publish it -- is committing a crime. No doubt, whoever provided WikiLeaks with the more than 250,000 diplomatic files violated the Espionage Act. But so too did Julian Assange. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Le Monde? Guilty. The Guardian? Guilty. The New York Times? Guilty. You? If you obtained any portions of the cables, maybe just by printing out a few lines from the much-circulated cable on Qaddafi's Ukrainian nurse, you're probably guilty, too.

The law indicates that it is a felony to share classified documents that you are not authorized to possess with another unauthorized party. That includes classified cables posted by the New York Times. Moreover, it is a crime to retain classified documents, regardless of whether you share them. While federal courts rarely address the Espionage Act, there are a few decisions that support this interpretation.

In New York Times v. United States (1971), the Supreme Court refused to allow the government to prevent the New York Times and the Washington Post from publishing classified excerpts of the Pentagon Papers. Several justices suggested, however, that the federal government could still bring criminal charges under the Espionage Act. Two Justices warned that they "would have no difficulty in sustaining convictions."

In United States v. Morison (1988), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the conviction of a former U.S. Navy analyst who had mailed secret satellite photos to Jane's Defence Weekly, a popular British military affairs magazine. The three-judge panel expressly rejected the defense's claim that the First Amendment "offers asylum ... merely because the transmittal was to a representative of the press." They added in passing that the receiving news outlet might also not be immune from prosecution.

Even though no news outlets were charged with any crimes in the Pentagon Papers or Jane's Defence Weekly cases, both rulings indicate that, in addition to those who leak, those who receive and subsequently disclose classified information cannot rely on the First Amendment to shield them. Indeed, George W. Bush's Justice Department drew on these precedents to argue that the press could be prosecuted for publishing classified leaks. To date, the administration of President Barack Obama has not done anything to suggest it disagrees.

It's hard not to conclude that WikiLeaks -- as well as the established news outlets that published classified documents originally obtained by WikiLeaks -- violated the Espionage Act. And because the documents still remain classified, any unauthorized person who downloaded or printed them is also in violation of the law.