no choice but to turn Manning in, according to the Wired story. Meanwhile Wikileaks will not confirm whether or not Manning is a source and also claims to not have 260,000 diplomatic cables. And that's where it all stands now.
So what does this all mean? According to a report in the Daily Beast, it means Julian Assange is a marked man. In fact, former Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg said Assange was "absolutely" in danger and should "stay out of the U.S." Meanwhile, in another report, an anonymous U.S. official was quoted as saying of Assange, "We'd like to know where he is." JUST TODAY (16 June 2010), we were able to verify through sources that there is "no question whatsoever" that Assange would be detained for questioning were he to arrive anywhere in the United States.
Assange is scheduled to give The Next HOPE Saturday keynote on July 17 in New York City. http://thenexthope.org/2010/06/speaker-under-threat-by-u-s-authorities/
To make things even more interesting, Lamo has also been planning on appearing at the conference and may now wind up facing a hacker community who views his actions with, to put it mildly, disappointment. Lamo claims he was put in an impossible situation and is actually a supporter of Wikileaks, saying he even contributed money to the organization in the past.
That's pretty much the story as it stands now. One person is in prison, another is in fear of arrest or even physical harm, while a third is being ostracized by much of the hacker world. We have not been immune from this, having been subjected to a denial of service attack the day after the story broke, ostensibly because of Lamo's loose affiliation with 2600 as head of our Facebook group, among other things. But that is a relatively small price
compared to the real hell being experienced by those involved firsthand.
We need to be clear on one thing. We find it reprehensible that Assange, a journalist whose only mission is to reveal the truth and protect sources, has to be subjected to this type of harassment. Wikileaks embodies all that is sacred to the hacker mentality: freedom of speech and of information, anonymity for sources, and a dedication to getting the story out, above all else. This is why Assange was chosen as one of our keynote speakers and we believe we all can and will learn a great deal from his words. That said, we will not encourage any speaker to put themselves in harm's way for us or for anybody. But we will expend every effort to make sure that they are not silenced and that their message will be heard by our attendees. We call upon
(but hardly expect to hear back from) the State Department and federal authorities to ensure that Julian Assange can travel freely to our country without harassment or detainment. We ask that you help us by spreading the message "Let Julian Speak!" far and wide. If nothing else, the world needs to know that such intimidation will not go unnoticed.
We also intend to do everything possible to support and strengthen the Wikileaks organization. That includes helping to fundraise, establishing links with other communities, and getting HOPE attendees to volunteer their services. We can think of no group more worthy of this level of support, especially in light of these recent developments.
As for the controversy itself, we will not avoid it. You can count on this being a hot topic at The Next HOPE, wherever the story happens to take us by then. As always, you can count on HOPE being lively, provocative, and above all else, relevant.
If you have any questions, right now the quickest way to get an answer (publicly) is through http://www.twitter.com/thenexthope
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
