Apple Removes Controversial WikiLeaks App

[llmo128]

Troops killing and having fun doing it? Helping growing drugs? It's like a video game?

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[supershags2005]

These companies removing all ties with WikiLeaks probably has nothing at all to do with censorship issues, most likely it has to do with the fact that WikiLeaks has broken several very severe federal laws. The distribution of classified material, even the unathorized reading of classified material carries very large prison sentences. Which means that anyone of you that has visited the site and read any classified material has broken the law as well. Reputable companies want to stay away from this and keep their names clean.

So to break it down for you barney style, if you visit wikileaks, you can go to jail. I think that pretty much sums it up.

[Lecram25]

Normally I read all responses before adding my own comments...

This however really offended me.

I live in America (I'm assuming you do not) and saw what happened on 9/11. Saw "ground zero" afterward, saw the bodies being carted away, saw the memorials for lost fire-fighters, saw a lot.

These people DO NOT believe our civilians are innocent, they don't believe we deserve to survive. They DO kill civilians... They just try to kill hundreds at a time.

The ONLY reason they haven't won is BECAUSE of the "military-industrial complex" that provides EVERY modern society with the weapons AND defenses we rely on to deter more attacks.

You think weapons like M-16s are manufactured by soldiers? Designed by some military "think-tank?" They are designed by companies that specialize in weapons. Without the contracts for those weapons, or the companies that make them, we would still be fighting with swords!!

Do you honestly think you'd be safe in Afghanistan without a military escort?

America owes it's freedoms and very existence to our military.

Europe ALSO owes IT'S very existence to America!! Without us, Germany would have been the first to obtain nuclear weapons, and France would still be cowering like a bunch of pansies!

I don't believe that we should be the world's police, and I don't like most of the decisions our politicians have made in the last 20 years.

We have things like Depleted Uranium, nuclear weapons, missile defense systems, special-forces, and CIA operatives because the rest of the world almost fell apart. Now they take a giant crap on us, and expect that we are just going to sit back and let them do it again?!?

I say, bring all of our troops home. Stop helping anyone financially, militarily, or otherwise. I say, let them find out how fast Israel is wiped out. Let them find out what it's like to keep the U.N. running, without America paying a lion share of their bills. Let them find out how bad Africa gets without BILLIONS worth of US aid every year.

THEY CHOSE US, not the other way around. We were asked repeatedly, to help the Europeans in WWII, and we declined because of the WWI aftermath. Only when Japan attacked us, did we get involved.

After WWII, THEY came to us, time and time again.

So, while we used 2 atom bombs on Japan, none have been used on people since, the number of people killed is still far less than the number that Germany killed in concentration camps. It's far less than the number of women who are: raped, beaten, circumcised, or have their breasts cut off. It's far less than the number of people who will die if these neanderthals, "who don't kill civilians," have free reign.

People forget what they owe this country.

And you forgot that we owe China and Japan... billions of dollars.

Do you honestly think that we were attacked because we are free and rich? Or because they are envious of us? Absolutely not.

We were attacked due to our constant meddling and militaristic occupation in the middle east and elsewhere.

Could you imagine if the Chinese, Iraqis, or any other nation had military bases on U.S. soil? People would be outraged. Add to that that we're not exactly the most quiet or civilized occupiers either.

Everything that is going on now is built up over decades of hidden bullsh!t on our part. An "oppressed" people can only take so much.

All this American power and military lifestyle is a fallacy that continues to be perpetuated through military families who believe we are entitled to being number one in the world through militaristic prowess.

We can't even take care of our own people nor secure our own borders (illegal immigration and 9/11). Where is all this money going? Unnecessary nation building.

You want a "stimulus" and want to reduce the debt? End these two illegal (Wikileaks proved this. The information is akin to the Pentagon Papers proving that Vietnam was illegal.) wars, bring the troops home, and dissolve this military empire of ours. We cannot afford it.

Wikileaks is providing a service and is validating what was once conjecture.

Unfortunate decision. But hell...I never used the app anyway, and it's not like its suddenly hard to get the information if you want it.



no.

#1 - the government isn't like your mother. it is not your parent and its actions are accountable to the people. If you remove that critical check and balance, you forefit your ability to retain control over why your government is doing. "Trust us" is not acceptable.

#2 - Imagine if the Abu Ghraib story had not leaked. We'd probably STILL be torturing people out there and wondering why there are more and more terrorists growing in Iraq. I laugh at those who suggest they'd rather operate in a world where they don't know what their government is or isn't doing. How will you know if they're doing enough to protect us? How will you know if they're not doing enough? How will you know if they're doing THE WRONG THINGS that will make us ultimately less safe? You know, like arming Hussein in the 80s. Like supplying money and support to Bin Laden in the 70s back when they were fighting the Russians? Like covering up torture (see: Abu Ghraib) or dealing in illegal weapons (see: recent UK-US leak about cluster bombs)? How do you propose to hold anyone accountable for anything if you don't know what's happened?

This is the same mentality that doesn't get it when people said events like 9/11 were "chickens coming home to roost" because they were unaware of the things we (by way of our government) were supporting overseas.

#3 - Only an informed population can balance its government in a democracy. Willingness to hand that essential burden of democracy (accountability to the people and transparency) over out of convenience is asking for trouble while being totally unprepared for it when it comes because only a few knew what was going on in the first place. It also opens you up to be manipulated by half-truths and outright lies. Pardon, I don't want to live in blissful ignorance. I want to live in the reality of what's happening and seek changes where they need to be made so that we don't lose everything we hold dear.


so much fail in such a short comment. you regard "classified" as though it were always being used to hide important secrets when in fact, it's being regularly abused to keep the public from learning of truths that would result in leadership changes. Maybe they should have put Watergate in a classified file. I'm sure you wouldn't have asked any more questions, while also assuming it needed to be kept secret! Perhaps the TSA should be able to hide how poorly they're performing by simply marking the results of their latest screening evaluations...by simply classifying it! Oh wait, they're doing just that.

Airport Security: Loaded Gun Slips Past TSA Screeners - ABC News

Fortunately a little bit leaked. And you know what that does? It forces TSA officials and employees to step up and do a better damn job...and to get improvements made faster. You know what would have happened if nothing had leaked? They would have kept trudging along slowly, like the government does most of the time...and employees would continue to be mediocre, lulled into a sense of security by boredom. Nobody moving in any particular hurry while the risk to the public remains high, yet unreported to those at risk. Exposing things has a way of lighting a fire under officials and their employees, don't you think?

No, we're talking about abuse of power in its easiest to understand and most basic form. Yes, some things should be classified. Secret names, codes, tactical information (positions of military assets and quantities, for example). But violations, misdeeds, shady dealings, and questionable policies and relationships both militarily and politically need to be parsed and addressed via public discourse for the sake of all. Not hidden away and then apologized without any doubt or scrutiny. It gives way too much power, authority and trust to those with the ability to "classify" information without any accountability.

Be upset that our government and military have done things shocking enough or embarrassing enough that people in power want them to be hidden for the sake of their jobs, rather than upset that the information leaked. It's a bit like a cheating spouse being upset that their secret got out rather than embarrassed they were cheating.

Every one of our lives is at stake. Expect more, hide less. Thanks.


ironic, isn't it?

though to be fair, we're talking apples and oranges. but your point remains.

100% on point. And yes on the irony of it all.

What's even more pathetic is that there's a relatively young "audience" here. The future outlook does not look too good.

These companies removing all ties with WikiLeaks probably has nothing at all to do with censorship issues, most likely it has to do with the fact that WikiLeaks has broken several very severe federal laws. The distribution of classified material, even the unathorized reading of classified material carries very large prison sentences. Which means that anyone of you that has visited the site and read any classified material has broken the law as well. Reputable companies want to stay away from this and keep their names clean.

So to break it down for you barney style, if you visit wikileaks, you can go to jail. I think that pretty much sums it up.

Wait what?

What laws have been broken here? Other than the person who actually stole the material off of the government computers, everything else is legal.

Don't you think the U.S. government would have already brought a case had there been a clear cut law?

They're embarrassed and are scrambling. In fact, they're going so far as to get legislation created to somehow stop this. It will never hold up in court though. FYI: Assange has already been cleared by the Australians for breaking none of their laws.

Allow me to direct you to Daniel Ellsberg.

For those uninterested in research, he's an American citizen who made copies of classified documents he had access to and sent them to the New York Times for publishing. And I quote our other wiki friend:

these documents "demonstrated, among other things, that the Johnson Administration had systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress, about a subject of transcendent national interest and significance".[7] They revealed that the government had knowledge, early on, that the war could most likely not be won, and that continuing the war would lead to many times more casualties than was ever admitted publicly. Further, the papers showed the government had lied to Congress and the public.[7]

In this case, Wikileaks would be the New York Times, and not Daniel Ellsberg. Outcome of the case?

The New York Times Co. v. United States ruling stated that the first amendment protected the right of the publishers (the newspapers) to print the materials.

Is Wikileaks American? No. But even if they get shut down, American media outlets are more than free to publish these documents.

What the U.S. government needs to do is figure out how these documents left its hands in the first place and make sure it doesn't happen again.

The amount of uninformed posters in here is outrageous.

[whereswaldo]

And you forgot that we owe China and Japan... billions of dollars.

Do you honestly think that we were attacked because we are free and rich? Or because they are envious of us? Absolutely not.

We were attacked due to our constant meddling and militaristic occupation in the middle east and elsewhere.

Could you imagine if the Chinese, Iraqis, or any other nation had military bases on U.S. soil? People would be outraged. Add to that that we're not exactly the most quiet or civilized occupiers either.

Everything that is going on now is built up over decades of hidden bullsh!t on our part. An "oppressed" people can only take so much.

All this American power and military lifestyle is a fallacy that continues to be perpetuated through military families who believe we are entitled to being number one in the world through militaristic prowess.

We can't even take care of our own people nor secure our own borders (illegal immigration and 9/11). Where is all this money going? Unnecessary nation building.

You want a "stimulus" and want to reduce the debt? End these two illegal (Wikileaks proved this. The information is akin to the Pentagon Papers proving that Vietnam was illegal.) wars, bring the troops home, and dissolve this military empire of ours. We cannot afford it.

Wikileaks is providing a service and is validating what was once conjecture.



100% on point. And yes on the irony of it all.

What's even more pathetic is that there's a relatively young "audience" here. The future outlook does not look too good.



Wait what?

What laws have been broken here? Other than the person who actually stole the material off of the government computers, everything else is legal.

Don't you think the U.S. government would have already brought a case had there been a clear cut law?

They're embarrassed and are scrambling. In fact, they're going so far as to get legislation created to somehow stop this. It will never hold up in court though. FYI: Assange has already been cleared by the Australians for breaking none of their laws.

Allow me to direct you to Daniel Ellsberg.

For those uninterested in research, he's an American citizen who made copies of classified documents he had access to and sent them to the New York Times for publishing. And I quote our other wiki friend:



In this case, Wikileaks would be the New York Times, and not Daniel Ellsberg. Outcome of the case?

The New York Times Co. v. United States ruling stated that the first amendment protected the right of the publishers (the newspapers) to print the materials.

Is Wikileaks American? No. But even if they get shut down, American media outlets are more than free to publish these documents.

What the U.S. government needs to do is figure out how these documents left its hands in the first place and make sure it doesn't happen again.

The amount of uninformed posters in here is outrageous.

You said it yourself, they stole documents from the government and many other people. Last time I checked, that's illegal

[Lecram25]

You said it yourself, they stole documents from the government and many other people. Last time I checked, that's illegal

Who is "they?" Two people "stole" documents (copies were made). Two people who are true patriots who couldn't stand the injustice being purported by our government in the name of "Democracy."

One was Daniel Ellsberg (cleared of the charges) and the other is PFC Bradley Manning.

Because you and others refuse to do some research, Bradley Manning was already charged for releasing the Baghdad air strike video (circa 2007), among other things, in July of this year. He has not been charged in relation to the release of these ~250,000 diplomatic cables.

So again, what makes it illegal for I and others to read and publish them?

The clip:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is9sxRfU-ik[/ame]


Some more viewing pleasure:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah12hQj_iK4]YouTube - Naomi Wolfe Schools Jeff Toobin Who Seems To Believe Pentagon Should Be In Charge Of News Media[/ame]


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM5lhUohR-k]YouTube - They're ALL Afraid Of Naomi Wolf! (That's Why They Cut Her Off & Give Half As Much Time)[/ame]


Ignore the titles. It's the content that counts.