wikileaks

Ex-hacker Lamo: No regrets over Bradley Manning

Adrian Lamo, the ex-hacker who became notorious for turning in alleged Wikileak-er Bradley Manning, says he has no regrets about his role in aiding the U.S. Army's criminal prosecution of the young soldier.

"Sometimes you need to consider the good of the many versus the good of the one," he told CNET in a recent interview. Lamo says he's scheduled to talk with prosecutors in Manning's case today for the first time and expects to be called as a witness in future proceedings.

In April, Manning was declared fit to stand trial on a … Read more

The 404 831: Where Tupac Shakur will not cameo in 'The Hangover 3' (podcast)

We're back from the holiday weekend and we all had a good time--until "The Hangover 2" happened. The movie itself wasn't as awful as expected, so tune into a spoiler-free review on today's episode before you rush out and give Zach Galifianakis another $14 bucks.

The 404 Digest for Episode 831

PBS Hacked, claims 'Tupac alive' in New Zealand. " Literally Unbelievable" is a blog dedicated to Facebook posts that don't know The Onion is satirical. It's official: iOS 5, OS X Lion, and iCloud. Jeff show and tell: LightDims.

Episode 831 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

WikiLeaks docs: Nuclear reprisals if bin Laden killed

Recently-released WikiLeaks documents show that detained al Qaeda members have predicted nuclear reprisals if Osama bin Laden were captured or killed.

The classified Defense Department files, obtained from detainee interviews at the Guantanamo Bay prison, were released by the document-sharing Web site a week before the raid in Pakistan that resulted in bin Laden's demise. (See list of related CNET stories.)

Abu al-Libi, al Qaeda's third in command and "operational chief" before he was captured in 2005, reportedly said the nuclear device was "located in Europe" and would be used in retaliation over bin … Read more

I'm wearing a 'terrorist' watch, and I bought it for $20 at Duane Reade

Turns out the government's concerned about the threat possibilities of a low-tech piece of equipment--one that I just discovered on my own wrist.

Around the time I started working at CNET, I bought a Casio watch from my local Duane Reade pharmacy. My other watch broke, I just had a kid, and having a watch made things easier: no fishing for my iPhone while holding the baby, plus it had a stopwatch for timing feedings.

Who knew my watch would become this infamous?

According to training document on Wikileaks, the Casio F91W watch was worn on the wrist of a large number of Guantanamo Bay detainees, and has been linked to the manufacture of explosive devices. As I read this story, I glanced down at my very similar-looking watch, then checked the model number. It was different.

Of course, then I read that the document includes the metal-banded A159W, too. Mine is technically the A158W. Still, it's essentially the same watch. … Read more

WikiLeaks releases secret Guantanamo prison files

A new classified data dump from WikiLeaks shines new light on the evidence, allegedly sometimes lacking, against the people that the U.S. government has held and is holding at the Guantanamo prison in Cuba.

The documents, provided in advance to news outlets including The New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post, and the U.K. Guardian newspaper, are classified at the "secret" level and include dossiers on individual prisoners, including their risk "assessment" by military evaluators. They were written between 2002 and 2008.

As of Sunday night, only a few dozen of the individual files … Read more

DOJ defends WikiLeaks probe of Twitter accounts

The U.S. Justice Department today dismissed as "absurd" any privacy and free speech concerns about its request for access to the Twitter accounts of WikiLeaks volunteers.

In a 32-page brief filed in federal court in Virginia, prosecutors characterized their request for a court order as a "routine compelled disclosure" that raises no constitutional issues.

These types of records "are widely subpoenaed by grand juries without raising 'chilling effects,' or occasioning constitutional litigation and delays," prosecutors wrote. Any claim that Twitter's logs "are subject to heightened protections under the First Amendment is … Read more

The 404 792: Where we do that voodoo that we do (podcast)

Natali Morris fills in for Wilson Tang today and assures our mutual destruction when she "accidentally" spills hot water on the mixer console...the rest of the show is spent worrying about spontaneous electrocution, but we manage to fit in a handful of stories about 3D Lego printing, the strange trend of unboxing videos, our favorite April Fools' tech product, and the ongoing Porn Wiki Leaks fallout.

The 404 Digest for Episode 792

Customize your own Lego sets using 3D printing, coming soon. MakerBot specializes in consumer-level 3D printers. Only you can prevent lame unboxing videos. Another Windows 7 tablet, and a Windows 8 tablet coming soon after--why? RE35 turns any 35mm film camera into a digital sensor (4/1).

Porn Wiki Leaks reveals the personal information of 15,000 stars. One box of Lucky Charms cereal, hold the cereal. Amazon.com sells Rice Krispies Treats Cereal for less than retail value. This might be the perfect cereal bowl to solve all your soggy problems.

Episode 792 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

PornWikiLeaks reveals identities of porn stars

For some reason, I am reminded of Eric Schmidt's dictum.

You know, the one that went something like: "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."

It comes to mind because someone whose motivations seem slightly troubling has taken it upon himself to be the Julian Assange of porn.

For there now exists a site called PornWikiLeaks, on which, as you might be able to imagine, certain intimate details of porn stars are displayed for all to see.

The site doesn't … Read more

Appeal filed in WikiLeaks probe of Twitter accounts

Attorneys representing WikiLeaks volunteers today asked a Virginia judge to overturn an earlier ruling and bar the U.S. Department of Justice from gaining access to their clients' Twitter accounts.

The appeal, which was expected, seeks to throw out a magistrate judge's ruling on March 11 that granted prosecutors access to the accounts, including information about what Internet and e-mail addresses are associated with them. The government sought the court order as part of a grand jury probe that appears to be investigating whether WikiLeaks principals, including editor Julian Assange, violated U.S. criminal laws.

In a 41-page brief (… Read more