wikileaks

DOJ wins access to WikiLeaks-related Twitter accounts

A federal judge in Virginia today granted federal prosecutors access to WikiLeaks-related Twitter accounts, including information about what Internet and e-mail addresses are associated with them.

The 20-page ruling represents a clear victory for the U.S. Department of Justice, which sought the court order as part of a grand jury probe that appears to be investigating whether WikiLeaks principals, including editor Julian Assange, violated American criminal laws.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan rejected arguments raised by the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and a host of private attorneys representing the Twitter account holders, who had asserted that their … Read more

A camera you can sit on

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

The iPad 2 has a faster processor and updated specs.

RIM's BlackBerry Playbook is rumored to come out next month.

Nintendo 3DS gets Netflix.

Mobile editing in Google Docs now supports 45 languages.

The Olympus TOUGH TG-810 is crushproof at up to 220 pounds.

Manning hit with 22 additional criminal charges

Alleged WikiLeaks leaker Bradley Manning is facing 22 additional criminal charges, including one that involves the death penalty, the U.S. military said today.

These add to the charges already pending against the U.S. Army private suspected of being the source for WikiLeaks' massive document dumps of military and State Department files. Manning is currently being held at a military jail in Quantico, Va., outside of Washington, D.C.

Manning was originally charged last July with sending a military video to a person not authorized to receive it and with obtaining "more than 150,000 diplomatic cables" … Read more

National iPad 2 day

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Apple gets ready to announce the iPad 2

Verizon's unlimited data plan will end this summer

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize

Facebook purchases a group messaging system

Lenovo shows off an eyeball-controlled laptop

Amazon threatens to shut down California affiliates based on a proposed tax law

Angry Birds St. Patrick's Day will launch March 22

WikiLeaks, Net nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

WikiLeaks and the Internet are among the 241 nominees for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel nomination comes as Julian Assange, the spokesman for the secret-sharing site, is facing possible extradition to Sweden on sex-related charges, and a criminal probe on likely espionage charges is underway in the Washington, D.C., area.

Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize may come from any professor of "social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology," in addition to national governments and former Nobel Peace Prize recipients, under the rules of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Previous Nobel Peace Prize winners have included … Read more

Witness: Assange's version of events needed to be heard

Julian Assange should have been arrested in Sweden as soon as a prosecutor there decided he should be questioned on rape allegations, according to a defense witness in the WikiLeaks editor's ongoing extradition hearing.

Sven-Erik Alhem, a former Swedish prosecutor, told the second day of the hearing at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court that Assange should have been allowed to give his version of events once it was alleged that he had had coercive sex with two women.

"When [prosecutor] Marianne Ny decided to change the original decision not to prosecute [for rape]... in my opinion she should have made … Read more

Assange extradition hearing kicks off in London

A two-day hearing has begun in London to determine whether WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden for questioning on sex-crime allegations.

On Monday, Assange appeared at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in Woolwich before district judge Howard Riddle. Lawyers for both sides presented their opening arguments in the extradition hearing, which has attracted conspiracy theories suggesting the US government is working through the Swedish authorities to bring Assange into its jurisdiction.

Defense barrister Geoffrey Robertson told the court that Assange would face a closed hearing in Sweden if extradited, as is customary in rape trials there.

"The Swedish … Read more

U.S. defended Egyptian activist's YouTube videos

U.S. State Department officials successfully pressured Google to restore a YouTube video showing torture and murder by Egypt's state police, a WikiLeaks cable reveals.

The Cairo embassy and the State Department's bureau of democracy, human rights, and labor "worked to convince Google to restore" a prominent blogger's account that was suspended in late 2007, the recently released cable says.

Nearly a year later, the same blogger contacted the State Department to report that "YouTube removed from his website two videos exposing police abuses," including a woman being tortured at a police station … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1399: Waiting for Lady Killer (podcast)

Warning: today's show is slightly shorter than usual, thanks to our live coverage of Google's Honeycomb, Android Market, and Lady Killer event. But it's worth it: we break down the big announcements from Google, talk about the launch of The Daily, Egypt's restoration of Internet service, and the TSA planning to show slightly less junk than before. Thanks, guys. --Molly

FBI issues warrants over pro-WikiLeaks attacks

The FBI is on the hunt for the hackers responsible for a recent wave of cyberattacks launched in defense of WikiLeaks.

FBI agents yesterday executed more than 40 search warrants in the United States as part of their ongoing investigation. Pointing to the group Anonymous, which has taken responsibility for the attacks, the FBI said that the distributed denial of service (DDoS) assaults were facilitated by software the group makes available as free downloads.

Late last year, PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and other companies were hit by DDoS attacks triggered by activists in support of WikiLeaks after the companies cut off … Read more