EasyDNS Falsely Accused of Unplugging WikiLeaks 267
kdawson writes "EasyDNS, a DNS and hosting provider, was mistakenly identified in press accounts as the entity that knocked wikileaks.org off the Net. It wasn't them, it was EveryDNS, a completely separate outfit. EasyDNS suffered a series of online reprisals as the false attribution spread. When WikiLeaks approached them to add to the robustness of their DNS support, EasyDNS said yes." And just to be fair on the disclosure thing- I've been using EasyDNS for many many many years and have always had great service, so I just thought it was cool that they stand up for the cause.
It starts with an E and has "DNS" in it (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Mob Justice (Score:5, Interesting)
So many people, especially the slashdot crowd, are cheering on Anonymous and other parties who are DDOSing parties involved in the whole Wikileaks thing as some sort of testament to free speech. But this isn't free speech anymore, it's just mob justice and there's no due process in mob justice.
There's actually quite a history of civil disobedience in the US. Boycotts, sit in's, protests all of which were illegal under the law and involved large numbers of citizens intentionally disobeying the law in order to get a point across and show public support. DDoSing Visa's Web site doesn't do any real damage to anything, with minimal financial damage and no one lynched. It does, however, bring attention to the issue and pressure corporations, lawmakers, and elected executives around the world to make a change.
When blacks were arrested by the hundreds for "hindering a bus" during the Rosa King chapter of the civil rights movement, those people were not using "due process" to change the segregation laws and they could just as easily be described as "mob justice" shutting down the bus system in a major US city. If the civil rights movement were happening now would they be arrested for terrorist acts sabotaging public transit?
While I'm not wholly for nor against the level of disclosure wikileaks seems to be presenting I do recognize this as a free speech/civil rights issue and if people feel strongly enough to risk their freedom via civil disobedience movements like this, I can respect that. To dismiss it as "undemocratic" or "mob justice" is to ignore very important lessons from our not so distant history.
Re:"Stand up for the cause"? (Score:2, Interesting)
Oh, well since the US Government did all that stuff, it was done for freedom. Why do you hate America?
Re:"Stand up for the cause"? (Score:3, Interesting)
Nowhere did I say that Assange obtained the documents illegally. They were illegally obtained and released by the leaker (presumed to be PFC Manning).
Should open, democratic societies not be able to maintain information that is secret for purposes of conducting diplomacy and providing for a national defense?
If any secrets are acceptable, then who gets to decide what is secret? The press? A troubled young soldier who believes he can leak without getting caught (and only did because he bragged)? A foreign national who openly admits he is trying to impact US policy? I mean, do you really think that's okay: the subversion of lawful processes in a democratic nation?
Or should that perhaps only be reserved for nations like China, who today are busy censoring any media outlet that is referring to one of their citizens having won a Nobel prize?
Is China going to be a better global steward than the United States, given that nations like Ecuador in one breath offer Julian Assange safe harbor (nothing more than a shrewd political move, no doubt, but still), while simultaneously not renewing the US lease on its Manta air base and instead giving it to China?
I mean, do you really not see a problem with this?
Re:kdawson (Score:0, Interesting)
With Rob Malda, it's more like "queer review."
Re:"Stand up for the cause"? (Score:2, Interesting)
Wikileaks expose corruption, torture, war crimes etc, but it's *wikileaks* who don't respect the rule of law or honor the rights of individuals?
Who's judging?
You mutilated your pet's genitalia against its will, you're tax returns are anything but honest, you have thoughts of having sex with your cute coworker and cheating on your significant other, you drive over the speed limit and fail to stop at stop signs. You don't brush your teeth enough and you stink. You lie, you cheat, and deep down inside know you're a hollow shell of a human being.
We can drum up all sorts of really mundane things if we want to. The thing is, I can't judge you because you're an individual I guess, but the government, holly hell we can judge Them, because They are even easier to comprehend than a complex individual such as yourself. Us vs Them think is really intellectually dishonest.
There's a pretty big difference between whistle blowing and what PVT Manning did. There is also a GIGANTIC difference between whistle blowing and the charades Assange pulls off.