Protecting State Secrets Through Copyright 142
An anonymous reader writes "The United States has pursued Bradley Manning with full force for his role in supplying classified documents to WikiLeaks, in part because of the substantial difficulty in going after the organization directly. Criminal statutes generally deployed against those who leak classified government documents — such as the Espionage Act of 1917 — are ill-equipped to prosecute third-party international distribution organizations like WikiLeaks. One potential tool that could be used to prosecute WikiLeaks is copyright law. The use of copyright law in this context has rarely been mentioned, and when it has, the approach has been largely derided by experts, who decry it as contrary to the purposes of copyright. But a paper just published in the Stanford Journal of International Law describes one novel way the U.S. could use copyright to go after WikiLeaks and similar leaking organizations directly--by bringing suit in foreign jurisdictions."
That's just great (Score:5, Insightful)
Public documents are now copyrighted? (Score:5, Insightful)
You know when a law is too strong when... (Score:5, Insightful)
Ok, if the punishments for copyright law are considered sufficient deterrence for things like treason or espionage that they're WAY too strong. Why on Earth would we want a set of laws that puts distributing a copy of a movie on the same level as disseminating nuclear weapon plans?
Re:Guantanamo? (Score:3, Insightful)
Politicians can't make a career out of Guantanamo, they'd prefer most people not to know.
Wikileaks + Bradley manning? There's quite a few votes to be had there...
ORLY?
Candidate Obama: CLOSE GITMO! IT'S UNCONSTITUTIONAL!!! IT'S A WAR CRIME!!!!
President Obama: See, Gitmo is still open! See how tough I am against terrorists!!!!
Facts can't be copyrighted. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Unconstitutional (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Facts can't be copyrighted. (Score:5, Insightful)
Bradley Manning may be a traitor to the government, but not to the American people.
Not Sure Which is Worse: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Facts can't be copyrighted. (Score:5, Insightful)
Something is very wrong, indeed. Bradley Manning should have been charged with treason and hanged.
I'm sure what you meant to write is: "Bradley Manning should have been charged with and tried for treason, and if convicted, sentenced to death."
The fact is that all these pussy liberals are going to soft on him. Traitors must be punished and executed.
It's always interesting to see how quickly conservatives are ready to abandon their alleged commitment to the rule of law and the purity of the US Constitution.
Re:Facts can't be copyrighted. (Score:4, Insightful)