Cap'n Refsmmat

No, it isn't. Anonymity chains in the real world can be broken by convincing the individuals to fess up, and through surveillance. Electronic chains are cryptographically guaranteed to remain anonymous, and each operator in the chain cannot tell who the user is or where they're going. Freenet is similar. Essentially, instead of relying on fellow crooks to keep you safe, you rely on very difficult mathematics. You cannot bribe mathematics. Check this out too: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/28/brazil_banker_crypto_lock_out/

Yes. And forcing rules on the Internet is issuing a challenge to nerds to find ways around those rules. The Internet is already policed by various parts of the FBI and local police agencies, but it is exceedingly difficult to track down someone who does not want to be tracked down. Systems like Tor make it nearly impossible to pin a crime on a single perpetrator, since there is no way to track a connection down to its source.

As pointed out in my above post, it's hard to establish that Wikileaks is actually illegal. What kind of agency would patrol the Internet when it is global, mostly corporate-owned, and exceedingly decentralized? Take the example of China: despite complete central control over Internet service providers, it is still possible to evade the Great Firewall and smuggle information in and out. And China can't get the cooperation of other governments in stamping out illegal content. Attempting to censor the Internet is just giving a bunch of highly motivated nerds a new challenge. It cannot work without substantially restructuring the entire Internet. See, for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freenet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_%28anonymity_network%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I2P http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent_(protocol) Censorship-resistant encryption is easy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrueCrypt

The Congressional Research Service on the legality of publishing classified information: https://www.eff.org/...aks-law-and-you (PDF available at link) It's an interesting read if you're interested in law, and it's not as certain as the quote makes it out to be -- essentially, this kind of prosecution has never been tried before, and it's unclear if it'd work, though it'd undoubtedly be difficult. I wouldn't be surprised if the EFF springs to Wikileaks' aid if the government tries to prosecute it. (Ironically, Wikileaks leaked several thousand CRS reports in early 2009)

Who knew? Glenn Beck is on Assange's side: http://tv.gawker.com/5708677/julian-assanges-sex-life-as-explained-by-glenn-beck We have no way of knowing whether the story he tells is entirely true -- it's based off of a few details that have leaked, some online investigations, and rumors -- but Mr Beck sure has fun with it.

Yeah. In fact, the idea of some offshore haven for secret data sounds a lot like the plot of Cryptonomicon. The Wau Holland Foundation, which technically ran the Wikileaks PayPal account, is apparently now taking legal action against PayPal to get their money back, and to retract their "libel" (e.g. claiming that Wau Holland promotes illegal activities). This is getting very interesting overall. I wonder if Wikileaks will last long enough to make another leak -- and if so, what the reaction will be then. I mean, suppose it is a banking leak like they promise, and it actually reveals genuine wrongdoing? Will we demand the shutdown of Wikileaks or will we go charging after the banks? The public already hates the banks, and (some of) the public hates Wikileaks. Who do they hate more? Would be fun to see...

That's "Anonymous" for you. Bored people on the Internet have nothing better to do and decide to carry out their vendettas. This is what happened a year or two ago with Scientology, when Australia began blacklisting certain websites, and so on. Don't think Wikileaks organized this, though. This is 4chan at its finest. Well now, more food for the conspiracy theorists. A few days after Wikileaks' donations are cut off by Paypal, Visa and Mastercard, comes this from the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-us-russia-visa-mastercard

Indeed. That idea was abandoned with the introduction of quantum mechanics around 1925. See this article: http://en.wikipedia..../Atomic_orbital No need to invoke God when quantum mechanics explains it in much greater (experimentally verified) detail.

Hasn't released anything yet, despite his arrest, and I believe I read that he's not intending to release it yet. Furthermore, the nature of the file is unknown: the Guardian (which has strong ties to Assange) just says it contains the remaining unreleased cables. http://www.guardian....rest?CMP=twt_gu Nowhere has Assange come out to say "We have documents that will destroy America!" We can speculate, though... The fact that Assange turned himself in to authorities should say something about whether he's making up his own law here. I don't think you can establish that 300M lives are at risk. In fact, it's hard to establish that anyone has been harmed so far by Wikileaks: http://www.miamihera...s-releases.html Dunno. Getting his whistle blown seems to have gotten him into a lot of trouble in Sweden.

Yes they can. http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/ad-hominem-tu-quoque.html Interesting article about the accusations, the accusers, and the Internet response: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/07/rape-claims-julian-assange

States will arrest people on behalf of other states, yes. The FBI becomes involved in cross-state kidnappings or cases where crimes were committed across state lines.

Which laws has he made up? He probably doesn't. After all, he's releasing 250,000 cables. Each cable is not evidence of a personal vendetta over the issues discussed in that cable. Somewhere in the 250,000 cables might be one arguing in favor of freedom of press in a particular country, but Assange's leak of that cable doesn't mean he opposes the freedom of press. It's part of a larger leak.

Most of the time, the Sheriff will just pay to have him stuffed and mounted for you. Sort of a trophy.

All we have is a very old smoothbore musket. Not sure December is the best time for hunting. But in our neighborhood, I could just sit on the back patio and pick off the deer... This would be awesome.

Assange has turned himself in and has now been remanded in custody: Wikileaks has responded by saying that releases will continue.

Right. Winter break is coming. It's a month long. I have a few books to read, a few things to fix on SFN, a poetry generator to fix up, but nothing that'll occupy me full time for the entire break. So. What should I do? Give me a: Book to read Thingy to build Hobby to start Program to program Book to write I have limited access to transportation (family car) and a small budget. Make a suggestion and have the satisfaction of knowing you've determined how I stave off boredom-inspired insanity!

Currently reading Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved, by Frans de Waal and others. It's really an excellent read for people interested in morality and how it might have evolved. It starts with an essay by de Waal, who is a leading primate researcher, continues with four essay responses criticizing and expanding upon de Waal's points, and finally ends with a response by de Waal. I'm about halfway through, and while it's pretty philosophical at times, it's interesting and it makes you look at morality in a different way.

I just tried this in Mathematica and apparently it can't be solved without using this function: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/LambertW-Function.html

There's sort of a weird sense of below-0K temperatures, though it's not really "colder." See the following article: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20827893.500-how-to-create-temperatures-below-absolute-zero.html

We've got a discussion going about their latest release, plus one about the criminal charges against Assange, though I recognize you won't be able to participate there until you have 30 posts. This being the Computer Science section, though, I can bring up what I find most fascinating about Wikileaks: this is the beginning of many similar sites and leaks. Now the world knows that it's possible, with encryption and technology, to securely and anonymously leak all sorts of secrets to the world. Even if Assange is arrested, Wikileaks shut down, and new legislation enacted, there's nearly nothing that can be done to prevent another similar site from appearing with stronger defenses. I'm reminded of Napster and the early days of filesharing. The record companies fought back, but even with Napster out of business and lawsuits flying, music sharing can't be stopped. I think the same goes for Wikileaks. The technology can't be uninvented.

This argument is moot, considering that he's agreed to meet with the police rather than continuing to hide. I think he's reckoned they'd arrest him anyway, so it's best he meet them on his own terms.

You'd either need a table of logarithms or a calculator. Numerically calculating a logarithm by hand is hard.

Apparently he's arranging to meet with the police for an interview of some sort, now that the warrant has been received: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11932442 Incidentally, Assange's lawyer needs a new hairstyle.

Technical reasons. The system can't actually track whether you've read each of the items on the list, so it knocks them out in one go instead.

Apparently, British police have finally received a correctly-filled-out arrest warrant, and may arrest Assange soon: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11930488 One wonders, though. It's taken two or three tries for the British to accept the arrest warrant. Either (a) the Brits are sticklers for detail or (b ) they're not very enthusiastic about extraditing him. I guess we'll see; it's pretty late in the afternoon now in the UK, but they might pick him up tonight or tomorrow.