Julian Assange isn't a journalist or a Daniel Ellsberg. He's just a 'cypherpunk.'

[Zorro]

They say that guests are like fish; after three days they become a bit whiffy. By this measure, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange smelled like an overladen fishing vessel adrift in the searing sun.

Upon his arrest Thursday by British authorities, ending his nearly seven-year asylum in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, revelations emerged that he was less than an ideal guest. He reportedly was rude and aggressive toward his hosts and demonstrated little interest in hygiene. In his grossest display of disaffection, he apishly smeared his feces on the embassy walls, according to Ecuador’s interior minister.

Assange’s behavior makes one wonder about his mental health. Maybe he lost his mind while being confined for so long. On the other hand, he seemed quite cognizant as he left the embassy, offering peace signs and a thumbs-up to bystanders.

If Assange is, indeed, of right mind, then we can only conclude that he’s a solid jerk. Certainly, his non-fans — including many in the U.S. media — long have viewed him as a sociopathic interloper operating under the protection of free speech. More on that anon.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/julian-assange-isnt-a-journalist-or-a-daniel-ellsberg-hes-just-a-cypherpunk/2019/04/12/93dfb850-5d68-11e9-a00e-050dc7b82693_story.html

[Wellstone ruled]

1. One of the orginal Hackers.

[PoliticAverse]

2. Daniel Ellsberg disagrees...

https://therealnews.com/stories/daniel-ellsberg-on-assange-arrest-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-press-freedom

[lapucelle]

3. I read the entire interview. Did Ellsberg actually read the indictment as he said he did?

I see on the indictment, which I’ve just read, that one of the charges is that he encouraged Chelsea Manning and Bradley Manning to give him documents, more documents, after she had already given him hundreds of thousands of files. Well, if that’s a crime, then journalism is a crime
because just on countless occasions I have been harassed by journalists for documents, or for more documents than I had yet given them.

So they–none of them have been put on trial up till now. But in this case, if that’s all it takes, then no journalist is safe. The freedom of the press is not safe. It’s over. And I think our republic is in its last days, because unauthorized disclosures of this kind are the lifeblood of a republic.

The indictment of Assange is for Conspiracy to Commit Computer Intrusion, not for "encouraging Manning to give him more documents". From the indictment:

On or about March 8, 2010, Assange agreed to assist Manning in cracking a password stored on United States Department of Defense computers connected to the Secret Internet Protocol Network, a United States government network used for classified documents and communications, as designated according to Executive Order No.13526 or its predecessor orders.

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/754-assange-indictment/d093e7dc7982f7fe4c24/optimized/full.pdf#page=1

Ellsberg does note:

But the conspiracy charge, I don’t know if there’s a conspiracy charge in this case yet. It’s Chelsea Manning who gave Julian the material has served seven and a half years in prison, and is in prison again right now, apparently because they want her to go beyond what she said, either falsely, which they would be happy with, to incriminate Julian Assange.

snip========================================

She was in solitary confinement for ten and a half months, until public pressure got her released into the general prison population years ago. And clearly she’s not a person who can be tortured into a false confession. Or they would want her to give new details of her dealings with Assange that would help them in their prosecution of Assange. And she is not cooperating with the grand jury on that.

Ellsberg sounds a bit confused. Anyone who has read the indictment is aware that it has been under seal for over a year. The grand jury's work is done.

[lunatica]

4. If he ends up being extradited to the US

He’ll probably be indicted on hacking a password and not on releasing information. Freedom of the press won’t e on trial.

[samnsara]

5. so if a creep stole my diary and gave it to assage who KNEW it was stolen..and then..

...published on line, is his 'free speech' protected? Shouldn't the victim of the crime get to determine if its journalism or just plain thievery?

[PoliticAverse]

6. Yes, but that would be a civil case. Case in point, Hulk Hogan vs Gawker...

Which resulted in Gawker's bankruptcy...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollea_v._Gawker

[BeckyDem]

7. Parker, a center right columnist

versus, Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, issued the following comment in response:

“Any prosecution by the United States of Mr. Assange for Wikileaks’ publishing operations would be unprecedented and unconstitutional, and would open the door to criminal investigations of other news organizations. Moreover, prosecuting a foreign publisher for violating U.S. secrecy laws would set an especially dangerous precedent for U.S. journalists, who routinely violate foreign secrecy laws to deliver information vital to the public's interest.

https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-comment-julian-assange-arrest

[Zorro]

9. But what is Mr. Wizner's response to the unsealed indictment charge?

Last edited Sat Apr 13, 2019, 09:12 PM - Edit history (1)

From what I've read, Assange has been charged with conspiring to commit unlawful computer intrusion by agreeing to help Manning break an encoded password so Manning could log on to the classified SIPRNet as another user.

[JohnZSmith]

8. -

Assange is a cyber spy for Putin, posing as a "journalist."

[McKim]

10. Grateful

I am grateful that he exposed the pure brutality of the War on iraq. He is not all bad.