Apple Removes Unofficial WikiLeaks Application From App Store [Updated]

[SactoGuy18]

I think in the end, Apple dropped the app for these reasons:

1) The App violated Apple's ban on any apps that allows you to donate money for any reason online.

2) Apple wants to avoid being named as an accessory to a FEDERAL felony just in case the US government files charges against Julian Assange under the 1917 Espionage Act. We're forgetting that unlike newspapers, Apple doesn't enjoy First Amendment and shield law protections.

3) Apple wants to really avoid political favoritism in this manner, even though Steve Jobs has met with President Barack Obama more than once. Apple has cultivated a very specific public image and the last thing they want is something that could turn off a large fraction of its potential customer base.

Besides, if you really want to read WikiLeaks, you can read it through a web browser anyway.

 

[hackum]

"America is not the boss of everyone."

Are you seven years old?

Does the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Commitee, Diane Feinstein watch Fox news?
I don't think so. She says Assange should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.


Prosecute Assange Under the Espionage Act

"No doubt aware of this law, and despite firm warnings, Mr. Assange went ahead and released the cables on Nov. 28.

In a letter sent to Mr. Assange and his lawyer on Nov. 27, State Department Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh warned in strong terms that the documents had been obtained "in violation of U.S. law and without regard for the grave consequences of this action."

Mr. Koh's letter said that publication of the documents in Mr. Assange's possession would, at minimum:

• "Place at risk the lives of countless innocent individuals—from journalists to human rights activists and bloggers to soldiers to individuals providing information to further peace and security;

• "Place at risk on-going military operations, including operations to stop terrorists, traffickers in human beings and illicit arms, violent criminal enterprises and other actors that threaten global security; and,

• "Place at risk on-going cooperation between countries—partners, allies and common stakeholders—to confront common challenges from terrorism to pandemic diseases to nuclear proliferation that threaten global stability."


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703989004575653280626335258.html

Yeah, don't forget to close down the newspapers publishing the documents as well. They are equally guilty under the Espionage Act.

 

[Nuvi]

My answer for this is ... Assange, whether he gets convicted of sex crimes or not in Sweden ... he will be spending a very long time incarcerated in an American Prison. ... so long that the next generation of kids, will not even of heard his name ... if he ever gets out.

Julian Assange won't be spending any time in any US prison. Hot headed US politicians can scream murder all day long in hopes of getting some free press and few votes from US extremists. In reality there is not a single politician in democratic world who can take away free press and survive it.

 

[SactoGuy18]

Julian Assange won't be spending any time in any US prison. Hot headed US politicians can scream murder all day long in hopes of getting some free press and few votes from US extremists. In reality there is not a single politician in democratic world who can take away free press and survive it.

Remember the famous line from the Spider-Man comic book: With great power comes great responsibility. If Assange's actions results in people being killed or causes serious economic harm, all bets are off on him being protected by the First Amendment.

 

[Apple OC]

US extremists

lol ... tell it to the judge and jury

 

[charlituna]

Julian Assange won't be spending any time in any US prison. Hot headed US politicians can scream murder all day long in hopes of getting some free press and few votes from US extremists. In reality there is not a single politician in democratic world who can take away free press and survive it.

You could prove to be wrong with these claims. So don't bet the house on them.

All it would take is one attack on a group of soldiers (or even better civies) due to his leaks and the politicians calling for Assange's arrest etc will more than survive the fallout. They will be heroes.

And last time I checked Assange is NOT a US Citizen. So our Constitution grants him nothing. He is not protected under the First Amendment same as citizens. It is nit picking in a sense but it is a nit that is very very likely to get picked a lot in the coming days. For him and for Manning. So what if most of what Manning took was just embarrassments. They were classified materials and they crossed US Borders.

 

[firestarter]

Remember the famous line from the Spider-Man comic book: With great power comes great responsibility. If Assange's actions results in people being killed or causes serious economic harm, all bets are off on him being protected by the First Amendment.

And what he's published exposes the lies behind wars that have already lead to the deaths of thousands of US service personnel, and of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Time to get some perpective.

Democracy needs this sort of information.

 

[iJohnHenry]

And last time I checked Assange is NOT a US Citizen. So our Constitution grants him nothing. He is not protected under the First Amendment same as citizens.

That knife cuts both ways. He also owes the U.S. no duty, as a citizen.

The last leak I read, was about Jamaica anyway.

 

[Nuvi]

You could prove to be wrong with these claims. So don't bet the house on them.

All it would take is one attack on a group of soldiers (or even better civies) due to his leaks and the politicians calling for Assange's arrest etc will more than survive the fallout. They will be heroes.

I think US forces have managed to cause such amounts of collateral damage that couple of civilians or soldiers is acceptable loss if that allows the truth to be unveiled. After stuff like this (http://www.collateralmurder.com/) few lives are meaningless. Politician calling for arrest of a messenger is puppet. Politician actually taking responsibility and doing something about it is a real hero.

 

[NT1440]

You could prove to be wrong with these claims. So don't bet the house on them.

All it would take is one attack on a group of soldiers (or even better civies) due to his leaks and the politicians calling for Assange's arrest etc will more than survive the fallout. They will be heroes.

Um, how exactly would one go about showing an attack was the direct result of information released by Wikileaks?

 

[sciwizam]

And last time I checked Assange is NOT a US Citizen. So our Constitution grants him nothing. He is not protected under the First Amendment same as citizens.

Yeah, about that....not true.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/02/01/collins

 

[FX120]

And what he's published exposes the lies behind wars that have already lead to the deaths of thousands of US service personnel, and of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Time to get some perpective.

Democracy needs this sort of information.

Really? Care to share any documents highlighting those "lies behind the wars"?

 

[Eraserhead]

Really? Care to share any documents highlighting those "lies behind the wars"?

WMD's. The 45 minute claim. Etc. Etc.

 

[jtara]

As a reminder to international readers, one of the fundamental differences between U.S. law and English law (observed by much of the rest of the world) is that in the U.S. the accused is innocent until proven guilty. (In the English system, one is guilty until proven innocent.)

It's been pointed out to me that this is in error.

I was thinking of Napoleonic law, though France has since switched to the presumption of innocence. Indeed, the initial fundamental difference in this aspect of the law was between the systems of France and England.

Alas the press - and segments of the public - have yet to make the switch, and regularly "convict" individuals ahead of juries.

Legal presumption of innocence prior to conviction is a separate issue from the burden of proof required during a trial, which is a muddier issue, and often depends on the particular kind of legal case. Some systems shift the burden from the accuser to the accused. In the U.S. legal system, I believe the burden of proof can be on the accused in certain civil (but not criminal) cases. And in modern England, the burden does seem to be slowly shifting to the accused in criminal cases.

 

[kdum8]

It's been pointed out to me that this is in error.

I was thinking of Napoleonic law, though France has since switched to the presumption of innocence. Indeed, the initial fundamental difference in this aspect of the law was between the systems of France and England.

Alas the press - and segments of the public - have yet to make the switch, and regularly "convict" individuals ahead of juries.

I appreciate you posting to retract your mistaken claim. It really was quite a total misunderstanding of history. Although most American's tend to assume that their country's right and freedoms are somehow unique and original, a small dose of history will show that almost all of them were borrowed from England. After all, it was English people that set the country up,

Despite the fact that there was a disagreement over taxation which led to the American colonies departing far earlier than the rest, most of the American system is just a continuation of the British Empire. America is to Britain as Rome was to Greece.

 

[Sol]

Despite the fact that there was a disagreement over taxation which led to the American colonies departing far earlier than the rest, most of the American system is just a continuation of the British Empire. America is to Britain as Rome was to Greece.

That is very interesting. You know, after Rome fell the Greeks ruled again for over 1000 years with what we now call the Byzantine Empire. Perhaps if the US collapses the world will be ruled by a new British Empire.

 

[Apple OC]

That is very interesting. You know, after Rome fell the Greeks ruled again for over 1000 years with what we now call the Byzantine Empire. Perhaps if the US collapses the world will be ruled by a new British Empire.

The USA is not collapsing ... no matter how many people wish that on them.

 

[Sol]

The USA is not collapsing ... no matter how many people wish that on them.

Perhaps it does not seem that way from the inside of the country. From the outside I see the polarisation of the two major parties, the popular anti-government sentiment, debt, badly handled environmental catastrophes, rising underclass, and talk of cessation from the state of Texas as just a few signs of an empire collapsing under its own weight.

 

[Apple OC]

Perhaps it does not seem that way from the inside of the country. From the outside I see the polarisation of the two major parties, the popular anti-government sentiment, debt, badly handled environmental catastrophes, rising underclass, and talk of cessation from the state of Texas as just a few signs of an empire collapsing under its own weight.

I live in Canada not the USA ... you do know this is 2011 don't you?

The USA is never going to collapse to another nation ... not even in your dreams.

 

[Sol]

I live in Canada not the USA ... you do know this is 2011 don't you?

The USA is never going to collapse to another nation ... not even in your dreams.

Now you are just assuming things about me. What makes you think I want the US to fall? Just because I recognise these signs of trouble does not mean I am gleeful about them.

You do know that someone attempted to assassinate a congresswoman a few days ago, right? This is only the latest development of a growing right-wing movement that has pushed the political spectrum further to the right than it has ever been in any of our life-times. Does that fill you with confidence about the future of the US because to me it seems like a turn for the worse.

The Greeks, Macedonians, Romans and everyone else who was part of an empire that ruled the known world also had trouble picturing their own collapse. Today we could be in their shoes without even knowing it. Who knows what our maps will look like fifty years from now.

 

[Apple OC]

You do know that someone attempted to assassinate a congresswoman a few days ago, right? This is only the latest development of a growing right-wing movement that has pushed the political spectrum further to the right than it has ever been in any of our life-times. Does that fill you with confidence about the future of the US because to me it seems like a turn for the worse.

That guy was just a crazy lunatic ... hardly a sign the USA could collapse

 

[Sol]

That guy was just a crazy lunatic ... hardly a sign the USA could collapse

Everyone who takes violent action against his political enemies is portrayed as a lunatic or an extremist but these people do not come from a vacuum. When mainstream politicians like Sarah Palin are telling people to "lock-and-load" they are encouraging those on the fringe to do something like this. Don't you ever wonder how many more people like this there are in the world, just waiting for their opportunity to do the same?

 

[Apple OC]

There are several extremist groups living in the USA ... and they are also very much armed.

The FBI knows about every one of them ... even if somehow they all banded together ... the second they took up arms against their own country ... they would be Dead.

I really think you are thinking along some very far-fetched logic.

 

[Sol]

There are several extremist groups living in the USA ... and they are also very much armed.

The FBI knows about every one of them ... even if somehow they all banded together ... the second they took up arms against their own country ... they would be Dead.

I really think you are thinking along some very far-fetched logic.

Thank you, I do value logic in all...

Hey, you meant that as an insult! Why you...

Seriously, the militia threat is becoming a problem for the US. At the very least it lessens the public's access to their elected officials and that hurts their democracy. I don't think that all the rednecks will suddenly band together and bring down their government but if there is ever another civil war, one side will have all the guns and the other will be regretting that their armed forces are in Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea.

 

[Apple OC]

Thank you, I do value logic in all...

Hey, you meant that as an insult! Why you...

Seriously, the militia threat is becoming a problem for the US. At the very least it lessens the public's access to their elected officials and that hurts their democracy. I don't think that all the rednecks will suddenly band together and bring down their government but if there is ever another civil war, one side will have all the guns and the other will be regretting that their armed forces are in Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea.

No I do not aim to insult ... for your information ... The US Military is stationed at all the Military Bases across the United States. Yes, some of the Troops are in said countries ... however the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard are still stationed in the US.