In an extensive analysis, Gabe Rottman of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, addresses the U.S. government’s indictment of WikiLeaks Julian Assange for conspiring to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a law criminalizing hacking. In Part I, Rottman writes that the government is hinging the case on password cracking to avoid a freedom of information focus, yet the language of the indictment addresses the publication of classified information. “For instance, writes Rottman, “it alleges that the ‘primary purpose of the conspiracy was to facilitate Manning’s acquisition and transmission of classified information related to the national defense of the United States so that WikiLeaks could publicly disseminate the information on its website.’”
In Part II, Rottman addresses two aspects of the charge,”…whether it’s relevant that Chelsea Manning had authorized access to the Defense Department’s secret-level classified network, SIPRNet, and had already been sending Assange classified information for several months when she asked for help cracking a password. The second is whether it’s relevant that there’s no allegation in the indictment that Assange succeeded in helping Manning crack the password (or even tried).”
For related FAC coverage on Assange, click here, here and here.