Northern Rock attempts internet censorship
This one made me laugh. Dramatis Personae:
In their legal demand to Wikileaks, Northern Rock's well-known media lawyers, Schillings, invoke the DMCA & WIPO, claim it'll be 10 years in prison for Wikileaks operators for not following the UK injunction, but then, incredibly, refuse to hand over a copy of the order unless Wikileaks' London lawyers promise not to give it to Wikileaks.
That's right, not content to try to censor a blogger for republishing stuff already in his book, they've now managed to attempt to censor a website specifically set up to stop censorship, by claiming copyright on the documents. Now, of course, they may have a legal case, but, um, guys? Don't you think you could learn from your mistakes?
Odds of me looking at the document in question before today? Minimal. But I've read it now. Nice try guys.
- Northern Rock: British bank in a little bit of financial difficulty.
- Wikileaks: Wikileaks is developing an uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis. Set up intentionally to allow documents to be hosted without censorship. And get this, this is the genius one...
- Schillings: Our old friends the Reputation managers with a reputation problem? who used libel law as such a blunt instrument against Tim et al.
In their legal demand to Wikileaks, Northern Rock's well-known media lawyers, Schillings, invoke the DMCA & WIPO, claim it'll be 10 years in prison for Wikileaks operators for not following the UK injunction, but then, incredibly, refuse to hand over a copy of the order unless Wikileaks' London lawyers promise not to give it to Wikileaks.
That's right, not content to try to censor a blogger for republishing stuff already in his book, they've now managed to attempt to censor a website specifically set up to stop censorship, by claiming copyright on the documents. Now, of course, they may have a legal case, but, um, guys? Don't you think you could learn from your mistakes?
Odds of me looking at the document in question before today? Minimal. But I've read it now. Nice try guys.