[Apellidos] 1

History
Staff, name and founding

Julian Assange was one of the early members of the WikiLeaks staff and is credited as the
website's founder.

The wikileaks.org domain name was registered on 4 October 2006.[5] The website was
established and published its first document in December 2006.[27][28] WikiLeaks is usually
represented in public by Julian Assange, who has been described as "the heart and soul of this
organisation, its founder, philosopher, spokesperson, original coder, organiser, financier, and
all the rest".[29][30] Sarah Harrison, Kristinn Hrafnsson and Joseph Farrell are the only other
publicly known and acknowledged associates of Assange.[31] Harrison is also a member of
Sunshine Press Productions along with Assange and Ingi Ragnar Ingason.[32][33]

WikiLeaks was originally established with a "wiki" communal publication method, which
was terminated by May 2010.[34] Original volunteers and founders were once described as a
mixture of Asian dissidents, journalists, mathematicians, and start-up company technologists
from the United States, Taiwan, Europe, Australia, and South Africa.[35] As of June 2009, the
website had more than 1,200 registered volunteers.[35][36][37]

Despite some popular confusion,[38] WikiLeaks and Wikipedia are not affiliated.[39][40] Wikia, a
for-profit corporation affiliated loosely with the Wikimedia Foundation, did purchase several
WikiLeaks-related domain names as a "protective brand measure" in 2007.[41]

Purpose

According to the WikiLeaks website, its goal is "to bring important news and information to
the public... One of our most important activities is to publish original source material
alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth."

Another of the organisation's goals is to ensure that journalists and whistleblowers are not
prosecuted for emailing sensitive or classified documents. The online "drop box" is described
by the WikiLeaks website as "an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak
information to [WikiLeaks] journalists".[42]
 [Apellidos] 2

In an interview as part of the American television program The Colbert Report, Assange
discussed the limit to the freedom of speech, saying, "[it is] not an ultimate freedom, however
free speech is what regulates government and regulates law. That is why in the US
Constitution the Bill of Rights says that Congress is to make no such law abridging the
freedom of the press. It is to take the rights of the press outside the rights of the law because
those rights are superior to the law because in fact they create the law. Every constitution,
every bit of legislation is derived from the flow of information. Similarly every government
is elected as a result of people understanding things".[43]

The project has been compared to Daniel Ellsberg's revelation of the "Pentagon Papers" (US
war-related secrets) in 1971.[44] In the United States, the "leaking" of some documents may be
legally protected. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution guarantees
anonymity, at least in the context of political discourse.[44] Author and journalist Whitley
Strieber has spoken about the benefits of the WikiLeaks project, noting that "Leaking a
government document can mean jail, but jail sentences for this can be fairly short. However,
there are many places where it means long incarceration or even death, such as China and
parts of Africa and the Middle East."[45]

Some describe Wikileaks as a media or journalistic organization. For example, in a 2013

resolution, the International Federation of Journalists, a trade union of journalists, called
Wikileaks a "new breed of media organisation" that "offers important opportunities for media
organisations."[46] Harvard professor Yochai Benkler has praised WikiLeaks as a new form of
journalistic enterprise,[47] testifying at the court-martial of Bradley Manning that "WikiLeaks
did serve a particular journalistic function" although "It's a hard line to draw."[48] Other do not
consider WikiLeaks to be journalistic in nature. Media ethicist Kelly McBride of the Poynter
Institute for Media Studies writes that "Wikileaks might grow into a journalist endeavor. But
it's not there yet."[49] Bill Keller of the New York Times considers WikiLeaks to be a
"complicated source" rather than a journalistic partner.[49] Prominent First Amendment lawyer
Floyd Abrams writes that Wikileaks is not a journalistic group, but instead "an organization
of political activists; ... a source for journalists; and ... a conduit of leaked information to the
press and the public." [50] Noting Assange's statements that he and his colleagues read only a
small fraction of information before deciding to publish it, Abrams writes that "No
journalistic entity I have ever heard of--none--simply releases to the world an elephantine
amount of material it has not read."[50]

Administration
According to a January 2010 interview, the WikiLeaks team then consisted of five people
working full-time and about 800 people who worked occasionally, none of whom were
compensated.[51] WikiLeaks does not have any official headquarters. In November 2010 the
WikiLeaks-endorsed[52] news and activism site WikiLeaks Central was initiated and was
administrated by editor Heather Marsh who oversaw 70+ writers and volunteers.[53] She
resigned as editor in chief, administrator and domain holder of WikiLeaks Central on 8
March 2012.[54]

Hosting

WikiLeaks describes itself as "an uncensorable system for untraceable mass document
leaking".[55] The website is available on multiple servers and different domain names as a
 [Apellidos] 3

result of a number of denial-of-service attacks and its elimination from different Domain
Name System (DNS) providers.[56][57]

Until August 2010, WikiLeaks was hosted by PRQ, a Sweden-based company providing
"highly secure, no-questions-asked hosting services". PRQ is said to have "almost no
information about its clientele and maintains few if any of its own logs".[58] Currently,
WikiLeaks is hosted mainly by the Swedish internet service provider Bahnhof in the Pionen
facility, a former nuclear bunker in Sweden.[59][60] Other servers are spread around the world
with the main server located in Sweden.[61] Julian Assange has said that the servers are located
in Sweden (and the other countries) "specifically because those nations offer legal protection
to the disclosures made on the site". He talks about the Swedish constitution, which gives the
information providers total legal protection.[61] It is forbidden according to Swedish law for
any administrative authority to make inquiries about the sources of any type of newspaper.[62]
These laws, and the hosting by PRQ, make it difficult for any authorities to eliminate
WikiLeaks; they place an onus of proof upon any complainant whose suit would circumscribe
WikiLeaks' liberty, e.g. its rights to exercise free speech online. Furthermore, "WikiLeaks
maintains its own servers at undisclosed locations, keeps no logs and uses military-grade
encryption to protect sources and other confidential information." Such arrangements have
been called "bulletproof hosting".[58][63]

In August 2010, the Swedish Pirate Party announced it would be hosting, managing, and
maintaining many of WikiLeaks' new servers without charge.[64][65]

After the site became the target of a denial-of-service attack on its old servers, WikiLeaks
moved its website to Amazon's servers.[66] Later, however, the website was "ousted" from the
Amazon servers.[66] In a public statement, Amazon said that WikiLeaks was not following its
terms of service. The company further explained, "There were several parts they were
violating. For example, our terms of service state that 'you represent and warrant that you
own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content... that use of the content you supply
does not violate this policy and will not cause injury to any person or entity.' It's clear that
WikiLeaks doesn't own or otherwise control all the rights to this classified content."[67]
WikiLeaks was then moved to servers at OVH, a private web-hosting service in France.[68]
After criticism from the French government, the company sought two court rulings about the
legality of hosting WikiLeaks. While the court in Lille immediately refused to force OVH to
deactivate the WikiLeaks website, the court in Paris stated it would need more time to
examine the complex technical issue.[69][70]

Do not use PGP to contact us. We have found that people use it in a dangerous manner. Further one of the
Wikileaks key on several key servers is FAKE.

WikiLeaks, WikiLeaks:PGP Keys

To preserve anonymity, WikiLeaks staff uses software like Tor[71] and PGP,[72] for
communication. PGP may no longer be used though because in November 2007[73] the
published PGP key expired. WikiLeaks warned against fake PGP keys on keyservers[74] and
proposed as an alternative using a SSL-encrypted chat.[75]

WikiLeaks was implemented on MediaWiki software between 2006 and October 2010.[76]
WikiLeaks strongly encouraged postings via Tor because of the strong privacy needs of its
users.[77]
 [Apellidos] 4

On 4 November 2010, Julian Assange told Swiss public television organisation Tlvision
Suisse Romande (TSR) that he is seriously considering seeking political asylum in neutral
Switzerland and establishing a WikiLeaks foundation to move the operation there.[78][79]
According to Assange at the time, Switzerland and Iceland were the only countries where
WikiLeaks would be safe to operate.[80][81]

Domain name service

WikiLeaks had been using EveryDNS's domain name system (DNS). Distributed denial-of-
service (DDoS) attacks against WikiLeaks hurt DNS quality of service for other EveryDNS
customers; as a result, the company dropped WikiLeaks. Supporters of WikiLeaks waged
verbal and DDoS attacks on EveryDNS. Because of a typographical error in blogs mistaking
EveryDNS for competitor EasyDNS, that sizable internet backlash hit EasyDNS. Despite that,
EasyDNS (upon request of a customer who was setting up new WikiLeaks hosting) began
providing WikiLeaks with DNS service on "two 'battle hardened' servers" to protect quality
of service for its other customers.[82]

Tor hidden service

WikiLeaks operates a Tor hidden service to access the website.[83][84]

Verification of submissions

WikiLeaks has contended that it has never released a misattributed document and that
documents are assessed before release. In response to concerns about the possibility of
misleading or fraudulent leaks, WikiLeaks has stated that misleading leaks "are already well-
placed in the mainstream media. WikiLeaks is of no additional assistance."[85] The FAQ states
that: "The simplest and most effective countermeasure is a worldwide community of
informed users and editors who can scrutinise and discuss leaked documents."[86]

According to statements by Assange in 2010, submitted documents are vetted by a group of

five reviewers, with expertise in different topics such as language or programming, who also
investigate the background of the leaker if his or her identity is known.[87] In that group,
Assange has the final decision about the assessment of a document.[87]

Insurance files

On 29 July 2010 WikiLeaks added an "Insurance file" to the Afghan War Diary page. The file
is AES encrypted.[88][89] There has been speculation that it was intended to serve as insurance in
case the WikiLeaks website or its spokesman Julian Assange are incapacitated, upon which
the passphrase could be published.[90][91] After the first few days' release of the US diplomatic
cables starting 28 November 2010, the US television broadcasting company CBS predicted
that "If anything happens to Assange or the website, a key will go out to unlock the files.
There would then be no way to stop the information from spreading like wildfire because so
many people already have copies."[92] CBS correspondent Declan McCullagh stated, "What
most folks are speculating is that the insurance file contains unreleased information that
would be especially embarrassing to the US government if it were released."[92]

Operational challenges
 [Apellidos] 5

This section needs expansion with: We need more info on such topic. You can help
by adding to it. (November 2014)

Assange has acknowledged that the practice of posting largely unfiltered classified
information online could one day cause the website to have "blood on our hands".[28][93] He said
that the potential to save people from harm outweighs the danger to them.[94] Furthermore,
WikiLeaks has highlighted independent investigations which have failed to find any evidence
of civilians harmed as a result of WikiLeaks' activities.[95][96] A surveillance-resistant social
network, Friends of WikiLeaks (FoWL), was initiated by sympathisers with the organisation
in May 2012 to perform advocacy.[97][98][99]

Legal status
Further information: Reception of WikiLeaks

Legal background

The legal status of WikiLeaks is complex. Assange considers WikiLeaks a protection

intermediary. Rather than leaking directly to the press, and fearing exposure and retribution,
whistleblowers can leak to WikiLeaks, which then leaks to the press for them.[100] Its servers
are located throughout Europe and are accessible from any uncensored web connection. The
group located its headquarters in Sweden because it has one of the world's strongest laws to
protect confidential source-journalist relationships.[101][102] WikiLeaks has stated it does not
solicit any information.[101] However, Assange used his speech during the Hack In The Box
conference in Malaysia to ask the crowd of hackers and security researchers to help find
documents on its "Most Wanted Leaks of 2009" list.[103]

Potential criminal prosecution

The U.S. Justice Department began a criminal investigation of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange
soon after the leak of diplomatic cables began.[104][105] Attorney General Eric Holder affirmed
the investigation was "not saber-rattling", but was "an active, ongoing criminal investigation".
[105]
The Washington Post reported that the department was considering charges under the
Espionage Act of 1917, an action which former prosecutors characterised as "difficult"
because of First Amendment protections for the press.[104][106] Several Supreme Court cases (e.g.
Bartnicki v. Vopper) have established previously that the American Constitution protects the
re-publication of illegally gained information provided the publishers did not themselves
violate any laws in acquiring it.[107] Federal prosecutors have also considered prosecuting
Assange for trafficking in stolen government property, but since the diplomatic cables are
intellectual rather than physical property, that method is also difficult.[108] Any prosecution of
Assange would require extraditing him to the United States, a procedure made more
complicated and potentially delayed by any preceding extradition to Sweden.[109] One of
Assange's lawyers, however, says they are fighting extradition to Sweden because it might
result in his extradition to the United States.[110] Assange's attorney, Mark Stephens, has "heard
from Swedish authorities there has been a secretly empanelled grand jury in Alexandria
[Virginia]" meeting to consider criminal charges for the WikiLeaks case.[111]

In Australia, the government and the Australian Federal Police have not stated what
Australian laws may have been violated by WikiLeaks, but then Prime Minister Julia Gillard
 [Apellidos] 6

has stated that the foundation of WikiLeaks and the stealing of classified documents from the
US administration is illegal in foreign countries.[112] Gillard later clarified her statement as
referring to "the original theft of the material by a junior US serviceman rather than any
action by Mr Assange."[113] Spencer Zifcak, president of Liberty Victoria, an Australian civil
liberties group, notes that without a charge or a trial completed, it is inappropriate to state that
WikiLeaks is guilty of illegal activities.[114]

On threats by various governments towards Julian Assange, legal expert Ben Saul argues that
Assange is the target of a global smear campaign to demonise him as a criminal or as a
terrorist, without any legal basis.[115][116] The U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights has issued a
statement emphasising its alarm at the "multiple examples of legal overreach and
irregularities" in his arrest.[117]

v[Su nombre]

[Nombre del instructor]

[Nmero de curso]

[Fecha]

[Ttulo]: [Subttulo]

[Los trabajos de investigacin que usan el formato MLA no incluyen una portada a

menos que lo solicite el instructor. En su lugar, comience con la informacin que se muestra

en la parte superior de esta pgina. No ponga el ttulo en negrita ni todas las letras en

maysculas. Ponga en mayscula la primera letra de la primera y la ltima palabra del ttulo y

de todas las palabras principales. Si su documento incluye un subttulo, seprelo del ttulo

mediante dos puntos y un espacio, tal y como se muestra. Para obtener instrucciones ms

especficas sobre el uso de maysculas, consulte el libro MLA Handbook for Writers of

Research Papers, 7th Edition (MLA 7th Edition)].

[En todo el texto (incluidos los ttulos, citas, notas y la lista de trabajos citados) se usa

el interlineado doble. En el texto de cuerpo y el texto de nota se usa una sangra de primera

lnea de 1,27 cm. En la lista de trabajos citados se usa una sangra francesa de 1,27 cm. En los

ttulos de tabla y el texto de origen se usa una sangra de 0,63 cm. Obtenga acceso a todos

estos formatos de texto en la pestaa Inicio, en la Galera de estilos].

 [Apellidos] 7

[El formato MLA desaconseja el uso excesivo de notas de contenido. En cambio, si

necesita agregar notas, puede usar notas al final o notas al pie. MLA 7th Edition indica que

debe usar un nmero arbigo superndice en un lugar adecuado del texto para la referencia de

la nota. Para comenzar el texto de la nota, use el mismo numeral, no el superndice, seguido

de un punto].

[Si usa notas al final, debern aparecer en una pgina independiente, al final del texto

y antes de la lista de trabajos citados. Si usa notas al pie, pregntele al profesor el formato

que prefiere].

[En citas de ms de cuatro lneas, aplique una sangra de 2,54 cm desde el

margen izquierdo y no use comillas. Para aplicar este formato, en la pestaa

Inicio, en la Galera de estilos, haga clic en Cita]. Puede poner las citas ms

cortas entre comillas e incorporarlas directamente en el texto].

Tabla 1

[En el ttulo de esta tabla se usa un estilo denominado "Ttulo de tabla", disponible en la

pestaa Inicio, en la Galera de estilos]

Encabezado de Encabezado de Encabezado de Encabezado de

columna columna columna columna

Encabezado de fila Datos de la tabla Datos de la tabla Datos de la tabla

Encabezado de fila Datos de la tabla Datos de la tabla Datos de la tabla

Encabezado de fila Datos de la tabla Datos de la tabla Datos de la tabla

Origen: [En este texto de origen se usa un estilo denominado "Origen de tabla", disponible en

la pestaa Inicio, en la Galera de estilos].

 [Apellidos] 8

a. [En este texto de nota se usa un estilo denominado "Nota de tabla", disponible en la

pestaa Inicio, en la Galera de estilos. En las notas de tabla se usan letras minsculas en

lugar de nmeros arbigos para diferenciarlas de las notas al contenido del cuerpo].

Chart Title
6

0
Categora 1 Categora 2 Categora 3 Categora 4
Serie 1 Serie 2 Serie 3

Ilust. 1. [En este ttulo de ilustracin se usa el estilo Sin sangra, disponible en la pestaa

Inicio, en la Galera de estilos. Etiquete las ilustraciones con la abreviatura "Ilust." y un

nmero de ilustracin].

[La lista de trabajos citados de ejemplo que aparece a continuacin se ha creado con

la caracterstica Bibliografa, que est disponible en la pestaa Referencias. Esta

caracterstica le ofrece la opcin de especificar el estilo MLA, para que las referencias tengan

el formato correcto de forma automtica. Tambin puede usar esta caracterstica para agregar

citas en el texto, como la que se muestra al final de este prrafo. Para agregar nmeros de

pgina a una cita despus de insertarla, haga clic con el botn derecho en la cita y despus

haga clic en Editar cita. Tenga en cuenta tambin que las reglas de MLA para las citas y

referencias son extensas. Por tanto, es una buena idea consultar el libro MLA 7th Edition para

obtener ms informacin]. (ApellidosDelAutor Pginas)

[Para usar esta plantilla al crear el esquema del trabajo, en la pestaa Inicio, en la

Galera de estilos, haga clic en Sin sangra. Despus, en la misma pestaa, en el grupo

Prrafo, haga clic en el icono Lista multinivel y luego haga clic en el estilo Esquema MLA
 [Apellidos] 9

que aparece en Estilos de lista. Los primeros seis niveles de este estilo de lista se

corresponden con los niveles de esquema definidos en el libro MLA 7th Edition].

Para obtener instrucciones adicionales sobre cmo dar formato al trabajo de

investigacin, consulte el libro MLA 7th Edition y pregntele a su instructor.

Trabajos citados

AuthorLastName, FirstName. Title of the Book Being Referenced. City Name: Name of

Publisher, Year. Type of Medium (e.g. Print).

LastName, First, Middle. "Article Title." Journal Title (Year): Pages From - To. Print.

Julian Assange was one of the early members of the WikiLeaks staff and is credited as the
website's founder.

The wikileaks.org domain name was registered on 4 October 2006.[5] The website was
established and published its first document in December 2006.[27][28] WikiLeaks is usually
represented in public by Julian Assange, who has been described as "the heart and soul of this
organisation, its founder, philosopher, spokesperson, original coder, organiser, financier, and
all the rest".[29][30] Sarah Harrison, Kristinn Hrafnsson and Joseph Farrell are the only other
publicly known and acknowledged associates of Assange.[31] Harrison is also a member of
Sunshine Press Productions along with Assange and Ingi Ragnar Ingason.[32][33]

WikiLeaks was originally established with a "wiki" communal publication method, which
was terminated by May 2010.[34] Original volunteers and founders were once described as a
mixture of Asian dissidents, journalists, mathematicians, and start-up company technologists
from the United States, Taiwan, Europe, Australia, and South Africa.[35] As of June 2009, the
website had more than 1,200 registered volunteers.[35][36][37]

Despite some popular confusion,[38] WikiLeaks and Wikipedia are not affiliated.[39][40] Wikia, a
for-profit corporation affiliated loosely with the Wikimedia Foundation, did purchase several
WikiLeaks-related domain names as a "protective brand measure" in 2007.[41]

Purpose

According to the WikiLeaks website, its goal is "to bring important news and information to
the public... One of our most important activities is to publish original source material
alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth."

Another of the organisation's goals is to ensure that journalists and whistleblowers are not
prosecuted for emailing sensitive or classified documents. The online "drop box" is described
by the WikiLeaks website as "an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak
information to [WikiLeaks] journalists".[42]
 [Apellidos] 10

In an interview as part of the American television program The Colbert Report, Assange
discussed the limit to the freedom of speech, saying, "[it is] not an ultimate freedom, however
free speech is what regulates government and regulates law. That is why in the US
Constitution the Bill of Rights says that Congress is to make no such law abridging the
freedom of the press. It is to take the rights of the press outside the rights of the law because
those rights are superior to the law because in fact they create the law. Every constitution,
every bit of legislation is derived from the flow of information. Similarly every government
is elected as a result of people understanding things".[43]

The project has been compared to Daniel Ellsberg's revelation of the "Pentagon Papers" (US
war-related secrets) in 1971.[44] In the United States, the "leaking" of some documents may be
legally protected. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution guarantees
anonymity, at least in the context of political discourse.[44] Author and journalist Whitley
Strieber has spoken about the benefits of the WikiLeaks project, noting that "Leaking a
government document can mean jail, but jail sentences for this can be fairly short. However,
there are many places where it means long incarceration or even death, such as China and
parts of Africa and the Middle East."[45]

Some describe Wikileaks as a media or journalistic organization. For example, in a 2013

resolution, the International Federation of Journalists, a trade union of journalists, called
Wikileaks a "new breed of media organisation" that "offers important opportunities for media
organisations."[46] Harvard professor Yochai Benkler has praised WikiLeaks as a new form of
journalistic enterprise,[47] testifying at the court-martial of Bradley Manning that "WikiLeaks
did serve a particular journalistic function" although "It's a hard line to draw."[48] Other do not
consider WikiLeaks to be journalistic in nature. Media ethicist Kelly McBride of the Poynter
Institute for Media Studies writes that "Wikileaks might grow into a journalist endeavor. But
it's not there yet."[49] Bill Keller of the New York Times considers WikiLeaks to be a
"complicated source" rather than a journalistic partner.[49] Prominent First Amendment lawyer
Floyd Abrams writes that Wikileaks is not a journalistic group, but instead "an organization
of political activists; ... a source for journalists; and ... a conduit of leaked information to the
press and the public." [50] Noting Assange's statements that he and his colleagues read only a
small fraction of information before deciding to publish it, Abrams writes that "No
journalistic entity I have ever heard of--none--simply releases to the world an elephantine
amount of material it has not read."[50]

Administration
According to a January 2010 interview, the WikiLeaks team then consisted of five people
working full-time and about 800 people who worked occasionally, none of whom were
compensated.[51] WikiLeaks does not have any official headquarters. In November 2010 the
WikiLeaks-endorsed[52] news and activism site WikiLeaks Central was initiated and was
administrated by editor Heather Marsh who oversaw 70+ writers and volunteers.[53] She
resigned as editor in chief, administrator and domain holder of WikiLeaks Central on 8
March 2012.[54]

Hosting

WikiLeaks describes itself as "an uncensorable system for untraceable mass document
leaking".[55] The website is available on multiple servers and different domain names as a
 [Apellidos] 11

result of a number of denial-of-service attacks and its elimination from different Domain
Name System (DNS) providers.[56][57]

Until August 2010, WikiLeaks was hosted by PRQ, a Sweden-based company providing
"highly secure, no-questions-asked hosting services". PRQ is said to have "almost no
information about its clientele and maintains few if any of its own logs".[58] Currently,
WikiLeaks is hosted mainly by the Swedish internet service provider Bahnhof in the Pionen
facility, a former nuclear bunker in Sweden.[59][60] Other servers are spread around the world
with the main server located in Sweden.[61] Julian Assange has said that the servers are located
in Sweden (and the other countries) "specifically because those nations offer legal protection
to the disclosures made on the site". He talks about the Swedish constitution, which gives the
information providers total legal protection.[61] It is forbidden according to Swedish law for
any administrative authority to make inquiries about the sources of any type of newspaper.[62]
These laws, and the hosting by PRQ, make it difficult for any authorities to eliminate
WikiLeaks; they place an onus of proof upon any complainant whose suit would circumscribe
WikiLeaks' liberty, e.g. its rights to exercise free speech online. Furthermore, "WikiLeaks
maintains its own servers at undisclosed locations, keeps no logs and uses military-grade
encryption to protect sources and other confidential information." Such arrangements have
been called "bulletproof hosting".[58][63]

In August 2010, the Swedish Pirate Party announced it would be hosting, managing, and
maintaining many of WikiLeaks' new servers without charge.[64][65]

After the site became the target of a denial-of-service attack on its old servers, WikiLeaks
moved its website to Amazon's servers.[66] Later, however, the website was "ousted" from the
Amazon servers.[66] In a public statement, Amazon said that WikiLeaks was not following its
terms of service. The company further explained, "There were several parts they were
violating. For example, our terms of service state that 'you represent and warrant that you
own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content... that use of the content you supply
does not violate this policy and will not cause injury to any person or entity.' It's clear that
WikiLeaks doesn't own or otherwise control all the rights to this classified content."[67]
WikiLeaks was then moved to servers at OVH, a private web-hosting service in France.[68]
After criticism from the French government, the company sought two court rulings about the
legality of hosting WikiLeaks. While the court in Lille immediately refused to force OVH to
deactivate the WikiLeaks website, the court in Paris stated it would need more time to
examine the complex technical issue.[69][70]

Do not use PGP to contact us. We have found that people use it in a dangerous manner. Further one of the
Wikileaks key on several key servers is FAKE.

WikiLeaks, WikiLeaks:PGP Keys

To preserve anonymity, WikiLeaks staff uses software like Tor[71] and PGP,[72] for
communication. PGP may no longer be used though because in November 2007[73] the
published PGP key expired. WikiLeaks warned against fake PGP keys on keyservers[74] and
proposed as an alternative using a SSL-encrypted chat.[75]

WikiLeaks was implemented on MediaWiki software between 2006 and October 2010.[76]
WikiLeaks strongly encouraged postings via Tor because of the strong privacy needs of its
users.[77]
 [Apellidos] 12

On 4 November 2010, Julian Assange told Swiss public television organisation Tlvision
Suisse Romande (TSR) that he is seriously considering seeking political asylum in neutral
Switzerland and establishing a WikiLeaks foundation to move the operation there.[78][79]
According to Assange at the time, Switzerland and Iceland were the only countries where
WikiLeaks would be safe to operate.[80][81]

Domain name service

WikiLeaks had been using EveryDNS's domain name system (DNS). Distributed denial-of-
service (DDoS) attacks against WikiLeaks hurt DNS quality of service for other EveryDNS
customers; as a result, the company dropped WikiLeaks. Supporters of WikiLeaks waged
verbal and DDoS attacks on EveryDNS. Because of a typographical error in blogs mistaking
EveryDNS for competitor EasyDNS, that sizable internet backlash hit EasyDNS. Despite that,
EasyDNS (upon request of a customer who was setting up new WikiLeaks hosting) began
providing WikiLeaks with DNS service on "two 'battle hardened' servers" to protect quality
of service for its other customers.[82]

Tor hidden service

WikiLeaks operates a Tor hidden service to access the website.[83][84]

Verification of submissions

WikiLeaks has contended that it has never released a misattributed document and that
documents are assessed before release. In response to concerns about the possibility of
misleading or fraudulent leaks, WikiLeaks has stated that misleading leaks "are already well-
placed in the mainstream media. WikiLeaks is of no additional assistance."[85] The FAQ states
that: "The simplest and most effective countermeasure is a worldwide community of
informed users and editors who can scrutinise and discuss leaked documents."[86]

According to statements by Assange in 2010, submitted documents are vetted by a group of

five reviewers, with expertise in different topics such as language or programming, who also
investigate the background of the leaker if his or her identity is known.[87] In that group,
Assange has the final decision about the assessment of a document.[87]

Insurance files

On 29 July 2010 WikiLeaks added an "Insurance file" to the Afghan War Diary page. The file
is AES encrypted.[88][89] There has been speculation that it was intended to serve as insurance in
case the WikiLeaks website or its spokesman Julian Assange are incapacitated, upon which
the passphrase could be published.[90][91] After the first few days' release of the US diplomatic
cables starting 28 November 2010, the US television broadcasting company CBS predicted
that "If anything happens to Assange or the website, a key will go out to unlock the files.
There would then be no way to stop the information from spreading like wildfire because so
many people already have copies."[92] CBS correspondent Declan McCullagh stated, "What
most folks are speculating is that the insurance file contains unreleased information that
would be especially embarrassing to the US government if it were released."[92]

Operational challenges
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This section needs expansion with: We need more info on such topic. You can help
by adding to it. (November 2014)

Assange has acknowledged that the practice of posting largely unfiltered classified
information online could one day cause the website to have "blood on our hands".[28][93] He said
that the potential to save people from harm outweighs the danger to them.[94] Furthermore,
WikiLeaks has highlighted independent investigations which have failed to find any evidence
of civilians harmed as a result of WikiLeaks' activities.[95][96] A surveillance-resistant social
network, Friends of WikiLeaks (FoWL), was initiated by sympathisers with the organisation
in May 2012 to perform advocacy.[97][98][99]

Legal status
Further information: Reception of WikiLeaks

Legal background

The legal status of WikiLeaks is complex. Assange considers WikiLeaks a protection

intermediary. Rather than leaking directly to the press, and fearing exposure and retribution,
whistleblowers can leak to WikiLeaks, which then leaks to the press for them.[100] Its servers
are located throughout Europe and are accessible from any uncensored web connection. The
group located its headquarters in Sweden because it has one of the world's strongest laws to
protect confidential source-journalist relationships.[101][102] WikiLeaks has stated it does not
solicit any information.[101] However, Assange used his speech during the Hack In The Box
conference in Malaysia to ask the crowd of hackers and security researchers to help find
documents on its "Most Wanted Leaks of 2009" list.[103]

Potential criminal prosecution

The U.S. Justice Department began a criminal investigation of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange
soon after the leak of diplomatic cables began.[104][105] Attorney General Eric Holder affirmed
the investigation was "not saber-rattling", but was "an active, ongoing criminal investigation".
[105]
The Washington Post reported that the department was considering charges under the
Espionage Act of 1917, an action which former prosecutors characterised as "difficult"
because of First Amendment protections for the press.[104][106] Several Supreme Court cases (e.g.
Bartnicki v. Vopper) have established previously that the American Constitution protects the
re-publication of illegally gained information provided the publishers did not themselves
violate any laws in acquiring it.[107] Federal prosecutors have also considered prosecuting
Assange for trafficking in stolen government property, but since the diplomatic cables are
intellectual rather than physical property, that method is also difficult.[108] Any prosecution of
Assange would require extraditing him to the United States, a procedure made more
complicated and potentially delayed by any preceding extradition to Sweden.[109] One of
Assange's lawyers, however, says they are fighting extradition to Sweden because it might
result in his extradition to the United States.[110] Assange's attorney, Mark Stephens, has "heard
from Swedish authorities there has been a secretly empanelled grand jury in Alexandria
[Virginia]" meeting to consider criminal charges for the WikiLeaks case.[111]

In Australia, the government and the Australian Federal Police have not stated what
Australian laws may have been violated by WikiLeaks, but then Prime Minister Julia Gillard
 [Apellidos] 14

has stated that the foundation of WikiLeaks and the stealing of classified documents from the
US administration is illegal in foreign countries.[112] Gillard later clarified her statement as
referring to "the original theft of the material by a junior US serviceman rather than any
action by Mr Assange."[113] Spencer Zifcak, president of Liberty Victoria, an Australian civil
liberties group, notes that without a charge or a trial completed, it is inappropriate to state that
WikiLeaks is guilty of illegal activities.[114]

On threats by various governments towards Julian Assange, legal expert Ben Saul argues that
Assange is the target of a global smear campaign to demonise him as a criminal or as a
terrorist, without any legal basis.[115][116] The U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights has issued a
statement emphasising its alarm at the "multiple examples of legal overreach and
irregularities" in his arrest.[117]