WIKILEAKS is back with a new Swiss address - wikileaks.ch - six hours - after its previous domain name - wikileaks.org - was shut down.
"WikiLeaks moves to Switzerland," the group declared on Twitter, although an Internet trace of the new domain name suggested that the site itself is still hosted in Sweden and in France.Webusers accessing the wikileaks.ch address are directed to a page under the URL http://213.251.145.96/ which gives them access to the former site, including a massive trove of leaked US diplomatic traffic.
The original wikileaks.org domain was taken offline today by its US domain name system provider, EveryDNS.net, following reports of massive cyber attacks on the site.
"The interference at issue arises from the fact that wikileaks.org has become the target of multiple distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks," EveryDNS.net said in a statement.
The latest techological setback for the whistleblower site came after Amazon booted it from its computer servers on Wednesday following pressure from US politicians, prompting the site to move to a French server.
"Free speech the land of the free - fine, our dollars are now spent to employ people in Europe," WikiLeaks said.
"If Amazon are so uncomfortable with the First Amendment, they should get out of the business of selling books."
On Sunday, WikiLeaks began publishing the first batch of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables, many of them classified as "secret", that the website is believed to have obtained from a disaffected US soldier.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said last month that he was considering requesting asylum in Switzerland and basing the whistleblowing website in the fiercely neutral country.
"That is a real possiblity," Mr Assange said when asked whether he and the website might relocate, adding that Switzerland, and perhaps Iceland, were the only Western countries that his outfit feels safe in.
Mr Assange told the TSR television that Wikileaks was examining the possibility of creating a foundation that would allow it operate out of Switzerland, and confirmed he might apply for asylum.
The latest development comes the law tries to close in on Mr Assange.
Swedish authorities won a court ruling yesterday in their bid to arrest the WikiLeaks founder for questioning in a " rape" case, British intelligence is said to know where in England he's hiding, and US pundits and politicians are demanding he be hunted down or worse.
Sweden's Supreme Court upheld an order to detain him - a move that could lead to his extradition.
Mr Assange is accused in Sweden of rape, sexual molestation and coercion in a case from August, and Swedish officials have alerted Interpol and issued a European arrest warrant to bring him in for questioning.
The 39-year-old Australian denies the charges, which his lawyer, Mark Stephens, said apparently stemmed from a "dispute over consensual but unprotected sex". Mr Stephens said the case is turning into an exercise in persecution.
While Mr Assange has not made a public appearance for nearly a month, his lawyer insisted authorities know where to find him.
"Both the British and the Swedish authorities know how to contact him, and the security services know exactly where he is," Mr Stephens said.
It was unclear if or when police would act on Sweden's demands. Police there acknowledged yesterday they would have to refile their European arrest warrant after British authorities asked for more details on the maximum penalties for the three crimes.
Scotland Yard declined comment, as did the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, responsible for processing European arrest warrants for suspects in England, where The Guardian claims Assange is hiding out.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/wikileaks-offline-after-domain-killed/story-e6frfro0-1225965338553#ixzz173KDCS9a
No comments:
Post a Comment