The WikiLeaks story is not quite ready for Lawsuit of the Week status...yet. But the website which has caught the eye of the nation, and indeed the world, has also undoubtedly caught the eye of the Justice Department, putting it in a precarious position and leading many to think that legal action could be on the way. Much of the conversation around whether or not the Government will prosecute the company, or more specifically founder Julian Assange, stems on whether it is practising First Amendment rights akin to a newspaper, or if it is rather engaging in espionage which is putting the lives of US citizens in danger.
Attorney General Eric Holder acknowledged himself that the answer may not be so clear when he recently noted that there may be some loopholes in the laws of the US that would need to be closed before any potential prosecution were to occur. However, it is clear that, loopholes or no, the US government is not going to let the embarrasment it has faced at the hands of the site go entirely unpunished. Indeed, based on the complexity of the operation, it is possible that today's cyber-attack on the site is just the first step. For anyone who would easily brush aside such conspiratorial notions however, The Washington Post provides details on more traditional threats to the site and its founder here.
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