WikiLeaks--public enemy No. 1? (week in review)
The whistle-blowing site releases more classified documents to the Internet and is buried under a mountain of criticism.
WikiLeaks promised its latest release of classified documents to the Internet would be its biggest to date, and the resulting backlash ratcheted up as well.
Despite strident denunciations from Washington officialdom, the whistle-blowing site released about 250,000 sensitive diplomatic cables. Among the files released is a directive signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ordering clandestine electronic surveillance of United Nations leadership, including obtaining "security measures, passwords, personal encryption keys, and types of VPN versions used."
The files, which appear to have originated from the U.S. Defense Department's SIPRNET, were provided in advance to news organizations including Germany's Der Spiegel and Spain's El Pais--Wikileaks waited before releasing the cables on its own Web site.
However, even before WikiLeaks was able to post the files, its site was reportedly targeted by a massive computer attack. "We are currently under a mass distributed denial of service attack," WikiLeaks said on its Twitter feed the morning the files were expected to be released.
The climate only heated up from there. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the incoming chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, asked the Obama administration to "determine whether WikiLeaks could be designated a foreign terrorist organization," putting the group in the same company as al-Qaeda.
As a result of that pressure, Amazon stopped hosting the controversial site on its servers. WikiLeaks had been tapping into Amazon's EC2, or Elastic Cloud Computing service. WikiLeaks said it's now being hosted by servers in Europe.
• WikiLeaks, Assange feel the heat (roundup)
• WikiLeaks faces more U.S. demands for prosecution
More headlines
U.S. seizes sites linked to copyright infringement
Department of Homeland Security launches major crackdown on online copyright infringement, seizing dozens of Web site domains linked to illegal file sharing and counterfeit goods.
Level 3 takes spat with Comcast public
Level 3 has accused Comcast of forcing it into a deal that violates the FCC's Net neutrality principles as the companies renegotiate a network peering relationship.FCC chief previews proposed Net neutrality rules
The FCC will vote on its final rules for Net neutrality at the end of December, as the chairman gives a look ahead at what will be in the new guidelines.
Google tweaks search recipe to ding scam artists
After The New York Times outs an eyeglass merchant who boasted that negative reviews improved his Google ranking, Google alters its algorithm.
• Google expects to launch e-book sales soon
No, you can't see who viewed you on Facebook
A rogue application appeals to Facebook user vanity, but it's merely a viral scam, security researcher Sophos warns users of the social network.
Value of a prime TV episode to Netflix: $100,000?
Netflix is getting serious about offering its subscribers television shows to watch, according to a New York Post report, but studio insiders are starting to fear that it's getting too big.
No Kinect sex yet, but the potential is there
Microsoft's new motion-sensitive controller may not have been designed with adult activity in mind, but to one expert in mashup technology and sex, it's a no-brainer that the two will eventually meet.
Cyber Monday sales score major gain over last year
Coremetrics, a division of IBM, reports that Cyber Monday sales were up by a wide margin over last year. The day's revenue also climbed higher than online sales on Black Friday.• Black Friday's online sales rise over last year
Also of note
• Report: Spam down, but malware continues hold