In 1984, Congress passed a law called the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, in the wake of some high profile incidents of hacking. Designed to prosecute hackers, the law is written vaguely enough that it has, in recent years, been used (with varying degrees of success) to prosecute people violating terms of an employer's computer usage policies, or in the infamous case of Lori Drew, a Terms of Service agreement. But today, the 9th circuit court of appeals ruled that employees can not be prosecuted under the CFAA for violating an employer's computer use policies, dealing a blow to the Obama administration’s Justice Department, which is trying to use the same theory to prosecute alleged WikiLeaks leaker Bradley Manning.
posted by to sir with millipedes on Apr 10, 2012 - 29 comments

The Secret Sharer: Is Thomas Drake an Enemy of the State? [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 16, 2011 - 25 comments

Despite Amnesty's recent denouncement of his treatment and a State Department official's comment that it is "stupid" among other things, Obama apparently stands by the current conditions under which Bradley Manning is being held. [more inside]
posted by Glinn on Mar 12, 2011 - 281 comments

The U.S. Army has brought 22 new charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Among the new charges is an Article 104 offence of 'aiding the enemy' that carries a potential death sentence. Yet neither the original charges nor the new charges identify the enemy to which the US military is referring. (previously) [more inside]
posted by jeffburdges on Mar 3, 2011 - 223 comments

Wired reports a US Intelligence Analyst has been arrested in connection with the "Collateral Murder" video released by Wikileaks. According to the article, SPC Bradley Manning was turned in by former hacker Adrian Lamo based on concerns about Manning's threat to leak an additional 260,000 classified embassy cables.
posted by uaudio on Jun 7, 2010 - 80 comments