Julian Assange: Laws Broken And Legal Complexities

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was accused of violating the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He was charged with a single felony count of conspiracy to commit unauthorized access to a government computer. The indictment stems from an incident in 2010 when Assange allegedly conspired with then-Army private Chelsea Manning to crack a password to gain access to military computers.

Assange was also charged with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and was accused of conspiring with hackers. In 2024, he pleaded guilty to a charge under the Espionage Act of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents.

Julian Assange was charged with violating the Espionage Act of 1917

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was charged with violating the Espionage Act of 1917. The Espionage Act of 1917 was introduced by President Woodrow Wilson in 1915 to address concerns about national security. The Act made it a crime to obtain information regarding national defence with the intention or reason to believe that doing so would hurt the U.S. or benefit another country.

In 2010, WikiLeaks published a series of leaks from Chelsea Manning, a U.S. Army intelligence analyst. These leaks included footage of a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, U.S. military logs from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and U.S. diplomatic cables. In 2019, Assange was charged with violating the Espionage Act for his role in publishing these classified military documents.

The charges against Assange sparked concerns about press freedom and the First Amendment right to free speech. Critics described the charges as an unprecedented challenge to investigative journalism worldwide. Several media organisations raised concerns that Assange was being punished for engaging in investigative journalism and publishing truthful information about the government.

In June 2024, Assange pleaded guilty to a single felony charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose national defence information. He was sentenced to 62 months' imprisonment, but with credit for time served, he was released.

Assange was charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion

In 2019, Julian Assange was charged with "conspiracy to commit computer intrusion" in relation to the leaks provided by Chelsea Manning. This charge was made under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), which prohibits "unauthorized access to a computer, system, or network and unauthorized deletion, alteration, or blocking of access to, data or information".

The CFAA is the US government's primary anti-hacking statute, created in 1984. The core problem with the CFAA is that it doesn't clearly define one of the central things it prohibits: unauthorized access to a computer. This lack of clarity allows prosecutors to charge felonies even when the harm caused is minimal or questionable.

In Assange's case, the indictment accused him of a single count of conspiring to hack a password to gain unauthorized access to a government computer. This rests on the allegation that Assange told Manning, then a US Army intelligence analyst, that he would help her crack a password to gain access to military computers.

Assange's defence argued that it is not illegal to crack a password, but it is to then use that password to gain unauthorized access. The government would therefore have to prove that Assange had the same intent as someone conspiring to rob a bank. In other words, he must have really intended to gain unauthorized access.

Assange's prosecution under the CFAA has been criticized as an attack on core political speech protected by the First Amendment. Assange and WikiLeaks are publishers, and the First Amendment protects the act of publishing information. The CFAA makes it easy for prosecutors to bring felony computer crime charges, even when there is little or no harm.

In 2024, Assange reached a plea deal with the Department of Justice, pleading guilty to a single felony count of violating the Espionage Act. He was sentenced to 62 months in prison, with credit for time served.

He was charged with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

In 2019, Julian Assange was charged with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) in the United States. The CFAA is the federal government's primary anti-hacking statute, prohibiting unauthorised access to a computer, system, or network, as well as the unauthorised deletion, alteration, or blocking of access to data or information.

The CFAA is both a civil and criminal statute, meaning that it can be used by people and businesses to sue each other for private wrongs, and by the government to prosecute and imprison people for public wrongs. This dual nature gives rise to a problematic feature: most of the law interpreting it comes from civil cases where the stakes are not as high as in a criminal case.

The core problem with the CFAA is that it doesn't clearly define one of the central things it prohibits: unauthorised access to a computer. Courts across the country have issued conflicting decisions, resulting in what is a felony in one jurisdiction being legal in another. This lack of definitional clarity allows prosecutors to charge felonies even when the harm caused is minimal, questionable, or related to political views that the Department of Justice (DOJ) does not agree with.

The CFAA was used to prosecute the politically outspoken Aaron Swartz, who was charged with felony unauthorised access to a computer, unauthorised damage to a protected computer, felony aiding and abetting of both, and wire fraud. The punishment sought was disproportionate to the alleged harm, and Swartz died by suicide before the trial.

Assange was charged under the CFAA for allegedly conspiring with Chelsea Manning to crack a password to gain unauthorised access to a government computer. The indictment accused him of a single count of conspiring to hack a password, which is not in itself illegal under the CFAA; the use of the password to gain access is the critical element.

The CFAA was enacted in 1984 and is the federal government's primary anti-hacking statute. It prohibits unauthorised access to a computer, system, or network and unauthorised deletion, alteration, or blocking of access to data or information. The law is both a civil and criminal statute, allowing for its use by both private individuals and the government.

The CFAA was used to prosecute Aaron Swartz, who faced decades in prison and large fines for downloading academic articles from an open server closet at MIT. Assange was charged under the CFAA for allegedly conspiring to crack a password to gain unauthorised access to a government computer, with the indictment focusing on the technical computer crime conspiracy.

The CFAA is a minimally defined statute that can have maximally destructive consequences. It is used by prosecutors to bring felony computer crime charges even when there is little or no harm caused. The law does not clearly define unauthorised access to a computer, resulting in conflicting decisions across different courts and jurisdictions. This lack of clarity allows prosecutors to charge individuals with felonies even when the harm is minimal or related to political views that the government disagrees with.

The CFAA was used to prosecute Aaron Swartz, who faced disproportionate charges and large fines for downloading academic articles from an open server at MIT. Assange was charged under the CFAA for allegedly conspiring to crack a password to gain unauthorised access to a government computer, with the indictment focusing on the technical computer crime conspiracy.

Assange was charged with violating the First Amendment

In June 2024, Julian Assange was charged with violating the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press. This charge was related to his role in publishing classified military documents, which he obtained from former U.S. military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

The controversy surrounding Assange and WikiLeaks began in 2010 when they started publishing a series of leaks about the United States and its military operations. These leaks included sensitive military documents, some of which were classified, and more than 250,000 diplomatic cables from U.S. embassies. The leaks exposed U.S. spying activities and revealed the identities of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq who were secretly passing information to the U.S. military, putting them at risk.

Assange's actions sparked concerns about the potential impact on press freedom and investigative journalism. Several media organizations and journalists raised First Amendment concerns, arguing that Assange was being punished for engaging in investigative journalism and publishing truthful information about the government. They worried that the charges could create a "chilling effect" on journalists who cover national security topics.

However, critics of Assange argued that his actions went beyond those of a journalist and amounted to an attempt to solicit and indiscriminately publish classified government documents. The U.S. government faced a challenging task in prosecuting Assange without setting a precedent that could criminalize activities crucial to investigative journalism.

Ultimately, in June 2024, Assange agreed to a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to a single felony charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose national defense information, in violation of the Espionage Act of 1917. This plea bargain allowed him to return home to Australia, ending his legal battles.

He was charged with violating the Espionage Act

In 2024, Julian Assange pleaded guilty to violating the Espionage Act of 1917, a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. The Espionage Act was intended to prohibit interference with military operations or recruitment, prevent insubordination in the military, and prevent the support of enemies of the United States during wartime. It has been amended numerous times and was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code (War & National Defense) but is now found under Title 18 (Crime & Criminal Procedure).

Assange was charged with violating the Espionage Act for his role in WikiLeaks' publication of a series of leaks from Chelsea Manning, a United States Army intelligence analyst. These leaks included footage of a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, U.S. military logs from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and U.S. diplomatic cables. The revelations of war crimes in these leaks, including the video "Collateral Murder" of a helicopter attack on civilians in 2007 that killed 12-18+ people, raised WikiLeaks' profile internationally.

Assange was first indicted under the Espionage Act in 2019 and was charged with 17 counts of violating the Act. In June 2020, a new indictment was filed, alleging that Assange had conspired with hackers and sought to recruit them at conferences around the world. This brought the total number of charges against him to 18.

In June 2024, Assange agreed to a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors, pleading guilty to one felony count of violating the Espionage Act in exchange for his immediate release. He was sentenced to time served (62 months) and returned to his home country of Australia.

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