By moving the servers offshore, WikiLeaks, which currently has servers in Sweden and Iceland, among other countries, believes that it will be able to evade U.S. law enforcement and save its founder Julian Assange from prosecution.
According to Fox News, one of its sources "within the hacker community" said that by moving the servers offshore, the site would be governed by maritime law, making Assange "safe" from prosecution.
"He's not an idiot," the source reportedly said of Assange to Fox News. "He's actually very smart."
Assange has been in U.S. law enforcement crosshairs ever since his organization released classified information, including a boatload of military and State Department files and diplomatic cables. In July 2010, the Defense Department announced that it was investigating WikiLeaks, but cautioned that it wasn't "focused on any one, specific, individual."
However, in December 2010, the U.S. government changed its tune, saying that Assange could not be protected as a journalist and noted that there was a chance he could be charged in the U.S.
"We have pledged that we will investigate this aggressively and we will pursue anyone that we feel has violated U.S. law," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said at the time. "So I can't predict where that investigation will lead at this point."
Although the U.S. has yet to move forward on Assange, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning has found himself embroiled in an Article 32 hearing over allegedly providing documents to WikiLeaks. If Manning is eventually found guilty, he could face life in prison.
Assange today filed an appeal with Britain's Supreme Court to fight extradition to Sweden. He faces allegations there of sexual assault--something he vehemently denies.
Meanwhile, WikiLeaks is getting its own television show. "Through this series I will explore the possibilities for our future in conversations with those who are shaping it," Assange said in a statement announcing the show last week. "Are we heading towards utopia, or dystopia and how we can set our paths?"
Perhaps now the question is, will Assange host the show on the deck of his new boat?
"Originally posted at Digital Home, http://www.cissp.com/law-and-ethics/law-and-ethics/wikileaks-buying-boat-to-move-servers-offshore"