Wikileaks released the embassy cables

This is a laughable scenario of government enforcement if there was one.

So, it's ok for the rest of human civilization outside of the United States, to view this content without reprisal, but "common knowledge" as these leaked transmissions have become to the outside world now, we are expected to turn a blind eye to what the rest of the world already knows or face prosecution.

That's absolutely, hilariously stupid.

What's done is done, and threatening your constituency for observing documents that may or may not have been legit anyways, is just about as dumb as it gets.

zack991 said:

They do all the time for people who visit "kiddie" porn sites

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Only if they are caught, either by the computer's being seized and searched or because the idiot visited a 'NARC' site set up to catch such individuals. They can not just know what websites you are visiting without directly spying on your internet connection, or seizing the website in question's traffic logs. And they can't subpoena Wikileaks for their logs, Wikileaks is being hosted in Switzerland by members of the Swiss parliament. So unless you're already being investigated for some other crime, they are not even going to know that you are visiting Wikileaks.

Yatta yatta. Just because it's classified doesn't mean you can't read it. This is not the first time that classified information has been leaked, nor is it the most sensitive information to be leaked. It would, however, be the first time someone got prosecuted for reading the material on Wikileaks if it were to actually happen. Which I very seriously doubt it will. I mean WTF. All this because some random chain letter said that people might get prosecuted for reading it.

Mas49.56 said:

Yep, my wife was just notified that going to Wikileaks will violate her security clearance. They said reading a news story regarding the leaks is ok. Seems silly, but I guess it's still classified officially.

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That's not because there is classified info on Wikileaks, it's because you can submit classified materials through the Wikileaks website. That's like saying you can't go to some meeting where people share secrets they should not but it's ok if you listen to the audio logs.