[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Wikileaks Posts Bill O'Reilly Web Site Data here

[cfischer83]

Ha! Bill O'Reilly is NOT a conservative!

[bignumone]

Here is how the end of free speech begins. Now people will be afraid to post a dissenting opinion to these a-holes and Wikileaks.
In fact, I thought twice about posting a comment here.
Half the country is conservative, at least. And I would guess that of the liberals out there, most of them are casual web users that would rather not expose themselves to hackers. This should make all on-line magazines and news outlets shudder. If these bullies are allowed to control free speech, you are in real danger of losing half or more of your audience.
All news outlets should stand up against these violations of people's rights to privacy, free thought and free expression.
And don't misinterpret what I say as protecting conservatives only. I would call for jail time for these people if they were attacking Obama and MSNBC!

[coastie65]

Hi big, Excellent post and I agree totally. nuff said, coastie65

[rgreen4]

I agree, the web-sites are equally responsible, and I totally disagree that it is a free speech issue to post stolen material.

[Montani]

It is high time the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI arrest the online terrorists that make the internet unsafe for decent Americans. If these hackers think they are so good with software, why don't they use that ability to provide free programs and PC utilities for the poor people of this world? That would be a lot better than being the "peeping Toms" of the online world.

[mikedgolf40505]

This is truly scary. I agree this could be then end of free speech because of cyber punks and terrorists like these. It seems like they love free speech when it is their own speech. They too cowardly to debate their philosophies in the free market of ideas; so they try to silence and intimidate those which they disagree. If this is the society that they would like to emulate, Cuba and Venezuela are always looking for more citizens and propaganda writers.

[ImaPhake]

No one knows the political leanings of the hacker(s) who broke Palin's email or Bill O'Reilly's site.

Saying they are "liberal" or "conservative" is nothing more than wild speculation at this point.

The Web sites are responsible for this as well as Bill O'Reilly for being such a pinhead. With his usual penchant for hyperbole and flying spit he was no better than Pres. George Bush daring terrorists with the phrase, "Bring it on."

The hackers need to go to jail.
The Web sites need to implement real security for their users.
Bill O'Reilly needs to shut up (or tone it down a bit) and stop trying to act like he's some kind of "Dirty Harry" as portrayed by Clint Eastwood.

Talk about waving a red flag in front of a bull, sheesh!

[drrexx]

Interestingly, all the people who are so concerned about Bill O'Reilly's and Sarah Palin's privacy and stolen property have nothing to say about the government's intrusion into their fellow Americans' own privacy... This PC World story has not received a single post by the ardent supporters of our constitutional rights who have been posting above:
http://www.pcworld.c...ml?tk=nl_dnxnws

[mikedgolf40505]

The government has been looking at overseas phone calls to certain nations. If they have listened to me that is fine. The point that you miss is that the feds are not posting my phone calls and personal information on the internet. You are comparing apples to oranges. The patriot act (which was approved by the democratically controlled congress) is designed to thwart terrorists from attacking this country, thus protecting you and others who do not support it. If someone hacked into Obama's email or Air America's site I would be equally outraged. It just happens that the left in this country would rather attack someone personally rather than debate the issues. Liberals believe in free speech as long as it there own. How many liberal speakers get shouted down and attacked on college campuses? That is because those on the right welcome the free exchange of arguments and ideas. When was the last time that a conservative speaker spoke at a college without being shouted down so they cannot speak, or physically attacked?

[mikedgolf40505]

Also before I forget, the EFF is basically the ACLU of the internet. Why would they not sue the congress as well? Where is there evidence? They are just another liberal group with Bush/Cheney derangement syndrome.

[coastie65]

All those Premium members that had their e-mail addresses published probably do have an invasion of privacy issue and legal recourse against those responsible including the site on which it was published. They were definitely bone headed as Bill O'Reilly is no one to be trifled with. coastie65

[casternumber9]

Really, I'm not a genius, but I'm wondering how so many of you skipped the "I" section of the dictionary. More specifically, the definition of "irony". Simplified, it means "an outcome that is opposite to the expected or usual outcome." Okay, okay, I can tell from your faces that you're still confused, so let me give you an example: Let's say I'm a conservative pundit for Fox News, who decries the American public for a lack of "personal accountability", as many conservative pundits are wont to do. Now, let's say my website's subscription info (something a responsible webmaster would certainly have encrypted) is found on a site that is not even password-protected. Is it a crime? Yes. Am I an idiot? Also yes. Is it ironic that I am "HORRIBLY OUTRAGED" at the "hackers" and not my web"master"? Hell * yes.
I remember being spanked as a child when I would leave the outside door open (or unlocked overnight). Why? Because if someone would have broken in, it would have been my fault.
If any of you seriously think this will be the end of free speech, you are wrong. This will be the end of people hiring inexperienced or unqualified webmasters, or using crappy password protection. Stop whining about "internet terrorists", or "hackers". Using either term is going to make you look like an uninformed moron to anyone with basic knowledge of the internet.

This story is essentially this: "THIEVES have stolen valuable antique wooden furniture which was placed by the side of the road in front of Bill O'Reilly's house and marked with a sign which said 'free'." Hacking requires breaching security. No security was breached, thus no hack.

/For the record, before someone tries to retort: obscure information does not equal "protected information", which qualifies an event as a "hack".

One instance of profanity edited out coastie65

[mikedgolf40505]

I am not sure why you would resort to name calling? If you read the security disclaimer on his website it says that he uses current advanced security measures to protect his site and customer personal information; however he cannot guarantee that. So there was security measures in place and this was not free. He is protecting his self from liability. Whether or not you think that information is valuable is not up to you but up to the individual whose information has been stolen. They did not intend on unauthorized hackers to transmit there information. I do not think this is the end of free speech, but it is abuses like this that make it harder and harder to regulate against privacy offenses. You may call others with an opposing point a view a moron and use profanity; all that does is make you look immature and unreasonable. I think we all can have differences in opinion without resorting to name calling and profanity. By the way if nothing illegal was done, then why are the feds investigating? I think the point that several people are trying to make is that cyber terrorists are going to make the web a very different place if some serious measure are not taken deter them. The law has not caught up with the technology yet. I disagree with your analogy of leave furniture outside his house. These people payed a subscription fee and expected certain rights to privacy (resellers and other advertising was authorized to be given their information). I think a different analogy would be if someone broke into your place of employment and stole the personal information on the customers there. I hope the federal government takes this very seriously and puts these people away for a very long time to send a message to others who would do this.

[mikedgolf40505]

One last thing. For those who think this is no big deal. I notice that everyone that posted here has there information (email, etc) private. How would we like it if someone hacked into PC World and stole or data?

[drrexx]

Privacy is privacy is privacy, no matter who violates it.

On the other hand, "there" is not the same thing as "their."

[coastie65]

Hi mike, Personally,I think it is a big deal as anyone who signs up for something expects to have that information safe guarded unless they specify that certain things can be released. I don't think that stuff was encrypted for whatever reason. had it been they would have played heck trying to get anything useful for their purpose, even with a super computer, and that is with the present 128 bit encryption. There are some sites that are using 256 bit encryption, but they are few, and the Windows OS's are only capable of 128 bit as far as I know. It has become a real problem, what with the NY Times publishing classified materials as well. I don't know why it hasn't been shut down, as it is less than credible in it's reporting, except for the aforementioned classified materials. I think you made your point quite well in the last short post. coastie65

[rgreen4]

I also suppose the homeowner who comes home to find his home burglarized is at fault for not having better locks.

The murder victim is at fault for not having hired a bodyguard.

Sounds like some defense attorney blaming the victim for being a victim.

The criminal is at fault, and the hacker who stole personal information from a website is a criminal.

[JMoran]

This not a conservative/liberal issue. This an attempt at intimidating political discourse and should be condemned by all. This is a dangerous trend and is the beginning of the slippery slope toward major divisions in this country.