Just another example of how out of touch the law is when it comes to technology with a US federal judge has tried shutting down the website Wikileaks.org. You can find details of the court order here.

This is just so amazingly stupid. As Infonet's Robert Cringely puts it, you have to wonder how brain dead these people are. "First, this is exactly the kind of story bloggers and Net-centric journos crave. Big nasty corporation stomps all over plucky public-serving underdog. Who can resist that plot line? Second, the equation Bank Julius Baer = Money Laundering is now firmly cemented in the minds of everyone who has encountered this story, regardless of whether it's true. Trois: The documents in question, which might have been quickly forgotten alongside the 1.2 million others on the site, are now hotter than the Paris Hilton sex video. Dozens of mirror sites have sprung up, and Cryptome.org and piratebay have squirreled away copies of the docs for any interested parties. Oh, and by the way, the judge's order failed to shut down the site. The IP numbers (88.80.13.160) still work, as do its Belgian and Christmas Island domains. Or they would, only last time I checked the sites were overwhelmed with traffic from people with a sudden keen interest in Cayman Islands banking. It's a fascinating study in how the courts and high-powered corporations still manage to shoot themselves in the feet when they try to manipulate the Net. (Remember: The Internet is not a dump truck, it's a series of tubes.) But it's also an illustration of why things like NSA wiretaps and efforts to throttle network traffic must be opposed."

Not that the people that host Wikileaks are that intimidated.

"We have the usual small army of stupid lawyers that think we will piss our pants because they send us a scary letter. We do employ our own legal staff. We are used to this sort of situation," one of them told The Register.

Swiss bankers are finally discovering that the Internet is hard to control. The heavy-handed approach is not the way to go. That's why it's been compared to President Richard Nixon calling in the "White House plumbers" on the Project on Government Oversight blog.

"POGO understands how difficult it can be to obtain information documenting fraud, waste or abuse in the government or the private sector. Although we recognize that certain information needs to be protected from disclosure, a balancing test must be performed that considers the public harm that could occur if such information is not released."