Wikileaks is Safe - for Now
Last week the injunction which forced Wikileaks "off the air" was dismissed. In the wake of this, the bank that first brought legal action against Wikileaks has given up - for now.
Bank Julius Baer filed a brief note with a court in San Francisco Wednesday saying it would voluntarily dismiss its own case, while reserving the right to file it again in the future or pursue it "in an alternate court, jurisdiction, or venue."
BJB's sudden move comes a few days after U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White reversed his earlier ruling (which pulled the plug on the Wikileaks.org domain) and said he was skeptical of the bank's ability to win the suit.
"This dismissal comes in the wake of our private warning to the bank's counsel that, if the case were not dismissed, not only the existing defendants but the intervening defendants such as Public Citizen and the California First Amendment Project could seek attorneys' fees under California law that is designed to protect the exercise of First Amendment rights on matters of public interest against meritless lawsuits such as this one," said Paul Levy, an attorney with Public Citizen who filed a motion to intervene in the case and argued before White last Friday.
Bank Julius Baer filed a brief note with a court in San Francisco Wednesday saying it would voluntarily dismiss its own case, while reserving the right to file it again in the future or pursue it "in an alternate court, jurisdiction, or venue."
BJB's sudden move comes a few days after U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White reversed his earlier ruling (which pulled the plug on the Wikileaks.org domain) and said he was skeptical of the bank's ability to win the suit.
"This dismissal comes in the wake of our private warning to the bank's counsel that, if the case were not dismissed, not only the existing defendants but the intervening defendants such as Public Citizen and the California First Amendment Project could seek attorneys' fees under California law that is designed to protect the exercise of First Amendment rights on matters of public interest against meritless lawsuits such as this one," said Paul Levy, an attorney with Public Citizen who filed a motion to intervene in the case and argued before White last Friday.
The "for now" should be considered important. It's not just Julius Baer, but future challenges that Wikileaks may be subject to, which are of concern to many who support the site.
