Julian Assange Book To Be Banned In US and Canada?

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   ryankettposted 12 years ago

   For a while now the Julian Assange autobiography has been listed for pre-order on the UK, France, Germany and Japanese Amazon sites.
   
   But, it isn't listed on the following Amazon sites:
   
   Canada
   US
   China
   
   The release date, by the way, is April 7th. Can we assume by this that Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Amazon.whateverthechineseoneis, are not going to stock the book?
   
   And seeing as the same business are prepared to sell it in other countries, could this be as a result of censorship?
   
   If, and that is IF, the American and Canadian governments suppressed the book for any reason, would you be supportive of that? Even if you hate Assange?
   
   I see Americans boasting about 'freedom' and more specifically 'freedom of speech', but the list of books which American authorities at national and local level have attempted to supress in recent years is quite a depressing read.
   
   I want to know whether you either support or abhore Assange, and what your opinion on this matter is. Would you support censorship? I can never support censorship I am afraid....

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      Evan G Rogersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      amazon stopped hosting donations for him.
      
      Amazon fears the mighty hand of government. The Federal Government DOES have the power to completely screw any website that it doesn't like.
      
      All it has to do is declare an "emergency" and then it can have its homeland security hackers destroy the site.
      
      Don't blame amazon, blame your government.

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         ryankettposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I'm not blaming my government for anything, my country is effectively giving him temporary asylum and clearly hasn't censored the book, I am talking about your government.

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            Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I think the key to E.G.R. is to always look at his comments as entertainment; and that way you will never have a reason to think that he's nutty, or drinks more tea than they have in China; etc.  Rinse. Repeat.

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      lady_love158posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think much of Assange... still I could not possibly support supression of his book in the USA. Freedom of speech must be protected at all costs!

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         Doug Hughesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Somebody check to see if hell just froze over. I agree with LaLo.

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         Jeff Berndtposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Holy cow! I, LaLo, and Doug all agree?
         
         Do I hear a seal breaking somewhere?

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      Smkmdb11posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Amen.

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      LiamBeanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think this is all that surprising. I'm sure the book will be offered in the states once copyright agreements are reached. After all the publisher is the UK branch of Knopf right?

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         ryankettposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Canongate Books Ltd is the UK publisher, Knopf is the US publisher.

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   ediggityposted 12 years ago

   If there is information in the book that has yet to be de-classified, the US Government rightfully has the authority to ban the distribution of said book in the USA.  If not, then yes, I would say it is censorship. 

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      ryankettposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      So effectively they are censoring it either way, irrespective of the lingo that they use.
      
      What does it say in your constitution? Does it have a line which says that the government can decide what information is classified?
      
      And how are you, as American citizens, going to know whether there is classified information within those books. They could just claim that there was sensitive information held within, irrespective.
      
      To be honest it sounds like you are talking crap. Now, can you give me an example of precedent? Can you name one book which has been banned on the basis of classified information?

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         ediggityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         American Citizens, actually anyone for that matter,  don't need to know if there is classified information in the book. That is why the information is classified.  Knowing that you have NO idea about how the classification system works, it is you that is "talking crap".
         
           I can't name a book that has been banned in the US for distributing classified information, because individuals with access to classified information know there are procedures for sanitizing. They aren't legally allowed to publish anything related to anything that may even be close to classified before adhering to those procedures. 

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         C.J. Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         You wont find anything substantial regarding the Governments "right" to keep secrets. It only becomes a problem when they can't keep their secrets...well SECRET!

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      lady_love158posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I disagree. If its published elsewhere then for all practical purposes the information is declassified. Besides who would the government be protecting by banning the book here? Its a weak argument the book can not and should not be banned.

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         ediggityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         The information is not declassified until it is declassified by the original classification authority.  You can't just use your own definition of declassified, and apply it when you want.  There is a standard, and if not followed it could seriously put people at risk and damage National Security.

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            ryankettposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Lol, too funny.
            
            So the book will be available to hundreds of millions of people in Europe, yet can't be released in the USA due to the potential risk to the USA?
            
            What do you think it will include? Obama's pin number? Information about whats in Area 51? A map of the secret chambers in the whitehouse? A password to delete the internet or a step-by-step guide to destroying American using only one piece of A4 paper and a marble?
            
            If there is anything sensitive in there it is something damaging to a politician or nasty facts about a corporation, that is NOT an issue of national security, that should be an interest of national INTEREST.

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               ediggityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               The point is there is a standard, and laws that follow that standard.  Classified information doesn't become declassified, because it is leaked, and distributed elsewhere. 
               
               It may be an interest to some people, but it is still classified. The US Government has the right and authority to stop distribution of that information. 

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                  ryankettposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  The US government has absolutely no right or authority to prevent the distribution of that information anywhere other than in the United States, if it even truly has that right.
                  
                  Are you perhaps suggesting that on April 8th 2011 you will be happy for your government to prevent YOU from reading a book containing information about the US, which I will be sitting on my sofa in the UK reading myself? We are talking about somebodies autobiography by the way, the book is not going to be called "All the stuff that American don't want you to know about them", the world doesn't evolve entirely around the US - I am most looking forward to reading the first few chapters, which will tell us all about his life in AUSTRALIA.
                  
                  If so, fine. I am happy to have the freedom to read it. The result of a banning by the way, if that happens, is more people reading it than initially would have done. It would only serve to draw more attention and publicity towards the contents.

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                     ediggityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     I never said the US had authority to prevent distribution anywhere other than the US.  Maybe the other countries decided to prevent distribution based off information which they disagree with also.  Classification has an International standard also. 
                     
                     
                     Yes, I will be very happy that my government adhered to the rules and regulations governing the distribution of classified information.

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                        ryankettposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        But, you will never know whether:
                        
                        a) it actually contains and classified information.
                        
                        or
                        
                        b) it is as a result of a grudge.
                        
                        The book is an autobiography, I think that it is safe to assume that it is b.

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                           ediggityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           Like I originally said, If the book was banned because it was determined to contain classified information, then rightfully so.  If not, that is censorship. 

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            Doug Hughesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            LaLo is making the perfectly rational argument that if the book is available elsewhere in the world, to any enemies of the US - the information is OUT.
            
            Banning distribution has the effect and purpose of preventing Americans from finding out what is public information elsewhere in the world. What do you call that, if not censorship?

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               ediggityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I would call that adhering to the laws that govern classified information.  The laws and standards are still there, even though they are not being followed, and you think they shouldn't be. 

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         kerrygposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Wow, I agree with you twice in one post. I should probably be checking the sky for flying pigs!
         
         But yeah, if it's being published anywhere, the info is already out and it won't take long for it to make its way back into the US anyway. The security procedures they set up for the 6th Harry Potter book were ridiculous and someone still managed to get their hands on a copy, photograph every single page, and upload it to the internet days before the release, so everybody knew that Snape kills Dumbledore before they even got their hands on the real thing. Assange's book would be no different.

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   Uzdawiposted 12 years ago

   I support Assange, and think that IF Julain Assange new book will be banned in the named countries,then it is clearly censorship.It´s very likely that the book will be banned in China, and that´s no surprise.But I will be really surprised if the book will also be banned in USA and Canada.Though I really doubt that the book will be banned.

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   AnnCeeposted 12 years ago

   Yes, America really should encourage the free decimation of classified national security information for the sake of fairness.
   
   I mean we allow radical Imams to proselytize in our prisons and teach our military and national security agencies how to be nice to Muslims.  It's only fair we should expose our guilty throat to those who hate us at every opportunity.

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      ryankettposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      And does Assange hate YOU? Or does he despise your politics?
      
      I would suspect that he despises your politics. In which case there should be no "Us" in the equation. It is you and them, after all.

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         Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Basically, Ryankett, the U.S. government has been a mostly criminal enterprise since the time of the Kennedy assassination.  We've a higher percentage of persons who will, while using pharmaceutical narcotics, support a war against drugs and medical marijuana. . . .50 persons murdered in Juarez this past weekend; but they don't care.
         
         We've got such media deluded masses that they really do believe that there are Islamic terrorists out to get us; but they don't know the history of the people of Israel, where they came from, how they got there; and where international banking all started, or what the results of such have been.  Seems that fear is an easier sale than education, my man.
         
         A year after J.F.K.'s "secret societies" speech, he was murdered; and he'd a bill to kill our criminal federal reserve; but nowadays Obama and "Dubya" and even Clinton tell us that we are "tin foil hat" wearing "conspiracy nuts" if we doubt the politicians for profit lies that saturate the television, the radio, and the local newspaper. 
         
         Most aren't interested in pseudo news though, so the media lie memes are stuck inside the "reality" whims of. . . .flavor of the month media whores. . . so Americans, overweight, greedy, and xenophobic, sufficiently dumbed down to Beiber land, will accept them.

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      Jeff Berndtposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      "encourage the free decimation of classified national security information"
      
      ...surely you mean 'dissemination?'

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   AnnCeeposted 12 years ago

   By us I mean the U.S. 
   
   Yes, I am aware that many liberal Americans don't like the U.S. and they want to fundamentally transform it into a different country.  So I should be wary of using "us" when referring to the United States in a forum that includes liberals.

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      ryankettposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      "It's only fair we should expose our guilty throat to those who hate us at every opportunity"
      
      So are you stating that Julian Assange hates the American people? And if so on what basis do you form this opinion?
      
      Any quotes or examples of his hatred towards Americans would be much appreciated.

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      kirstenblogposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      America is a already a fundamentally different country then it was 20 years ago. Honestly the country changed drastically after 9-11. During the 8 years with Bush in office every last shred of freedom that I valued was trown out the window with homeland security and all that stuff that was suppose to protect people. When I took my british husband to visit my family back in the States he almost got arrested for keeping his passport safe in a, well, safe (he was worried about it being stolen, reasonable in my opinion). He felt very much like he had somehow been transported to Germany a-la WW2 with the need to have his papers on him. I bet the country I grew up in was a very different sort of country then what my grandma grew up with, and I bet the country she knew growing up was very different from that of her grandma. Change happens, like it or not. Using that fact of life as a inflammatory tool only serves the purpose of exposing fools.

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   stclairjackposted 12 years ago

   the book being published and sold the world over in its entirety, while not being avail in the US,... is akin to saying that a fart on an island is not a fart on the mainland, untill the authorities from the mainland confirm and agree on the smell,... i guatentee those on the beach know the truth,.... in the 21st century age of comunication you cannot stop ideas,... censorship is a dead issue,.... its impossible, ideas demand but one scrap of light in the human mind to be set loose upon the world
   
   you cant stop an idea,... christianity is living proof of that.

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   Uninvited Writerposted 12 years ago

   It probably has something to do with rights, sometimes it takes countries longer.

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   Iontachposted 12 years ago

   Well I dont think governments should be so secretive and do things that can make them look bad, or even be illegal, so I think its great that Assange exposed a the top secret documents and info. I think it's quite weak of amazon to no list his book on US and Canadian Amazon sites. They are just making the situation worse and making it seem that the government is so corrupt that it could penalise them for it.

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   prettydarkhorseposted 12 years ago

   The First Amendment states that freedom of speech should be upheld at all times - that book should be allowed to be sold here. But amazon as a  business entity has the prerogative to sell books according to its own preferences.

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    LiamBeanposted 12 years ago

    Odd, I thought Knopf had a British arm.

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       ryankettposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Maybe they do, but just weren't willing to pay as much as Canongate?
       
       Assange would have gone to the biggest bidder, if you go with two different publishers you also benefit from two seperate advances
       
       Who knows, but I should imagine that he also has different publishers in Japan etc.
       
       Maybe Knopf have just been too slow to get a release date arranged etc, but I would have thought that they would want to release at the same time to avoid Canongate benefiting from keen American readers who want the book as soon as possible after release.
       
       If Knopf were to release in June, as an example, they run the risk of the book getting poor reviews from Europe in advance of the release and potentially thousands of American customers pre-ordering from Europe.

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          LiamBeanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I don't know a lot about British copyright law, but U.S. law states that all copyrights are recognized regardless of country of origin. So maybe the hold up is Knopf working out a deal with Canongate. That's just a guess though.
          
          The thing is I'm really quite sure the book will be a hot seller here in the U.S. too. WikiLeaks has quite a following here both pro and con.

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    Greek Oneposted 12 years ago

    the less people have to read, the more likely they are to turn to my hubs for reading material...
    
    ban all new publications!
    burn the libraries!

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    AmiKayposted 12 years ago

    Is this the book titled Wikileaks: Warrior for Truth?
    If so, it is being published in Canada, and can be found on Chapters.ca - a quick search of his name brought the book up. It comes out on April 1, 2011. Perhaps because Amazon.ca is American owned, they simply chose not to provide it to their Canadian customers? Chapters, being Canadian owned and operated, can't be shut down by the States...or at least they shouldn't be. I'm sure they could if they wanted to generate some irritation from their Northern neighbors (or didn't care).

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