Tuesday, February 12, 2013



No limits after Bush emails hacked?

By the old rules of journalism, George W. Bush's private emails to his family might never have been published or broadcast - certainly not without his permission. Most news organisations would have thought twice about publishing personal messages that were, in essence, stolen goods.

But that was then. The former US president's private communications and photos sent to family members went far and wide over the internet on Friday after they were published by a website.

The Smoking Gun, an American website that specialises in unearthing material about criminal and legal matters, disclosed the Bush family's personal correspondence in a story based on material it said it received from a hacker identified only as "Guccifer". A predictable and near-instant tidal wave ensued, with the story and variations on it being linked, tweeted and otherwise disseminated quickly.

It raises the question, are there any standards left with regard to what can be published?

Source

What an outcry there would be if Obama's private emails were published! 

GWB would have a pretty good case if he sued under U.S. privacy law but he probably won't.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Obama's personal information had been hacked, most MSM organizations would have chosen "not to publish e-mails of a personal nature which do not impact public policy or otherwise qualify as news."

We see it all the time. National Security Leaks that reflect badly on Bush? Fair Game. National Scandals that reflect poorly on Obama? Not Newsworthy.

Anonymous said...

This is clearly a case of theft of private property. Remember this the next time the media whines about their copyrighted material being used.

Anonymous said...

How radical gay activists are trying to infect our entire society...

TV wildlife expert Sir David Attenborough has been blasted for ignoring gay animals.

Media studies lecturer Dr Brett Mills says homosexuality is "in pretty much every species".

But he claims Sir David's BBC documentaries focus on family values in animals and shun "alternative interpretations". Sir David, 86, described male chimps hugging as "friendly affection", while male sandpiper birds filmed circling each other were being "aggressive".

But Dr Mills, of the University of East Anglia, insisted: "Many non-human species have complex and changeable forms of sexual activity. Heterosexuality is one of many possible options'.

Anonymous said...

http://cw.ua.edu/2013/02/04/consent-thingy/

Wow, feminists are hilarious.

Anonymous said...

Simply put, there are no limits today. That's the problem. And we have too many people who have no self-control to impose their own limits, so issues like this will continue to just get worse and worse.

As to if something like this would happen to President Obama (peace be upon him) it's obvious all his wrath would be launched against the perpetrators and the issue would be stopped dead in its tracks. He would get such a pass because he's black and Liberal.

Anonymous said...

Notice how former President Bush is still acting presidential. He doesn't whine or complain or attack others. Our current whiner in the white house has been there 4 years and still can't act like a man, perpetually in attack mode. Pathetic.