Bank Julius Baer Turns “Secret” Documents into Public Spectacle

Swiss bank Julius Baer saw its plans to prevent disclosure of its leaked corporate documents backfire when it tried to prevent WikiLeaks from distributing copies of these documents online. When the bank was able to obtain an initial court order disabling the WikiLeaks domain name, the incident attracted widespread press attention, the information was republished on many other Internet sites, and the ACLU and a number of other public interest groups opposed the bank’s efforts to squelch speech. The judge ultimately dissolved the injunction and allowed WikiLeaks to publish the materials, but not before the controversy—and the original documents—were broadcast worldwide.