Originally Posted by
KC10 FATboy
So if we post a link to something that violates your rules/TOS but is hosted elsewhere, that makes it ok?
You are strictly prohibited from posting or transmitting any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic, or profane material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law.
If it has reached the public domain, it is almost certainly not "criminal" but rather "journalism". The person who originally released the material might liable in some fashion (they could certainly be fired). Even Top Secret/SCI information is mostly "fair game" once it hits the streets...the guy who released is probably going to become a permanent resident of KS but everybody downstream is likely free and clear (see pentagon papers, wiki leaks).
Obvious exception would be material which is a copyrighted consumable (music, movies, etc). Distributing unauthorized copies of things like that is not journalistic in nature and can give rise to at least civil liability.