Reply #100: It wouldn't matter even if each byte was encrypted with a different key

[Azathoth]

The encrypted file is static. If you and I both go and download it, we will each get the exact same file. We will end up with the exact same bits, which in turn means that the exact same bits will be transferred to both you and me (and to everyone else who downloads the file) as network traffic. Someone snooping packets would simply have to look for the bit pattern of the encrypted file (or the hash value it maps to).

The only way to escape snooping/filtering/traffic-shaping is to use new encryption keys every time the file is transferred. This happens automatically during the key-negotiation phase of a secure communications link. But it doesn't happen when you just encrypt a file and then transfer it to multiple people. In this case, encryption does absolutely nothing to evade pattern recognition.

All of this, of course, completely ignores the fact that if the government wanted to keep people from getting the file, all they would have to do is get ISPs to block packets that originate from WikiLeaks' IP addresses.