I think you missed the joke. The first paragraph clearly says it's "top secret" and "confidential", so even though it was published by the Spiegel, it's not public information. Got it?

I know, it only makes sense in NSA's distorted rhetoric but if this is disputed in a court, that is what you're going to hear (that the information is not public, as in, it should not be disclosed).

> I know, it only makes sense in NSA's distorted rhetoric

Any US citizens propagating this information would probably be in big trouble precisely because of that. I am not sure about this, but IIRC, US citizens may even get in trouble for reading this information if they lack proper clearance.

A US citizen is under no legal obligation to do or not do anything with "classified" information. That is a standard that only its employees must observe.

I can go to Wikileaks and read Snowden and Assange-backed papers all day long. Govt. employees on the other hand aren't allowed to read that info even though it's already public (even at home, even on their own time).

Interesting. Thanks for clarifying. I wonder if those files can have other restrictions tied to them, such as being transported or copied between two computers.