The Wikileaks databank

[Trolldor]

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/techno ... 18s0w.html

We broke from WikiLeaks because a few ex-WikiLeaks members have been very unhappy with the way Assange was conducting things," said former WikiLeaks member and key player in the new site, Herbert Snorrason.

'You're not anyone's king or god'

The most high-profile defector is Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who went by the name Daniel Schmitt at WikiLeaks and served as one of its only public faces aside from Mr Assange.

Mr Domscheit-Berg resigned from the organisation this year after WikiLeaks released almost 400,000 classified US documents relating to the Iraq war. He, and other WikiLeaks members, felt Mr Assange released the documents too early without taking the time to properly redact names of US collaborators and informants in Iraq.

"You are not anyone's king or god," Mr Domscheit-Berg told Mr Assange in an online chat, a transcript of which was obtained and published by Wired.com.

"And you're not even fulfilling your role as a leader right now. A leader communicates and cultivates trust in himself. You are doing the exact opposite. You behave like some kind of emperor or slave trader."

Mr Assange shot back, saying he was suspending Mr Domscheit-Berg for a month and that if he wanted to appeal, "you will be heard on Tuesday".

Mr Domschelt-Berg instead resigned and will now be a key player in the new site.

Got a problem? Piss off

Mr Snorrason also left after he challenged Mr Assange's decision to suspend Mr Domscheit-Berg. Mr Assange responded saying: "I am the heart and soul of this organisation, its founder, philosopher, spokesperson, original coder, organiser, financier and all the rest. If you have a problem with me, piss off."

Vladimir Putin has led a growing band of international leaders voicing support for Mr Assange, describing his detention in Britain as "undemocratic".

Says it all.

[Ronja]

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/techno ... 18s0w.html

Heyyy! You left out the most interesting bit!

A number of WikiLeaks defectors, including founder Julian Assange's former right-hand man, plan to launch a rival site on Monday after accusing Mr Assange of behaving like "some kind of emperor or slave trader".
...
The new site, Openleaks, will launch on Monday, respected Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported. Like WikiLeaks, it will allow whistleblowers to leak information to the public anonymously. However, Openleaks won't host the documents itself, instead acting as an intermediary between whistleblowers and other groups including media organisations.
...
The new site, one member said, would be "democratically governed by all its members, rather than limited to one group or individual".

[Trolldor]

I don't expect it'll go down much differently, or if it will even survive.

[Ronja]

I don't expect it'll go down much differently, or if it will even survive.

Time will tell.

It is not a 1:1 comparison, but several people I have studied and worked with and who are experts in (some aspect of) information and communication technology - typically engineers and usability experts - were quite skeptical of both Linux and Wikipedia, when they were young. "It will never be more than a marginal thing" was a mantra I heard often about Linux throughout the 1990ies, and "It will never work - who would work for free?" was another about Wikipedia, which I heard for the first half of the 2000ies.

I'm not saying that Openleaks *will* work, I'm just saying that many things in how socio-technical systems develop have surprised people before, and I will be very surprised, if we don't keep on getting surprised by socio-technical developments (for better, for worse) every now and then.

[Mishakal]

One comment on the page with the Guardian piece really struck a cord with me, here is what it says.

When the Emperor Who Has No Clothes is caught out-of-doors, all pretensions are dropped.

Assange has dealt a blow to the pretenders. The very fact that they are so openly persecuting him is enough to tell even the most unaware of us that This is VERY serious. Assange would be ignored otherwise.

This won't go away. It will get worse for the Emperor Who Has No Clothes and I am thoroughly enjoying the meltdown.

She's right, not only is this a serious event, it's entertaining to watch!

[Trolldor]

I don't expect it'll go down much differently, or if it will even survive.

Time will tell.

It is not a 1:1 comparison, but several people I have studied and worked with and who are experts in (some aspect of) information and communication technology - typically engineers and usability experts - were quite skeptical of both Linux and Wikipedia, when they were young. "It will never be more than a marginal thing" was a mantra I heard often about Linux throughout the 1990ies, and "It will never work - who would work for free?" was another about Wikipedia, which I heard for the first half of the 2000ies.

I'm not saying that Openleaks *will* work, I'm just saying that many things in how socio-technical systems develop have surprised people before, and I will be very surprised, if we don't keep on getting surprised by socio-technical developments (for better, for worse) every now and then.

The difference is that Wikipedia didn't have any competitive 'open source encylopedias' already established to work against. Openleaks does, and I suspect loyal leakists will sabotage it.
Irrespective of whether there's a market for 'openleaks'.

[Trolldor]

You really are blinded by Americanism.

lawl, except I'm not American nor am I living in America.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Gawdzilla, do you ever post anything in politics that is actually about the thread?

Do you ever post anything anywhere is that isn't hate and bile? Not on this forum, certainly.

[Robert_S]

A high-tech underground lair. As somebody put it recently: if it has been Julian Assange's intentions to fully turn himself into a James Bond-style villain, he has finally succeeded.

Of particular interest to me is the "Doomsday File" threat, aka "The Insurance": that if he's arrested over Wikileaks-related activities, he'll give the password to unlock an encrypted data file that will directly threaten the security of the American people. Wow, what a folk hero!
Personally I think he's bluffing. Even if he does have something like that (and I can't imagine what), if he releases it he'll forever destroy Wikileaks legacy, whatever that is now worth.

Here's an interesting thought: Let's suppose he can disclose the password to decrypt the "Doomsday File" to someone, somewhere who can decrypt it. That person is in an interesting position. Is it worth it to decrypt and distribute that file? What consequences could befall him or her? Is Julian worth it? What about the morality of the situation? If no greater good than getting Julian out of jail is to be accomplished, then the person might see the document and decide to delete it on moral grounds after an assessment of likely harm vs. good. It would be the ultimate fail for Assange.


I think in some cases, like The Pentagon Papers back in the day, leaking information to the public is the most moral, compassionate, and patriotic thing to do. But these diplomatic cables are no Pentagon Papers. I doubt that the Doomsday File is either.

[maiforpeace]

The fellow who leaked all those classified documents to Wikileaks, Bradley Manning, is getting badmouthed by the residents of his hometown, who are now recollecting all the signals of his future perfidy. Apparently, he was godless, refused to recite the pledge of allegiance, and used big words.

Uh-oh. That sounds like my youth, too. I guess I'm going to be under suspicion now.

Oh, wait — he was also gay. I'm safe!

By the way, they're threatening him with 50 years in prison. I think they should give him a medal, but I know they won't.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010 ... hannellink

[sandinista]

http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=6901

WikiLeaks reveals extent of 'US spying:' Bolivia

CANCUN: Leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales said Thursday that WikiLeaks had revealed the extent of "US spying" on the Andean nation and he did not regret expelling the US ambassador two years ago.

"We realize what US spying has been, before US President Barack Obama, after Obama... it confirms what we had strongly denounced," Morales told a news conference at a UN climate summit in Cancun, Mexico.

"I don't regret having expelled the ambassador of the United States. From that moment, there have been no coup attempts."

Morales kicked out US Ambassador Philip Goldberg in September 2008, accusing him of conspiring against his government.

Shortly afterward, the Bolivian leader also expelled the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

Morales also said that regional relations were unharmed despite secret US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks showing the United States had sought cooperation from Bolivia's neighbors, such as Brazil and Argentina.

"It won't bring any confrontation between (regional) presidents," Morales said.

Washington has been critical of Bolivia's foreign policy alignment with Cuba and Venezuela, and its overtures to Iran, as well as its coca leaf cultivation for traditional and medicinal uses.

Bolivia last week denied it had agreed to allow Iran to exploit its uranium deposits, as shown by some of leaked memos.

[Trolldor]

Hey Sandy, how does it feel to know you and Putin share a common ideology?

[sandinista]

Hey Sandy, how does it feel to know you and Putin share a common ideology?

how does it feel to share the same ideology as Stephen Harper?

not to mention Tony B, Bush jr and Obama

[Trolldor]

And yet you still have Putin.

I win.

[sandinista]

And yet you still have Putin.

I win.

and yet you still have bush, blair and harper, guess I win, whatever that means.