By John Ballard, via Twitter and Forbes
Former WikiLeaks staffer Daniel Domscheit-Berg has always considered Julian Assange�s whistle-blowing site a two-pipe operation: One pipe takes submissions in from anonymous leakers, another publishes them out to an uncensorable web site.But since defecting from WikiLeaks in September and watching the global controversy build around the secret-spilling organization, he�s taking a different approach with his own leak-focused project: Keep the anonymous submissions channel. Ditch the controversial and resource-draining publishing piece altogether.
The German Domscheit-Berg, along with several other former Wikileaks staffers, plans to launch a website they�re calling OpenLeaks as early as next week, Domscheit-Berg told Forbes in an interview. Like WikiLeaks, the new site will allow leakers to anonymously submit information to a secure online dropbox. But unlike its parent site, it won�t publish that information itself. Instead, it will allow the source to designate any media or non-governmental organizations he or she chooses and have that information passed on for fact-checking, redaction and publication. That difference, argues Domscheit-Berg, will allow OpenLeaks to accomplish much of the transparency achieved by WikiLeaks, without drawing the same political fury and legal pressure.
More details at the link . This predictable development is a positive spinoff of Wikileaks. From all accounts Assange's temperament challenges Wikileaks as much as the nature of the material it handles. His control of the group looks autocratic from a distance and there may be a personal component to his preoccupation with conspiracies and the power of secret information. The shape of this new group is yet to be seen.
More here.
And here.
I'm puzzled. How would having the ultimate leaker specify who publishes the leak prevent the political and media elites from having a fit? I must be missing something or need a gallon - an imperial one - of coffee this morning to get the brain going. Daniel E's leak to NYTs didn't much stop Nixon et gang from going semi-insane. Anyway, no matter what [supposed] innovations potential full exclosure intermediaries offer, the end result, I think, can only be mostly good: the exposure of our political, business & media elites in all their glory, less the self propagated myths & legends they so love.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm not sure how much protection this new model will offer Open Leaks from the sort of pressure WikiLeaks is under. But regardless, I'm heartened to see Assange's whistleblowing ethos persevere with a new site.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, it will only be the first of many such sites, where whistleblowers all around the world can speak out with impunity against injustice on a local, national, or global level. Those in power who have done dirty deeds should feel very uncomfortable right about now...
Assange is to information leaks what John Brown was to slavery. Abolitionists had been around from the founding of the country but Harper's Ferry was the flashpoint that energized the movement. Wikileaks has been around for some time (I had a link at my old blog more than two years ago and as of this writing it still connects with one of the mirror sites) but only lately has it come into the spotlight.
ReplyDeleteIt remains to be seen whether new models will confront the same issues but just the proliferation of copy-cat sites is sure to have an impact on the way information is handled and what the word "secure" really means. An old saying is Three can keep a secret if two are dead. Size becomes part of the problem and size alone may be the main target of the leak phenomenon. Complexity is another part of the challenge. I think Ron has reported on the fragility of complex societies and Wikileaks is one of the worms in the apple.
By delegating to the source responsibility of designating a disposition of content Open Leaks insulates itself from liability. I can imagine a legal argument invoking precedents protecting professionals (lawyers, doctors, clergy, therapists, etc.) who refuse to reveal sensitive information that might uncover illegal activity. Outsourcing redaction and fact-checking is another layer of protection.
As the smoke clears it is evident that Wikileaks and its kind are symptoms, not problems. The sooner those in charge catch on the quicker those problems will be solved.
I has a big problem. Newspapers have tons of leaks they sit on. It is the threat that if they don't publish that Wikileaks will go somewhere else that works.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Assange has cred, and these people don't.
Agree on the John Brown analogy.
Those in charge will not catch on. They are not capable of doing so, or at least not this generation of leaders.
At best.. a rather pathetic attempt to suck up to the US government. It's like asking permission to rebel. Utterly pointlesss, completely ridiculous, why would anyone be interested in this mockery of an organisation when they also have the choice of Wikileaks?
ReplyDeleteIts most welcome. Lets see how it helps to bring the truth.
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