WikiLeaks

I've not really looked into it, but I'm not enough of a conspiracy nut to start suspecting there's some malicious conspiracy behind the allegations. That said, I think wikileaks is an entirely different issue that the founder's criminal history. I'm generally pro-wikileaks, while I couldn't give a damn about the founder (if he's guilty, let him rot in jail). I think when everything can leak so easily, politicians will have to realize that they have to behave more honestly, as if they're always under surveillance. Living in a democracy, I think that's a good thing.

Peter

Thanks Martijn. Through all this news and opinions, I sometimes need a stable and thought through one.

This is quite a nice statement (http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2010/12/wi … long-haul/)

Exactly the kind of reaction and backlash I feared.

What we (in the broadest sense of the word, meaning our democratically elected governments) are doing is handing over any moral imperative. While you may argue whether or not "the west" ever had that to begin with, at least what we have now is that we cannot even aspire to a moral high ground any more. Each and every time we stage a demonstration against the persecution of Chinese dissidents, call the Iranian ambassador to task for barbaric penalties, or chastise the Liberian government for not exerting control, ALL they'll now have to do is shrug and mention Assange.

Again, EVEN if no government body has anything do with anything that's happening to Assange right now (and I'm still not discounting that), what they should do is actively and openly try and work things out with him (or openly charge him).

The point is more that even if there ISN'T any active impediment of Assange on a governmental level, it currently certainly looks like there is, and no governments seems to be worried about that, while that is a PR and diplomacy disaster of massive proportions.

Lesson number one in communication is that it's not about what you do or do not do that determines your image. It's what you SEEM or are SEEN to be doing.

As long as governments keep on allowing the brouhaha surrounding Assange to look like a massive conspiracy, they deserve everything they get in their disdain for public opinion.

wikileaks founder raped someone ? Catholic priests like touching small boys ? (the first is actually a valid question )

Oh, the irony. aka seriously taking the piss.

One good thing about the bad weather in the UK is that has kept this whole story off the top of the news. But the weather is thawing out towards the end of the week...

This sounds like something that would happen in America.

Hi guys,

I normally don't bother you all with this, but as Wikileaks now got a thread of its own, I guess this deserves a place here as well.

I am a member of an organisation called Avaaz which is a 6.4-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 13 countries on 4 continents and operates in 14 languages.

Avaaz started an internet campaign to collect signatures against the ongoing intimidation campaign against WikiLeaks. After 24h 300,000 people signed. Now we're closing in on 500,000.

Below you can read the campaign text. If you support this, you might want to consider signing this petition.

Elin

***

The massive campaign of intimidation against WikiLeaks is sending a chill through free press advocates everywhere.

Legal experts say WikiLeaks has likely broken no laws. Yet top US politicians have called it a terrorist group and commentators have urged assassination of its staff. The organization has come under massive government and corporate attack, but WikiLeaks is only publishing information provided by a whistleblower. And it has partnered with the world's leading newspapers (NYT, Guardian, Spiegel etc) to carefully vet the information it publishes.

The massive extra-judicial intimidation of WikiLeaks is an attack on democracy. We urgently need a public outcry for freedom of the press and expression. Sign the petition to stop the crackdown and forward this email to everyone -- let's get to 1 million voices and take out full page ads in US newspapers this week!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/wikileaks_petit … 108a2d582c

WikiLeaks isn't acting alone -- it's partnered with the top newspapers in the world (New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, etc) to carefully review 250,000 US diplomatic cables and remove any information that it is irresponsible to publish. Only 800 cables have been published so far. Past WikiLeaks publications have exposed government-backed torture, the murder of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, and corporate corruption.

The US government is currently pursuing all legal avenues it has to stop WikiLeaks from publishing more cables, but the laws of democracies protect freedom of the press. The US and other governments may not like the laws that protect our freedom of expression, but that's exactly why it's so important that we have them, and why only a democratic process can change them.

Reasonable people can disagree on whether WikiLeaks and the leading newspapers it's partnered with are releasing more information than the public should see. Whether the releases undermine diplomatic confidentiality and whether that's a good thing. Whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has the personal character of a hero or a villain. But none of this justifies a vicious campaign of intimidation to silence a legal media outlet by governments and corporations. Click below to join the call to stop the crackdown:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/wikileaks_petit … 108a2d582c

Ever wonder why the media so rarely gives the full story of what happens behind the scenes? This is why - because when they do, governments can be vicious in their response. And when that happens, it's up to the public to stand up for our democratic rights to a free press and freedom of expression. Never has there been a more vital time for us to do so.

With hope,
Ricken, Emma, Alex, Alice, Maria Paz and the rest of the Avaaz team.

SOURCES:

Law experts say WikiLeaks in the clear (ABC)
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/conten … 086781.htm

WikiLeaks are a bunch of terrorists, says leading U.S. congressman (Mail Online)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article … -King.html

Cyber guerrillas can help US (Financial Times)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d3dd7c40-ff15 … z17QvQ4Ht5

Amazon drops WikiLeaks under political pressure (Yahoo)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101201/tc … ressamazon

"WikiLeaks avenged by hacktivists" (PC World):
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/a … vists.html

US Gov shows true control over Internet with WikiLeaks containment (Tippett.org)
http://www.tippett.org/2010/12/us-gov-s … ntainment/

US embassy cables culprit should be executed, says Mike Huckabee (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/de … e-huckabee

WikiLeaks ditched by MasterCard, Visa. Who's next? (The Christian Science Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Hor … Who-s-next

Assange's Interpol Warrant Is for Having Sex Without a Condom (The Slatest)
http://slatest.slate.com/id/2276690/

yikes

Is it me, or has WikiLeaks jumped the shark? They just released all cables without redacting, and against advice of like ... everyone who could possibly be mentioned in these documents. All work of the media organisations is now meaningless. But apparently it seems someone had leaked the complete protected dump and found its password (WL points to The Guardian, they deny). So WL they wanted to be ahead. It's a messy story and a sad turn in their reputation.

I don't know man. I find it confusing. I think Assange has been on bail too long, or does not like England very much.

It seems that people's lives have been jeopardized already, that said, I did take a look at some particular cables, due to a project I am working on.

Those cables give you a good insight if you want to prepare a political thriller.

Jumping the shark or not, the whole idea of releasing diplomatic cables even from a year ago can be quite dangerous for international politics and also potentially for live of intelligence assets or even case officers. I don't care about the international reputation of the US as I do for the lives of assets and non-official cover intelligence officers, some of which MIGHT just be revealed in the process.

This goes beyond whistleblowing. It becomes pure stupidity and irresponsibility then.

In today's jittery economic climate the last thing we need is more things to raise suspicions in our society.

My G'n'T specs can't help but see it in one big melting pot.