Great For DU: WIKILEAKS!

[Me.]

“Wikileaks is developing an uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis. Our primary interests are oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but we also expect to be of assistance to those in the west who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their own governments and corporations. We aim for maximum political impact; this means our interface is identical to Wikipedia and usable by non-technical people. We have received over 1.2 million documents so far from dissident communities and anonymous sources.

We believe that transparency in government activities leads to reduced corruption, better government and stronger democracies. Many governments would benefit from increased scrutiny by the world community, as well as their own people. We believe this scrutiny requires information. Historically that information has been costly - in terms of human life and human rights. Wikileaks will facilitate safety in the ethical leaking movement.

Wikileaks opens leaked documents up to a much more exacting scrutiny than any media organization or intelligence agency could provide. Wikileaks will provide a forum for the entire global community to examine any document for credibility, plausibility, veracity and falsifiability. They will be able to interpret documents and explain their relevance to the public. If a document comes from the Chinese government, the entire Chinese dissident community can freely scrutinize and discuss it; if a document arrives from Iran, the entire Farsi community can analyze it and put it in context. Our first sample analysis is available from the news page, providing a look into the future of what Wikileaks can provide.”cont…

http://wikileaks.org/

[Me.]

1. More

cont...

“In its landmark ruling on the Pentagon Papers, the US Supreme Court ruled that "only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government." We agree.

The ruling stated that "paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell."

We believe that it is not only the people of one country that keep their government honest, but also the people of other countries who are watching that government. That is why the time has come for an anonymous global avenue for disseminating documents the public should see.”

http://wikileaks.org/

[aquart]

2. I hope they've protected their identities and their servers.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

5. I hope they are not running

any form of windoze....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/437967.stm


The findings of a computer security expert that America's National Security Agency (NSA) may have been given a back door into every copy of Windows 95, 98, NT4 and 2000 worldwide are being debated across the Internet.

Microsoft has issued a strong denial of allegations of misuse of a second encryption "key" in Windows.

"These are just used to ensure that we're compliant with US export regulations," said Scott Culp, Microsoft's security manager for its Windows NT Server software.

"We have not shared the private keys. We do not share our keys."

But cryptographers in the UK described the implications of the findings as "immense". Windows is installed on more than 90% of the world's computers.

[rockymountaindem]

3. This sounds like a double-edged sword

While having a place to leak documents like this is good for transparency, leaving the system open to analysis by anybody with their own agenda to pursue could dilute the project's credibility. Furthermore, governments which know they will be targets of this project could "leak" "sensitive documents" onto the site in the form of easily discredited forgeries. Then, when real documents are leaked by a dissident, they will have less credibility.

[Me.]

4. They Address A Lot Of Concerns On Their About Us Page

“Aren't some leaks deliberately false and misleading?

Providing a forum for freely posting information involves the potential for abuse, but measures can be taken to minimize any potential harm. The simplest and most effective countermeasure is a worldwide community of informed users and editors who can scrutinize and discuss leaked documents.

Concerns about privacy, irresponsibility and false information also arise with Wikipedia. On Wikipedia, irresponsible posting or editing of material, or posting of false material, can be reversed by other users, and the results have been extremely satisfying and reassuring. There is no reason to expect any different from Wikileaks. Indeed, as discovered with Wikipedia to the surprise of many, the collective wisdom of an informed community of users may provide rapid and accurate dissemination, verification and analysis.

Furthermore, misleading leaks and misinformation are already well placed in the mainstream media, as recent history shows, an obvious example being the lead-up to the Iraq war. Peddlers of misinformation will find themselves undone by Wikileaks, equipped as it is to scrutinize leaked documents in a way that no mainstream media outlet is capable of. An analogus example is this excellent unweaving of the British government's politically motivated additions to an intelligence dossier on Iraq. The dossier was cited by Colin Powell in his address to the United Nations the same month to justify the pending US invasion of Iraq.

In any case, our overarching goal is to provide a forum where embarrassing information can expose injustice. All policy will be formulated with this goal in mind.”

Ihttp://wikileaks.org/faq-en#chigai

[supernova]

6. What's to stop an authoritarian gov't

from simply blocking Wikileaks site like they do now?

It sounds good in theory, and I like the idea of everybody being able to pick apart everybody else's docs, otherwise. I think this is precisely the kind of function the internet is meant for.

[Me.]

9. I'm Not Sure If This Answers Your Question

But this is what they say:

"Wikileaks will also incorporate advanced cryptographic technologies for anonymity and untraceability. Those who provide leaked information may face severe risks, whether of political repercussions, legal sanctions or physical violence. Accordingly, extremely sophisticated mathematical and cryptographic techniques will be used to secure privacy, anonymity and untraceability.

For the technically minded, Wikileaks integrates technologies including modified versions of FreeNet, Tor, PGP and software of our own design.

Wikileaks will be deployed in a way that makes it impervious to political and legal attacks. In this sense it is uncensorable."

W

[Cleita]

7. Terrific! It's about time that there was a source for

the unvarnished truth.

[Buzz Clik]

8. Sounds like total chaos.

It will now be possible to have a citable source for any wild claim you'll care to make.

[chaska]

10. Great idea, but it hastens the end of the internet as we know it...

Please tell me I'm wrong.

I can sense the governments of the world getting very nervous about the power of the internet. We have to find a way to protect it.

[dave_p]

11. ... and

governments wanting to whip up public opinion against another country will doubtless find it a useful place to plant "evidence" of wrongdoing (which they can then quote in their own "intelligence" releases).

[Me.]

12. I'm Surprised At All The Foreboding

for a site that hasn't even had a chance yet. No doubt there will be attempts to abuse it. It seems that in this world of ours there is always someone ready and willing to rain on someone else's party.

I have hopes for this and am wishing it success. I noted that some of the people working to put this together are Chinese. People want to be free to exchange truth and good ideas. I hope this opportunity prevails.

And as has been said, we have all been inundated with lies and mis-info for seven years now, on a grand scale. The interesting thing is that we all knew it was bs. We have our own detectors. And now that so much truth is finally leaking out, we have more and more affirmation of that,

As i said, I am willing to give this site a chance and at the same time trust that the progressives of the world and those who believe in transparency will be watching out for any of the little foxes who try to spoil the grapes on this vine.

[H2O Man]

13. "Sky's falling!" n/t

[Me.]

14. Grin n/t

[Robbien]

15. After taking a look around the site, I believe it has possibilities

Right now the participation has a lot to do with the Human Rights Event which took place in Africa and it has some documents from Somalia which are pretty interesting.

This could be a great resource site for global news. I believe I may get hooked.

Thanks.

:D

[Me.]

16. Back At Ya

Fingers crossed, I'll be watching to see how this acorn grows.

[ProgressiveAmPatriot]

17. Where are the documents?

It says that it is just like wikipedia, that people will be able to see and discuss the leaked information. Where is the leaked information? I couldn't find anything on the website that resembles documents.

[Me.]

18. Sample Document Can Be Found Here

http://wikileaks.org/faq-en#fairu

More to come, one supposes as they get up to speed

[ProgressiveAmPatriot]

19. Ironic comment on the donation page

"Anonymous
- 15 Feb 07 ($20 USD): Let's hear the truth rather than whitewashed liberal propaganda. I stand for truth."

Funny considering you posted it here and this is, in fact, an extremely progressive idea. But hey, go figure, this is all about liberal propaganda.

[Me.]

20. Blah, Blah Blah I Say To Them, Just Give Us Your Money

Then we'll let you in on the truth, and let you pay for the privilege.