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While we're on the topic of free speech and the internet, here's an interesting site: Wikileaks.
The front page of Wikileaks proudly proclaims:
Have documents the world needs to see?
We protect you and get your disclosure out to the world
And so it has. In the 18 months it's been operational, the site has released some explosive material, such as never-before-seen operating manuals for the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, lists of U.S. munitions in Iraq, including stores of banned chemical weapons, and a suppressed report on the looting of the African nation of Kenya by former president Daniel Arap Moi, a leak that led to an upset in Kenya's presidential election. The Gitmo material was particularly interesting because it showed that the United States had a policy for hiding some detainees from the International Red Cross, and used dogs to intimidate prisoners.
The owner of the site doesn't know who actually runs it or how it works, on purpose. It has mirrors all around the world so when the site was briefly taken down in the US it stayed online regardless.
When online troublemaker Julian Assange co-founded Wikileaks, the net's premiere document-leaking site last year, some were skeptical that the service would produce anything of interest.
Now, after 18 months of publishing government, industry and military secrets that have sparked international scandals, led to takedown threats and briefly gotten the site banned in the United States, Assange says Wikileaks is just getting started changing the world.
"In every negotiation, in every planning meeting and in every workplace dispute, a perception is slowly forming that the public interest may have a silent advocate in the room," Assange writes.
In February, the site published the Pentagon's 2005 rules of engagement for troops in Iraq, revealing that troops were authorized to pursue former officials in Saddam Hussein's government, as well as terrorists, into neighboring Iran and Syria. The document was classified "secret", meaning that in the eyes of the military, its release could be expected to cause "serious damage" to U.S. national security.The world's governments and press have taken notice. The New York Times reported on the rules of engagement leak, and the Iranian government held a press conference to warn the United States about crossing its border. The Washington Post reported on the Guantanamo documents, forcing the Pentagon to respond.
More controversially, the site has begun posting confidential documents from the secretive and litigious Church of Scientology, and from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Julian Assange
Julian Assange (pictured) is a hacker born in Australia. He lives in east Africa now and says he does the stuff he does because he has a conscience. Still, Wikileaks doesn't only publish highly political content. It also leaked the complete script to the new Indiana Jones movie and the tax returns of at least one Hollywood actor, leading many to claim the site is simply irresponsible and undermining society. It's interesting that no-one is questioning its accuracy however. [click to continue...]
