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Tag: OpenLeaks

  • WikiLeaks Slams The New York Times via Twitter

    Yesterday, the New York Times published an article courtesy of Read Write Web that suggested that WikiLeaks was responsible for exposing the sources behind over 250,000 leaked classified cables from U.S. embassies around the world.

    And today, WikiLeaks has responded via Twitter.

    The article published in the Times echoes accusations made by the German news magazine Der Spiegel. They say that a password leaked by Julian Assange and the taking of files by former WikiLeaks spokesman Daniel Domscheit-Berg contributed to the exposure of the unredacted cables – meaning that sources were exposed.

    From the Times article –

    When Domscheit-Berg left last year, he wound up taking a number of files with him, including that of the original cables. At the same time, Assange had given an “external contact” the file’s password so he could examine the materials. Domscheit-Berg returned the materials late in the year, and this year Wikileaks supporters “released a copy of this data collection onto the Internet as a kind of public archive of the documents that WikiLeaks had previously published.” The full, unedited documents were contained within that copy. The password was also apparently published.

    WikiLeaks hit back with this series of Tweets –

    @wikileaks
    WikiLeaks    Totally false that any WikiLeaks sources have been exposed or will be exposed. NYT drooling, senile, and evil. http://t.co/sl8FD6w 21 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @wikileaks
    WikiLeaks    Sorry, NYT, It doesn’t matter how many sleazy hack jobs like Ravi Somaiya you hire, we’ve out published your Pentagon tabloid already. 19 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @wikileaks
    WikiLeaks    There has been no WikiLeaks error. There has been a grossly negligent mainstream media error, to put it generously. 8 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Daniel Domscheit-Berg left WikiLeaks in 2010 due to the release of documents concerning the Iraq War. In early 2011, Domscheit-Berg launched OpenLeaks, a sort of WikiLeaks competitor.

    If things went down like the Times article says they did, that’s bad news for WikiLeaks. Not only does it damage their security cred but it definitely exposes the sources to retributive measures. Of course, as you can see above, WikiLeaks is vehemently denying that they committed any mistakes. Their implications are that the Times is running anti-WikiLeaks propaganda, as Death and Taxes points out.

  • Is OpenLeaks WikiLeaks 2.0?

    Is OpenLeaks WikiLeaks 2.0?

    If you thought the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would bring an end to the “Let’s Leak it to the World” phenomenon, not to mention the subsequent fighting about how we should react to these leaks, think again.

    OpenLeaks, a similar type of service launched by a former management member of WikiLeaks, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, is launching, and it promises even better protection for would-be whistleblowers. 

    Before we continue, this article is not to discuss the “right or wrong” implications of these whistleblower sites.  Nothing about the launch of OpenLeaks is going to change the way people feel about these entities, nor should it. 

    This article is merely a conduit explaining the next step in Internet leak life-cycle.

    Granted, those out there who thought it began and ended with Assange will be disappointed or possibly angered by this news, but I digress.  As for OpenLeaks, again, they are firmly in the camp of protecting those who leak information to them, something the mission statement reveals quite well, as does the above video:

    OpenLeaks is a project that aims at making whistleblowing safer and more widespread. This will be done by providing dedicated and generally free services to whistleblowers and organizations interested in transparency. We will also create a Knowledge Base aiming to provide a comprehensive reference to all areas surrounding whistleblowing.

    Just in case you can’t decide where the OpenLeaks founder stands, the following responses to Reuters will eliminate any confusion.  As far as the leaks themselves, Domscheit-Berg wants total transparency and in today’s world of technology and never-ending strife, especially in the Middle East, his position is easier to understand, at least, to this writer.

    "We have to create transparency where it is refused.”  Domscheit-Berg goes on to say, “it is our obligation as a society to give these people [the whistleblowers] whatever protection we can give."

    Currently, OpenLeaks is still collecting funds needed for its operation, and while the site is currently live, there are no leaks contained within.