p2pnet - rss feed: Julian Assange: the man behind Wikileaks
p2pnet news P2P | Freedom:- Wikileaks has been referenced 662 times on nytimes.com, 207 times on guardian.co.uk, 86 times on washingtonpost.com and 54 times on speigel.de, says The Age in yet another indication of the rapidity with which Internet communications are not merely catching up with, but fast overtaking, the traditional corporate print and electronic media.
Put another way, online ‘amateur’ news and information gatherers and reporters are now the principal way for millions of people around the world to find out what’s happening locally and internationally, and whistle-blower site Wikileaks is a perfect example of the burgeoning power of the ‘amateur’ online press.
Julius Baer, a Swiss bank deeply worried by allegations of dodgy offshore activities including money laundering and tax evasion, got a court order to shut Wikileaks down.
It failed.
The site ran the full ACTA proposal, the infamous Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement which shows just how far administrations will go to protect the corporate bottom-line.
The revelations forced the offline media to pay attention.
In August last year, “The Guardian ran a front page report about widespread corruption by the family of the former Kenyan leader Daniel Arap Moi, including evidence Moi siphoned off billions in government money,” says The Age, noting:
“The report stated it was based on a document obtained from Wikileaks.”
‘Keep the bastards guessing’
Who runs Wikileaks?
An Australian, Julian Assange, who’s, “worked as a security consultant, professional hacker, activist and researcher” and who now, “splits his time between Kenya and Tanzania,” says the story.
“His parents ran a touring theatre company and Assange claims he attended 37 schools and six universities in Australia alone,” it states, continuing he wouldn’t reveal his age, “saying only that he was born in the 1970s because he preferred to ‘keep the bastards guessing’.”
Wikileaks’s nine-member advisory board includes Assange and another Australian, Phillip Adams, who has worked here as a broadcaster, film producer and writer for 2UE, ABC Radio National, The Australian, The Age and The Bulletin, says The Age, pointing out:
“Adams, who has received two Orders of Australia, is also chairman of the Film, Radio and Television Board, a foundation member of the Australia Council and has chaired the Australian Film Institute, the Australian Film Commission, Film Australia and the National Australia Day Council.
“Assange said there were over 100 Australian PhD students, journalists and other volunteers working on Wikileaks.”
Assange says he doesn’t make any money from Wikileaks, which is funded by online donations from “a mixture of private and institutional sources”.
“Imagine a world where companies and government makes plans the public likes, opens up rather than covering up, and treats employees well,” The Age has him saying.
“Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?”
It does.
And before the Net came along, there wasn’t even the remotest chance of that happening.
.
.Stumble It!
The Age - The Aussie who’s changing the world of whistleblowers, July 8, 2008
dodgy offshore activities - Julius Baer didn’t want Wikileaks offline, February 28, 2008
full ACTA proposal - Wikileaks runs ACTA proposal, May 24, 2008
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