WikiLeaks rival Openleaks "coming soon": website

[bemildred]

(Reuters) - The former deputy to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is vowing to launch a rival site soon that he says will be more transparent than the original.

Dubbed "Openleaks" (www.openleaks.org) and run by Assange's former number two at WikiLeaks Daniel Domscheit-Berg, the site has no content on it at the moment apart from a logo and the message "Coming soon!"

In an interview with the OWNI technology website, Domscheit-Berg declined to go into the details of his dispute with Wikileaks but suggested it had strayed from its mission.

"In these last months, the organization has not been open any more, it lost its open-source promise," he said, adding that Openleaks plans to provide the means for leaked information to be published, without itself being a publisher.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BC23E20101213

[nc4bo]

1. Someone help explain

Is Openleaks going provide access (or links to access) of the same information as Wikileaks?

Will they be like a sister site or will the information be in addition to info from Wikileaks?

Sorry...trying to sort this out here and getting miserably lost.

[bemildred]

3. It's all rather nebulous at this point.

The OP says:

"adding that Openleaks plans to provide the means for leaked information to be published, without itself being a publisher."

I would think that the first questions would be finding people, money, and leaks to "help" publish, and some sort of concrete description of what the site will do. My own view, at present, is that this is the normal schism and bandwagon-jumping that one sees with a successful idea, but I have doubts that it will go anywhere. Pending further developments, I consider it a PR effort only, and I don't expect it will ever get concrete or do anything significant.

I would think not being a publisher is a weakness, as it forgoes the protections afforded the press.

[nc4bo]

5. My first thought was that Openleaks sounds like a type of torrent provider.

Just providing links to info elsewhere and it's up to the user to access it. Seems it would leave them open to all sorts of unpleasantness.

Sounds suspect but you put it all so eloquently - thanks!

We'll just have to wait and see how it all pans out.

[bemildred]

6. That's a good point. Anonymity is the key.

There is no freer form of speech than anonymous speech.

[Catherina]

2. Domscheit-Berg was mad at Assange for focusing on huge international stories

and thought he should have spent his time on smaller, national stories.

That, in addition to a CIA quote that they needed to get to one of Assange's people and get him to work with them, told me all I needed to know.

This guy worked for Assange only one year but he lied that it was longer in a wired interview. Assange commented and called him on it. Then he said he resigned when the reality is that he was fired for a serious security breach.

Sorry Bemildred. Thanks for posting but I don't trust this guy. Not to mention that this announcement first appeared on only right wing papers.

[bemildred]

4. No problem, I am not "attached" to this effort, I just think it's interesting.

See above.