Exclusive: Julian Assange autobiography set to be published tomorrow

[xchrom]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/exclusive-julian-assange-autobiography-set-to-be-published-tomorrow-2358532.html

The autobiography of Julian Assange is set to be published for the first time tomorrow despite attempts by the WikiLeaks founder to suppress his tell-all memoir after a bitter and acrimonious row with its publisher.

The manuscript, excerpts of which will appear exclusively in tomorrow’s Independent, is the first time Mr Assange has directly addressed the events in Sweden which forced him into a costly extradition battle over sexual abuse allegations in which both his liberty and the future of WikiLeaks are now at stake.

The book provides a profoundly personal insight into a man who, in the space of less than a year, went from being a little-known former hacker to one of the world’s most recognisable faces thanks to his organisation’s string of deeply embarrassing revelations that have won him as many enemies as supporters.

The memoir paints a vivid portrait of a driven but notoriously mercurial idealist bent on moulding the world in his own belief of absolute transparency. It begins with the Australian’s peripatetic childhood in Queensland accompanied by bohemian parents who always made him question authority, describes how he plunged into the hidden underworld of early hacking and went on to form a whistle-blowing platform that would redefine the nature of information security. The book also contains prolonged and bitter rants against some of the media partners he allied WikiLeaks with to publish his largest revelations with particular ire reserved for the New York Times and the Guardian newspapers.

[ChandlerJr]

1. I can't wait to download the ebook from Pirate Bay

Should be an interesting read.

[MineralMan]

2. Ah, can't wait to deprive Mr. Assange of the royalties he's due, eh?

I wonder why he didn't release this autobiography as a free download. Information's supposed to be free, right?

Maybe someone will ask him that question, eh?

In any case, what Pirate Bay is doing is illegal and, as a creator of intellectual property, I think it's immoral as well.

To each his own, though, I suppose.

[msanthrope]

3. Assange withdrew from this project. I doubt he'll decline royalties, though...

Unauthorised Julian Assange autobiography due outBy Gordon Corera

Security correspondent, BBC News

SNIP

An autobiography of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is being released.

It has been published despite the fact Mr Assange broke off his involvement and tried to cancel the project.

According to the publishers, Mr Assange signed a contract on 20 December 2010 with Canongate Books to write a book "part memoir, part manifesto".

After sitting with a ghost writer for more than 50 hours of taped interviews, he decided he wanted to cancel the contract.

SNIP--much more at link....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15009028

I suspect he withdrew aftrer realizing that he really does sound like a prat...

[MineralMan]

5. Yah, I read that in another post.

He already accepted a very large advance, and has spent it already.

As far as sounding like a prat...well...I'll not comment on that one.

[msanthrope]

7. Spent the advance, then tried to cancel the deal...

prat.

[MineralMan]

8. Well, yes. The quest for celebrity status is often a painful one.

I think Assange's celebrity time has just about run out.

[sabrina 1]

14. And I think you don't know what you are talking about! Lol!

One of the most influential men in the world today with a Global following any politician would envy. But I suppose if the Corporate Powers don't like you, your 15 minutes will certainly be under attack to make sure it doesn't last. Unfortunately for those powers the people of the world are more awake now than they have ever been, due in part to the efforts of courageous people like Julian Assange. The effort that has gone into trying to silence him has only increased his standing in world opinion.

They never learn. When someone is already popular as a result of their own accomplishments, and he certainly exposed the failure of major news organizations to do their jobs for the people rather than Corporate powers, the worst thing you can do is make a martyr out of them. The proper thing to do would have been to have accepted his offer to work with them. But we know only violence and punishment as solutions, regardless of how much of a failure those tactics are.

[SidDithers]

18. "One of the most influential men in the world today"...

Really?

Sid

[sabrina 1]

21. Yes, really. One of the most influential men in the world today.

The reason why he has received all those awards he keeps getting. One of the reasons why corrupt governments around the world have toppled finally without firing a shot. The truth is very powerful. I know you probably don't get that. But one thing he has never been accused of is publishing lies. When you see the words attached to a source 'Wikileaks' you KNOW you are getting the facts.

[MineralMan]

20. Our opinions clearly differ, don't they?

I see no positive influence on anything from this man. Why don't we leave it at that?

[Luminous Animal]

32. +1

[Luminous Animal]

28. The advance is in escrow and the publisher has said that Assange will receive royalties.

As far as the publisher is concerned, the contract is still in effect.

[ChandlerJr]

9. That was kinda sorta meant to be a bit of irony

what goes 'round comes 'round and all that.

[MineralMan]

11. Irony is not clear here most of the time.

It's best to signal it, in most cases.

[bemildred]

4. What the Hell is an "unauthorized autobiography"?

It's a unauthorized biography, not an autobiography.

[msanthrope]

6. It means he sat for 50 hours of interview, under K, then withdrew, after spending the advance.

Unsuprisingly, Assange doesn't seem to like his self-told story.

[seabeyond]

10. " his own belief of absolute transparency" " attempts by the WikiLeaks founder to suppress his

tell-all memoir"

ha ha

[MineralMan]

12. Kind of a giggle, isn't it?

Maybe when he was talking about all this, he had a sudden revelation of himself. Sobering, I'd guess. :rofl:

[seabeyond]

13. actually it is not the first time i have heard this contradiction with this man

seems to be a consistent theme. but ya

a giggle...

[sabrina 1]

16. The giggle is that you don't get what Wikileaks is about.

Not unusual for a society that has been so propagandized for so long.

There is absolutely no conflict in his dealings in his personal life, considering he never was interested in anyone else's personal lives, and the work that he has so successfully done. But why am I NOT surprised to see the failure to understand that. A quick attempt at a 'gothca' moment, only makes clear just how much propaganda Americans have been saturated with.

More then 54% of the world population agree with what he is doing. And understand it. Americans having been told by Fox et al that Assange, an International, multiple prize-winning journailist is a 'terrorist' are among the few who remain ignorant of the importance to just societies everywhere, of the idea he had and the motives behind it.

[MineralMan]

19. I know exactly what it is about.

Please let me know what positive thing has been accomplished because of Wikileaks.

As for Julian Assange, our opinions differ. I see his search for celebrity. It has failed. He's had his 15 minutes, and now that's over.

I can see no good accomplishments from this. If you know of some tangible ones, please let me know.

[sabrina 1]

22. Your comment only further demonstrates how little you know

and/or understand about Wikileaks and Julian Assange. But it's not a big deal, research shows that Americans are the least informed on this subject.

What good has he done? Ask the Kenyans, the Tunisians, the Egyptians. Ask any dictator what he thinks of Wikileaks and you will have your answer.

Unless of course you don't believe that truth is important and that we should go back to the old ways the news media works. Each day I read more of the revelations from Wikileaks about every country in the world. And I am amazed that our media here refuses to address those revelations, but the people who were oppressed and silenced by corrupt and brutal rulers have been vindicated by Wikileaks courageous willingness to just tell the truth.

As for seeking attention. He was doing the exact opposite, funny you didn't know that. For years he was in hiding, dictators don't like having their secrets revealed. He was thrust into the limelight when he dared to reveal some facts about the Western Powers, but to the people of all those European countries, and Australia, and to a lesser extent here because the news is censored so badly most people have no clue what is going on with Wikileaks, he has been a true journalist and their corrupt politicians have had to scramble to try to explain their behavior. He has educated billions of people simply by giving a voice to whistle-blowers who ordinarily would have been jailed or killed had they gone public, and people from Kenya to Tunisia to even here for those who care about such things, he is and will remain a figure of great courage. Not perfect of course, no human being is, but definitely courageous.

Like Daniel Elsberg, who is a huge supporter of Assange and Wikileaks, people will be talking positively about him when all his detractors are long forgotten.

[MineralMan]

23. Yes. I know your opinion. We do not share it.

That is my last word on the subject. I knew Daniel Ellsberg.

[sabrina 1]

25. And Daniel Ellsberg views Julian Assange as a hero, and also

Bradley Manning. Knowing someone doesn't mean that much. I know a lot of public figures, due to my job, not all in politics, but I don't agree with many of their views. I do agree with Ellsberg though and his opinion is worth far more than eg, Joe Lieberman's or Sean Hannity's or Bill O'Reilly's.

Ellsberg fully supports Wikileaks and Assange, and has contributed to his legal defense. Both men are courageous champions of the truth. I hope btw, that you were not implying that because you have chosen YOUR last words on the subject, that it would have any influence on how many words I or others might have? You are on a discussion board. You make a statement, you should not expect that it will be the last word on any subject.

[sabrina 1]

15. You don't get what Wikileaks is about, obviously.

Unlike the media you are accustomed to, he was not a proponent of the politics of personal destruction. He was not about prying into the personal lives of individuals, in fact quite the opposite. So there is no conflict in his personal battles that do not have an effect on the lives and deaths of the people of the world.

Wikileaks is about government secrets, secrets that harm people, it was never about the personal lives of politicians or anyone else.

But it's no surprise that here more than anywhere else, people would totally misunderstand that. Our propagandized media was too cowardly not to join in the propaganda against Wikeleaks. But only here. He is highly regarded around the world for the work he has done.

Sometimes I don't have much hope for this country. The propaganda machine has worked so well it will take a major intervention to clear the collective minds of those who have been subjected to it.

[seabeyond]

17. i do get it, don't assume. the secrets he "expose" are not to awfully secret

ALMOST all he has "exposed" is already known. i am not infatuated with the man.

i am not a media watcher either. i have not watched msm in years. there are other sources, that had the info out already.

[sabrina 1]

24. No, they were not already known. But that's the propaganda I"m

talking about. Thank you for exhibit #1

They are NOW known, but just one tiny example of what we did not know. We did not know that this administration had put pressure on the Spanish Court to drop their prosecution of the Bush administration torturers. We did not know that this president, who was publicly claiming to be opposed to torture, was directly involved in saving Bush's torturers from prosecution.

Nowhere in the western media was that reported. Nor was it reported, as revealed by Wikileaks, that the US despised and said so, in their own words, one of the most highly regarded Judges of the European Court of Human Rights. That was a devastating revelation to anyone who cares about human rights, the abuse of women by dictators etc. for which that court and that judge were champions. And to find out that it was not the Bush administration alone, but this one too.

But as I said, that is merely a tiny fraction of what we found out about this country. There is so much more. And we were so excited about Spain bringing those torturers to justice, while all the time our government, the administration we helped put in power, was blocking those prosecutions.

Of course if you don't care about human rights, then you will not care about what Wikileaks revealed about the smear campaign against that almost Gandhi like figure, the judge who ruled over the European Human Rights Court. But even our allies, no saints themselves, were shocked to find out what was being said about him by this government. What that means is the evil is entrenched and not confined to one party or the other. But so long as Americans refuse to learn the facts, it will only get worse. Some other country will have to take the lead to bring humanity back to some form of civilized behavior. I truly was shocked by those revelations.

[seabeyond]

26. see... your posts, i stop with the first sentence. they were already known.

and it had NOTHING to do with propaganda or media. i would read the NEW release and say, wow, ... not new. if informed, we already knew that. i dont listen to MSM so i dont know wtf you are talking about, with what they report on this man. dont care.

i know from my own experience and knowledge that the crap he puts out (beside putin being an alpha dog) has already been reported. informed or not. maybe that is the issue. people who are not informed are getting all this info we already had and saying, ... wow... genius.

[Luminous Animal]

27. So you knew about everything when journalists didn't? Amazing.

WikiLeaks cables: Seven key things we've learned so far
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/03/wikileaks-cables-us-embassy-seven-key-things

The 10 most important WikiLeaks revelations
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/11/29/wikileaks_roundup

Top Ten Middle East Wikileaks Revelations so Far
http://www.juancole.com/2010/12/top-ten-middle-east-wikileaks-revelations-so-far.html

And that is only the tip of the iceberg. Newspapers around the world are publishing material that the English speaking press doesn't even touch.

[sabrina 1]

34. Thank you, Luminous Animal. It is sad to me that

the propaganda against Assange and Wikileaks in this country has infected the left. My one hope for the country WAS the left. But when I see the repetition of talking points I see on Fox, I lose a lot of hope. The only way to counter it I guess, is to keep challenging it. I just that it has to happen on our side of the aisle.

[sabrina 1]

33. I just gave you an example of one out tens of thousands of facts

that were NOT already known. Are you saying we knew about the intervention of the Obama Administration in the Spanish court's prosecution of Bush's torture team? Do you have a link to any story that was published prior to the leaked cables?

If you knew all this stuff, why didn't you call Reuters and tell them how their employees died in Iraq? They were trying to get that information for two years, but the military would not give it to them.

Wikileaks released the video, and now Reuters knows the answers. Why did YOU not call and tell them because you are the only one apparently who had that information.

Since you don't read past the first sentence that probably explains why you do not know these facts.

What WAS suspected but not proven was a lot of what was revealed in the Iraq and Afghanistan War Logs, although there are so many of them people are still reading through them.

So you are talking nonsense, and just repeating, as I said, what is generally recognized as propaganda now. 'Oh, they were nothing'!

Funny, if everything was known, why they tried so hard to stop him.

Why is it so important to you to deny facts? He has received awards for the journalistic standards of his reporting.

Thank YOU Julian Assange for exposing lies and corruption everywhere it is trying to hide.

[Luminous Animal]

30. You really do not understand the difference between personal privacy and government secrecy, do you.

The first is considered a human right, the second is not.

[treestar]

29. Julian's name has not been in the news for too long now

Must dust off something to get attention again.

Now why is it his autobio, rather than a book about the important work he is doing? :rofl:

[Luminous Animal]

31. Papers around the world are publishing material from the massive release of a month

ago.

Except, for the most part, newspapers in English speaking countries.

But go ahead, celebrate our ignorance! Bask in it!

[sabrina 1]

35. 1000% n/t