Assange granted bail, Swedish authorities still after him. Cablegate roundup…

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange granted bail

from Boing Boing by Xeni Jardin

07:00 AM PT: A bail hearing for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is under way as I type this blog post. Assange is being held in the UK on allegations of sex crimes involving two women in Sweden. Journalists in the courtroom have been granted permission to tweet what they observe, “as long as it’s quiet,” and does not disrupt proceedings.

Assange remains in jail despite bail

from FT.com – World, Europe
The WikiLeaks founder has been granted bail on sexual assault charges. The High Court is due to hear an appeal on the decision from prosecutors acting on behalf of Stockholm in the next 48 hours

Wikileaks chief ‘remains defiant’

from BBC News | Europe | World Edition
Wikileaks’ Julian Assange says being held on remand in the UK has only increased his resolve to carry on publishing secret documents.

2010-12-13: Julian Assange: Readers’ Choice for TIME’s Person of the Year 2010

Michael Moore puts up $20K for Assange’s bail

from Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow

As noted, Michael Moore explains why he’s put up $20K for Julian Assange’s bail, as well as pledging hosting and other support: “We were taken to war in Iraq on a lie. Hundreds of thousands are now dead.

Wikileaks spending rises to $500K in past 5 months, questions over donations promised to Manning

from Boing Boing by Xeni Jardin

The support group for Pfc. Bradley Manning, the presumed leaker of those diplomatic cables who is currently in the brig in Quantico, claims funds solicited from the public by Wikileaks and Julian Assange on Manning’s behalf haven’t arrived. Snip:

Naomi Wolf on rape, justice and Julian Assange

from Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow

For those of us who felt uncomfortable with the cavalier attitude evinced by some Assange supporters in the matter of the Swedish sex-assault charge, but also smelled a rat at the drop-everything hustle demonstrated by Her Majesty’s filth in getting Mr Assange behind bars, Naomi Wolf offers this nuanced analysis:

Comic strip versions of stories from Wikileaked cables

from Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder

DYSON: WikiLeaks? Flawed Answer to a Flawed World

from Project Syndicate by Esther Dyson
People like WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, however flawed, are vitally necessary. In a world where governments, corporations, and other institutions have so much information about us, it is only right that we should have more information about them and about the activities of people acting on their behalf.

2010-12-13: Australian media figures in support of WikiLeaks

from WL Central by admin

The Walkley Foundation has initiated a letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, signed by members of the board, editors of major Australian newspapers and news sites, and news directors of the country’s commercial and public broadcasters. The letter reads:

Dear Prime Minister,

STATEMENT FROM AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER EDITORS, TELEVISION AND RADIO DIRECTORS AND ONLINE MEDIA EDITORS

Is open diplomacy possible?

from Boing Boing by Andrea James

Michael Moore offers to post bail for Julian Assange

from Wiki Leaks by Blake Hounshell

Oh, goody. Perhaps upset that his last film, Capitalism, was a dud and he hasn’t been in the news for a while, filmmaker Michael Moore is now offering to post bail for WikiLeaks frontman Julian Assange, who is currently languishing in a British prison while the Brits work out his extradition to Sweden, where he’s wanted for questioning.

Wikileaks supporters and Anonymous stage offline protests, too (photo)

from Boing Boing by Xeni Jardin

Western Sahara: Wikileaks Revelations Spark Comments

by Lina Ben Mhenni

By Lina Ben Mhenni

Reactions to the diplomatic cables released by the whistleblower website Wikileaks continue to flourish all over the blogosphere. Revelations concerning the conflict over Western Sahara have sparked a few comments.

Ali Amar is a Moroccan journalist. Writing on VoxMaroc [Fr], a blog hosted by the French daily Le Monde, he underlines the fact that although the leaked cables revealed American diplomats’ reservations about bad governance and corruption in Morocco, they showed unwavering American support for the kingdom’s position on Western Sahara:

South Africa: Wikileaks lessons for South Africa’s Secrecy Bill

by Ndesanjo Macha

Wikileaks reveals how Singapore views its neighbors

by Mong Palatino

Former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew thinks North Koreans are ?psychopathic types? and their leader is a ?flabby old chap.? Senior Singapore diplomats believe that Malaysia?s Prime Minister Najib Razak is an opportunist while opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is guilty of sodomy. They also describe deposed Thailand leader Thaksin Shinawatra as ?corrupt? along with ?everyone else, including the opposition.? Japan is ?the big fat loser? as relationship between China and Southeast Asian nations continues to improve.

Is Julian Assange on OKCupid? [PICS]

by Brenna Ehrlich

Is a U.S. grand jury considering charges against Julian Assange?

from Wiki Leaks by Charles Homans

That’s what Assange’s lawyer in Britain, Mark Stephens, claimed in an interview with Al Jazeera’s David Frost on Sunday:

Will we be reading WikiLeaks in 2018?

from Wiki Leaks by Joshua Keating

With the rate of WikiLeaks releases seeming to slow in the last couple of days, I thought it was time to take a quick look at our current pace.

WikiFakes watch: Russia

from Wiki Leaks by Joshua Keating

WikiLeaks exposes U.S. strategy at the United Nations

from Wiki Leaks by Colum Lynch

WikiLeaks has released its first confidential cable written by diplomats from the U.S. mission to the United Nations. While the December 2009 cable — which discusses U.S. efforts on a range of issues before the U.N. General Assembly — provides no major news revelations, it contains some valuable insights into the way America conducts its business here.

Central Asian quasi-royalty behaving badly

from Wiki Leaks by Steve LeVine

Castro misreads WikiLeaks, Washington misreads Castro

from Wiki Leaks by Charles Homans

WikiLeaks? flawed answer to a flawed world

from Today’s Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Op-Ed by Esther Dyson
NEW YORK ?- Long ago, I wrote about the Internet pioneer Julf Helsingius, who ran a precursor to WikiLeaks called anon.penet.fi. As I said then: ?Anonymity in itself should not be illegal. There are enough good reasons for people to be anonymous that it should be [allowed] — at least in some places on the Net (as in real life).?

Vatican reaction to WikiLeaks claims
The Guardian
President Barack Obama also joined in the damage control exercise over Wikileaks, calling Turkey’s prime minister on Saturday to mend ties after released

WikiLeaks indicts and vindicates US diplomats
Tehran Times
In the case of Turkey, which seems to be the center of American diplomacy, 7981 leaked documents reflected a predictable hatred and paranoia towards a

Kenya: Wikileaks Saga Has Been a Boon in Exposing American Hypocrisy
AllAfrica.com
Equally coarse jokes were legion about how a superpower could elect a dimwit like her husband’s successor who could not locate Turkey or Argentina on the

WikiLeaks’ impact on Turkish-Azerbaijani relations: the importance of terminology

Wikileaks: Timeline of Julian Assange’s visit to Sweden and the events which followed

from ORGANIZED RAGE by Mick Hall

Below is a piece taken from the Australian online magazine Crikey, in which Guy Rundle sets out a summary of Julian Assange’s trip to Sweden taken from the public record. Assange arrived in the country in early August 2010, and eventually asked for and was given permission to leave the country by the Swedish courts in early November, when he traveled to the UK to work on the release of the US diplomatic cables.

WikiLeaks cables, days 13-14: summary of the weekend’s key points

from World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk

There are no fewer than 251,287 cables from more than 250 US embassies around the world, obtained by WikiLeaks. We present a day-by-day guide to the revelations from the US embassy cables both from the Guardian and its international media partners in the story
US embassy cables: each day’s revelations at a glance

2010-12-13: Visa, Mastercard, PostFinance under investigation

from WL Central by admin

The Icelandic Parliamentary General Committee met yesterday to discuss the ban that Visa and Mastercard placed on donations to WikiLeaks, reports The Reykjavik Grapevine. In attendance were representatives of Icelandic electronic payment companies Valitor and Borgun, which work with Visa and Mastercard, The Consumers’ Alliance, Amnesty International, and WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson, who joined via video link.

SINGER: Is Open Diplomacy Possible?

from Project Syndicate by Peter Singer
Is WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange following in the footsteps of Woodrow Wilson, who sought a world in which “diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view”? Perhaps, but the most likely outcome of the recent revelations will be greater restrictions to prevent further leaks.

Did Wikileaks cut a deal with Israel?
TechEye
Turkey, which has been attacking Israel, received a slap with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was characterised as an unreliable,

Singapore dismisses Wikileaks expose as mere ?cocktail talk?

from Global Voices Online by Mong Palatino

By Mong Palatino

Singapore’s senior diplomats believe the leaders of their neighbors are opportunists, sodomists, and corrupt politicians. And they think India is stupid and Japan is a big fat loser. This was reported last Sunday by Australia?s Fairfax Media group which got hold of several exclusive Wikileaks documents.

AFP: Obama should resign if approved UN spying: WikiLeaks founder

WikiLeaks copycat site targets EU institutions

from EUobserver.com – Headline News

Combs: WikiLeaks keeps journalism honest
McDowell News
The old man had to escape on horseback and ask protection at the American embassy in Turkey. Because this memo was published, Crovitz claims,

WikiLeaks latest and Julian Assange’s court appeal: live updates
The Guardian (blog)
He was 148383 votes over the silver medalist, Recep Tayyip Ergodan, Prime Minister of Turkey. The current issue of the magazine features an interview with

Former Thai prime minister says queen was ‘responsible’ for 2006 coup

from Wiki Leaks by Charles Homans

In May, Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok temporarily became a war zone, with rural populist “red shirts” opposed to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva fighting pitched battles in the streets with government forces. The fighting was the other shoe dropping after the 2006 military coup that deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a politician who was venal and not especially democratic but was nevertheless immensely popular with Thailand’s rural poor. Thaksin’s ousting was seen as the work of the urban Bangkok elite, and Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej was widely suspected to have had a hand in it, or at least given his tacit consent, despite the Thai royal family’s traditional neutrality in the country’s politics.

2010-12-14: Julian Assange Granted Bail.

from WL Central by Orthodox_Anarchy

2010-12-14: Julian Assange Bail Appeal Trial.

from WL Central by GeorgieBC

Julian Assange appeared in court this morning to appeal the court’s decision last week to deny him a release on bail. Live updates were provided by The Guardian. and live tweeting in the court on the #wikitrial hashtag. It was apparently the first time a UK judge had allowed live tweeting during a trial (according to tweets).

An earlier article in The Guardian stated

Wikileaks: use it, exploit it, hold us to account, Ryan Gallagher

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Ryan Gallagher

It has now been two weeks since the beginning of Cablegate ? the largest leak of classified intelligence in history.  In recent days we have seen the organisation responsible, Wikileaks, endure repeated attacks from

Kenya: Bloggers React To WikiLeaks Cables

from Global Voices Online by Collins Mbalo

By Collins Mbalo

Kenyans celebrated their 47th year since becoming a Republic on Sunday December 12, 2010.The speeches by the leadership including the Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki , Prime Minister Raila Odinga and the Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka of the coalition Government were marked by terse and scathing statements against the American Ambassador to Kenya Michael E.Ranneberger due to the latest rounds of WikiLeaks cables emanating from the American Embassy in Nairobi.

Chile: WikiLeaks Cable on Media Coverage of Mapuche Indigenous Group

from Global Voices Online by Silvia Viñas

WikiLeaks and the Power of Patriotism

from MediaShift

A narrow patriotism — the psychological equivalent of a knee jerk — is an under-recognized force in modern journalism ethics.

It distorts our thinking about the role of journalism as soon as journalists offend national pride and whistleblowers dare to reveal secrets. Narrow patriotism turns practitioners of a free press into scolding censors. Suddenly, independent journalists become dastardly law breakers.

WikiFailed States

from FP Passport by Elizabeth Dickinson

Would you let Julian Assange crash on your couch?

from Wiki Leaks by Joshua Keating

Yesterday, the Internets were abuzz with the discovery of Julian Assange’s OkCupid profile, under the alias HarryHarrison. Now, it seems HarryHarrison also had a profile set up (members only) on CouchSurfing.org, a site that helps travelers find hosts to stay with when traveling.

2010-12-13: Article 19 Statement – WikiLeaks and Internet companies

from WL Central by GeorgieBC

ARTICLE 19 is extremely concerned by the political pressure governments and elected officials are exerting on internet companies, to force them to deny provision of services to WikiLeaks without prior authorisation from a court. Recent actions by a number of internet companies against WikiLeaks raise several issues about the rights of free expression on the internet, which is largely controlled by private companies but still subject to state threats.

2010-12-14: Legal Opinions on Wikileaks

from WL Central by GeorgieBC

Lawfare: Problems with the Espionage Act

The law also has two additional problems that receive relatively little attention but which are important in contemplating its use. The first is that it contains no limiting principle in its apparent criminalization of secondary transmissions of proscribed material. …

WikiLeaks and the Internet?s long war

from Today’s Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Op-Ed by Tim Hwang
Some historians like to talk about the ?Long War? of the 20th century, a conflict spanning both world wars and the wars in Korea and Vietnam.

In WikiLeaks aftermath, an assault on free speech

from washingtonpost.com – Op-Ed Columns by Eugene Robinson
Internet firms shouldn’t be allowed to make political decisions.

More on DDoS as civil disobedience

from Wiki Leaks by Evgeny Morozov

After I found one of my earlier FP blog posts quoted in an Anonymous press-release, I thought that I need to clarify my position. Here is my piece for Slate where I attempt to do just that. (Warning: some light political philosophy ahead).

Predicting the future of WikiLeaks: Follow the media!

from Wiki Leaks by Evgeny Morozov

The New York Times asked me to do a short piece for their Room for Debate forum on WikiLeaks. Go read the whole piece; below is a paragraph that I’d like to discuss in more detail on this blog:

One possible future for WikiLeaks is to morph into a gigantic media intermediary — perhaps, even something of a clearing house for investigative reporting — where even low-level leaks would be matched with the appropriate journalists to pursue and report on them and, perhaps, even with appropriate N.G.O.’s to advocate on their causes. Under this model, WikiLeaks staffers would act as idea salesmen relying on one very impressive digital Rolodex.


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