wikileaks
- Started
- Last post
- 646 Responses
- TheBlueOne0
Looks like they're going after the private sector next:
"Q: These megaleaks, as you call them that, we haven’t seen any of those from the private sector.
A: No, not at the same scale for the military.
Q: Will we?
A: Yes. We have one related to a bank coming up, that’s a megaleak. It’s not as big a scale as the Iraq material, but it’s either tens or hundreds of thousands of documents depending on how you define it.
Q: Is it a U.S. bank?
A: Yes, it’s a U.S. bank.
Q: One that still exists?
A: Yes, a big U.S. bank.
Q: The biggest U.S. bank?
A: No comment.
Q: When will it happen?
A: Early next year. I won’t say more.
Q: What do you want to be the result of this release?
A: [Pauses] I’m not sure.
It will give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms, I presume.
Usually when you get leaks at this level, it’s about one particular case or one particular violation. For this, there’s only one similar example. It’s like the Enron emails. Why were these so valuable? When Enron collapsed, through court processes, thousands and thousands of emails came out that were internal, and it provided a window into how the whole company was managed. It was all the little decisions that supported the flagrant violations.
This will be like that. Yes, there will be some flagrant violations, unethical practices that will be revealed, but it will also be all the supporting decision-making structures and the internal executive ethos that cames out, and that’s tremendously valuable. Like the Iraq War Logs, yes there were mass casualty incidents that were very newsworthy, but the great value is seeing the full spectrum of the war.
You could call it the ecosystem of corruption. But it’s also all the regular decision making that turns a blind eye to and supports unethical practices: the oversight that’s not done, the priorities of executives, how they think they’re fulfilling their own self-interest. The way they talk about it."
- BusterBoy0
I'm not sure what to make of all these leaks. On the one hand, transparency makes everyone accountable and places a premium on the truth. On the other, it's often completely necessary for some information to be completely confidential.
I don't think "truth at any cost" is a valid reason for publishing these documents. There has to come a time when the dangers associated with releasing some of these documents completely overrides any national interest in releasing them.
- Dodecahedron0
I am of the opinion the truly dangerous knowledge does not see the light of day or only does when convenient. We can only speculate as to the intention of the people leaking the documents, it very well could be governments of the world leaking info they feel will shuffle the deck in their favor. information is a double edge sword.
- abettertomorrow0
- plus you can use the pointy bit at the end to do stabby motions...TheBlueOne
- ..and the pommel can club your enemies in a pinchTheBlueOne
- You could even bash people over the head with the handle...abettertomorrow
- Or just kind of mock-stab them like in PG-13 action moviesabettertomorrow
- Yes. Yes one could.TheBlueOne
- ..or leave it on the ground on top of a landmine, and when an enemy picks it up - kablooey!TheBlueOne
- This is why I <3 QBNUglyfreak
- TheBlueOne0
Good question: "I wonder what kind of constitution the United States would have gotten if the secret proceedings of the Convention had been leaked by Wikileaks?"
- perhaps one that didn't view blacks as "three fifths" of a white?ThePublics
- Except that everyone believed that back then.abettertomorrow
- tangoxray30
Bradley Manning's transformation from misfit hacker to enemy of the state
- so this guy is already guilty or what?Dodecahedron
- Poor guy, entangled in a sad state of affairs beyond control.Uglyfreak
- abettertomorrow0
I wonder how the financial crisis/ bailouts would have happened differently if the negotiations between Hank Paulson and the major banks had been leaked?
What if the real assessments Saddam Hussein's weapons programs had been seen by the public? Or if the health care negotiations between the Obama administration and special interests became known?
- Dodecahedron0
Difference being that when the constitution was created the world was not in a state of accelerated information warfare.
- But they held secret meetings and destroyed records nonetheless.TheBlueOne
- abettertomorrow0
Either way, I don't think they will be able to stop it. The same way record companies and Hollywood can't stop file sharing, governments and corporations will not be able to stop this kind of thing now that the idea is out there.
All it takes is a person with access to the data and a way to publish it. Wikileaks is really just an intermediary, Bradley Manning or whoever leaked this stuff could have just as easily supplied it directly to the media.
- instrmntl0
The funny/sad thing is, despite all these leaks, nothing will change. The accused are too powerful and the audience is too weak and don't have the attention span to follow up.
- You forget the enemy of my enemy is my friend thing. There might be odd bedfellows out there.TheBlueOne
- True, but it can't really be anything new to them. No one really trusts each other as it is,instrmntl
- ThePublics0
"Isn't wikileaks simply doing what journalists should be? What the fuck is going on with the media these days??"
No. Journalists don't have access to hundreds of thousands of classified government documents. Whistleblowers often leak to the press but not on this scale or these types of documents - as its treasonous, which is where wikileaks comes in - secure and anonymous.
- SrSamaurai0
- wikidleakhonestIy
- drippyleaks are going to ruin our civilizationSrSamaurai
- TheBlueOne0
Cui Bono?
- BusterBoy0
"Isn't wikileaks simply doing what journalists should be? What the fuck is going on with the media these days??"
Absolutely not. In Australia, and I assume in most countries, you can't simply publish information that may have been obtained illegally. There are severe penalties in place if you do.
Wikileaks is quite different. What jurisdiction are they in? Who would prosecute?
- georgesIII0
100leaks!!!