The downfall of WikiLeaks, aside from the eccentric personality of its leader, is that it lost its way, increasingly focusing on the US and ignoring the 140 actual dictatorships in the world where dissidents are risking their lives to get information out.
Former WikiLeaks spokesman Daniel Domscheit-Berg feels there is a place for a disclosure group not bent on attacking one country and so is launching OpenLeaks. It will also be different in that it isn't about attention for the founder, instead being solely a platform for submitting the data. The actual publication will be handled by others.
Are there pitfalls? Sure, any time you pick five newspapers, or even 50, to publish the data you run the risk of what WikiLeaks would consider censorship, but it also means the names of people trying to help in oppressed countries whose names show up in documents can be redacted, a level of effort WikiLeaks refused to do.
Clearly they have a style difference, as this Wired.com-obtained conversation shows:
"You are not anyone's king or god," wrote Domscheit-Berg. "And you're not even fulfilling your role as a leader right now. A leader communicates and cultivates trust in himself. You are doing the exact opposite. You behave like some kind of emperor or slave trader."Assange responded, "You are suspended for one month, effective immediately."
OpenLeaks is set to debut Monday.
