Openleaks, An Alternative To Wikileaks
Wikileaks, worldʼs best known website for leaked classified information, is about to face some serious competition. Several former employees of Wikileaks announced that they will launch this week an alternative website, called Openleaks. The main difference between the two sites is that, unlike its predecessor, the new Internet page will not actually publish secret documents, but it will rather act as an intermediary and provide the information it helds to the press or to other interested authorities.
According to Herbert Snorrason, one of the founders of Openleaks, the new website will rely on a secure computer network, focused on a disabled mailbox which will act as a place where people can deposit and then retrieve information. This ”dead mailbox”, as its creators call it, will actually be a virtual space where those interested can send documents, while the employees of Openleaks will provide them to the media or other institutions interested in those information.
The founders of Openleaks consider that one of its most important advantege is the fact that it uses a scure network for transmitting data, a network which will be digital coded so that people revealing information can do this without fearing that they might be caught. And those who can use the new website include newspapaers, human rights organizations, unions and even governments. Those using Openleaks will have to pay a monthly fee between 200 and 500 euros, depending on their financial capacity.
The launch of the rival site was annouced for Monday, December the 13th, and it would be preceded by a documentary aired on Sunday night on the state television STV in Sweden. Daniel Domscheit-Berg, a former spokesman for Wikileaks and Herbert Snorrason criticized the attitude of the ”parent” of Wikileaks, Julian Assange. The two criticized the ”autocratic” attitude of the Australian, and accussed him of behaving like a ”slave master”. They said that if you preach transparency to all others, you must be transparent yourself. You must meet the same standards you expect from others and they said that they came to the conclusin that they were not going in the same direction as Assange.
Meanwhile, Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, is still in the custody of the British police. He was arrested after Sweden issued an arrest warrant on his name, the Australian being accused of sexual crimes. Assange denied all the allegations.
