Since its launch in 2006, WikiLeaks has rapidly grown
into the most powerful and influential whistleblowing
organisation ever. Its status as a repository and
publisher of leaked sensitive and confidential
governmental, corporate, organisational or religious
documents while preserving the anonymity and
untraceability of its contributors, and the statements
and behaviour of its leader Julian Assange have made
WikiLeaks both daily front page news and a topic of
enormous controversy. In an eye-opening account, Daniel
Domscheit-Berg, who joined WikiLeaks in its early days
and became its spokesman, reveals never-disclosed
details about the inner workings of the organisation
that has struck fear into governments and businesses
worldwide and prompted the Pentagon to convene a 120-man
investigative task force. He also provides a remarkably
up-close portrait of Julian Assange himself. Under the
pseudonym Daniel Schmitt, Domscheit-Berg was the
effective No. 2 at WikiLeaks and its most public face
after Assange.In this book, he tells the backstories of
leaks ranging from the Church of Scientology and the
Afghanistan and Iraq War logs to Cablegate, and reveals
the evolution, finances and inner tensions of the
whistleblower organisation, beginning with his first
meeting with Assange in December 2007. He also describes
what led to his September 2010 withdrawal from
WikiLeaks, including his disenchantment with its lack of
transparency, its abandonment of political neutrality,
and Assange's increasing concentration of power. What
has been made public so far about WikiLeaks is only a
small fraction of the truth. With his insider knowledge,
Domscheit-Berg is uniquely able to tell the full
story. |
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