OpenLeaks
Encyclopedia
OpenLeaks is a whistleblowing
website which has yet to become active. It aims "at making whistleblowing safer and more widespread".
. Domscheit-Berg said the intention of OpenLeaks was to be more transparent than WikiLeaks
. "In these last months, the Wikileaks organization has not been open any more. It lost its open-source promise."
OpenLeaks was supposed to start public operations in early 2011 but despite much media coverage it is still not functioning.
and Herbert Snorrason, both previously involved in WikiLeaks
.
At the time of its announcement, WikiLeaks was facing a number of threats: founder Julian Assange
had been arrested in connection with sexual assault charges
; the site had issues finding safe DNS
and web hosting; and many companies had blocked payment to the site. According to Domscheit-Berg's initial statements, he expected OpenLeaks to bypass WikiLeaks
problems by serving only as a safe conduit for whistleblowers to leak information, which would then be passed on to the press, instead of acting as a publisher itself. The organization also intends to be democratically governed, rather than being run by one person or a small group. "Our long term goal is to build a strong, transparent platform to support whistleblowers — both in terms of technology and politics — while at the same time encouraging others to start similar projects," says a colleague wishing to remain anonymous.
Whistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
website which has yet to become active. It aims "at making whistleblowing safer and more widespread".
History
The OpenLeaks project was founded in September 2010 by Daniel Domscheit-BergDaniel Domscheit-Berg
-External links:*, the whistleblower website started by Domscheit-Berg* collected news and commentary at Der Spiegel...
. Domscheit-Berg said the intention of OpenLeaks was to be more transparent than WikiLeaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
. "In these last months, the Wikileaks organization has not been open any more. It lost its open-source promise."
OpenLeaks was supposed to start public operations in early 2011 but despite much media coverage it is still not functioning.
Team members
Openleaks have two public contacts, Daniel Domscheit-BergDaniel Domscheit-Berg
-External links:*, the whistleblower website started by Domscheit-Berg* collected news and commentary at Der Spiegel...
and Herbert Snorrason, both previously involved in WikiLeaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
.
Conduit
Instead of publishing the documents, OpenLeaks will send the leaked documents to various news entities or publishers.At the time of its announcement, WikiLeaks was facing a number of threats: founder Julian Assange
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
had been arrested in connection with sexual assault charges
Swedish Judicial Authority v Julian Assange
Swedish Judicial Authority v Julian Assange is the set of legal proceedings relating to claims that Julian Assange committed sexual offences in Sweden.When an arrest warrant was issued in November 2010, Assange had been living in England for 1-2 months...
; the site had issues finding safe DNS
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
and web hosting; and many companies had blocked payment to the site. According to Domscheit-Berg's initial statements, he expected OpenLeaks to bypass WikiLeaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
problems by serving only as a safe conduit for whistleblowers to leak information, which would then be passed on to the press, instead of acting as a publisher itself. The organization also intends to be democratically governed, rather than being run by one person or a small group. "Our long term goal is to build a strong, transparent platform to support whistleblowers — both in terms of technology and politics — while at the same time encouraging others to start similar projects," says a colleague wishing to remain anonymous.
See also
- AccountabilityAccountabilityAccountability is a concept in ethics and governance with several meanings. It is often used synonymously with such concepts as responsibility, answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and other terms associated with the expectation of account-giving...
- Freedom of informationFreedom of informationFreedom of information refers to the protection of the right to freedom of expression with regards to the Internet and information technology . Freedom of information may also concern censorship in an information technology context, i.e...
- Freedom of the pressFreedom of the pressFreedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
- Transparency (social)Transparency (social)Transparency is a general quality. It is implemented by a set of policies, practices and procedures that allow citizens to have accessibility, usability, utility, understandability, informativeness and auditability of information and process held by centers of authority...
- Information securityInformation securityInformation security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction....
- Digital rightsDigital rightsThe term digital rights describes the permissions of individuals legitimately to perform actions involving the use of a computer, any electronic device, or a communications network...
- Chilling Effects (group)
- Open societyOpen societyThe open society is a concept originally developed by philosopher Henri Bergson and then by Austrian and British philosopher Karl Popper. In open societies, government is purported to be responsive and tolerant, and political mechanisms are said to be transparent and flexible...