Information wants to be free?
Dec 14th, 2010 by Peter
Nah, not really.
Information doesn’t have any opinion. WikiLeaks have opinions. They want information to be free. Well except information that hurt themselves. That’s just harmful and evil. But please – please don’t blame the information. Poor old thing.
But information REALLY wants to be free?!
Well so does my Willy, but that doesn’t mean it’s wise to release it to the public. Because you can, doesn’t means you should. That goes for most decisions in adult life.
But if we don’t show the world the wrongdoings, it will go unpunished?!
True – and we should make sure to spank those who selfishly disregard laws and ignore consequences. Does this remind you of someone?
But to do so we need to pass the evidence?!
Sure we do, but that’s not what WikiLeaks have done. They leaked everything regardless of informative value and they published it to everyone. Not just those who could use information to stop the specific crime.
I would have had plenty of respect for Wikileaks if they kept to publishing info that proved real wrongdoings instead of letting the lid of everything. It’s not helping anyone to know what American diplomats think about Angela Merkel or Sarkozy. Funny facts sparking my curiousity? – oh yes indeed, but not really important to world peace. Let’s be honest about it.
Somehow I don’t see Julian Assange as a hero or a freedom-fighter. A fundamentalist hacker who believes that his personal agenda is the only way – yes maybe. A guy who set aside all laws to get his one-sided message through – well yes.
- Did he really rape someone in Sweden? I don’t know. If he did, I’m sure he’ll get his punishment. If he didn’t then good for him.
- Did US stage the rape charges with help of Sweden? No idea, but why not. We’ll probably never know and to be honest I don’t care.
- Will he be punished for leaking the cables? Yes – I’m pretty sure he will eventually. One way or the other.
- Has the US been proven bad at keeping confidential information secret? Certainly.
- Should they be embarrassed? I sure hope they are.
- Is there anything surprising about how diplomacy works behind the curtain? Naaaah.
- Will Wikileaks change the way governments work? Yes.
- Is that for the better? Probably not.
- Has the new material proven governments to do doubtful things? Sure they have.
- Has it been necessary to release every singe byte to make this point? Nah, not really.
It’s not public information WikiLeaks released. Its classified. “Classified” as in “not for everyone’s eyes”. Unless you are a diplomat with hands-on experience you’re probably not the right to judge if it’s harmful or not. I know I’m not.
I’m not a big fan of politicians, nor am I a blind America follower. I do, however, believe in justice and an good spanking to those who break the law. Politicians, diplomats and civilians – none is above the law. If you have information that can help stop the lawbreakers, then fine. Even classified information can in rare cases be helpful. But send it where it belongs. Don’t spread it to every fool on the planet. That’s what went wrong in the first place.
This is a remarkably ill-informed article.
“A guy who set aside all laws”
Name one law he has broken or ‘set aside’.
“Will he be punished for leaking the cables?”
He did not leak the cables. They were leaked to him (or rather to Wikileaks) and they reported them. Big difference.
“Has it been necessary to release every singe byte to make this point?”
They haven’t released “every single byte”. They have released only a tiny fraction..
“Name one law he has broken or ‘set aside’.”
Sure – I’m going to waste my day digging up laws that has been broken? Passing on stolen material is not a criminal act where you live?
“He did not leak the cables. They were leaked to him (or rather to Wikileaks) and they reported them. Big difference.”
No, he initially didn’t steal the cables, they were passed on to WikiLeaks. They did, however, make sure to leak them to the rest of the world when they had a chance. Does that take away his/their responsibility? Does stolen gods suddenly become not-stolen if you pass them on?
“They haven’t released “every single byte”. They have released only a tiny fraction..”
True, they may not have releashed every single byte. I used that experssion to make my point. It doesn’t make any difference to the fact that too much non-important information is released, which again shows that WikiLeaks are blind to their own mission.
Once again you get it wrong. Which law has he broken? Are you suddenly judge and jury. Let me remind you he has not been charged with a single offence anywhere in the world over this, never mind convicted. Most lawyers in the USA believe that he has broken no laws there. THe only people bleating are ignorant right wing politicians who have incited his murder. When will they be charged?
In what way is Wikileaks (stop personalising it to Assange) publishing it any different to The Guardian in the UK, The New York Times in the USA and the countless other newspapers publishing it? None whatsoever.
“True, they may not have releashed every single byte. I used that experssion to make my point”
You mean you lied.
“I’m going to waste my day digging up laws that has been broken?”
The very fact that you have ‘dig up’ broken laws clearly demonstrates that you don’t know already know any laws which he has “broken”. Perhaps you should have checked that out before accusing him in your article.
So you’re back?
I have googled you. Hope you don’t mind. I just couldn’t resist. Something about your writing and the fact that I rarely have outsiders commenting here made the word ‘trolling’ pop up.
I’m not the first to have done so it seems. Thats one of the things I’ve learned from google. It also seems that you have a skill of pissing people off with mostly semi-rude comments all over the place. You’re a grammar freak and love to criticize everyone for misspelling. You’re a food aficionado living in (or has previously lived in) China. You dig Dylan and perhaps Beatles. Erik Havaby seems to be an alias you use for anonymous surfing.
Nevertheless I have a pretty good idea who you are. I can’t prove anything and to be honest I really don’t need to.
You could try googling your alias too. You might learn how many tracks you leave behind you on the net.
Even though your argumentation about WikiLeaks is fair enough, I’ll stop replying to your comments from now on. Nothing good can come from discussing with you. Thanks for your interest and good luck with your life elsewhere.
You are wrong, but it’s your blog. Goodbye.
PS. I can’t stand Dylan.