Julian Assange

When Google Met Wikileaks by Julian Assange In a way I liked this book, because it gave me a clear picture of what both organizations are about. I liked the verbatim transcription of the meeting between Assange and Eric Schmidt of Google. I liked that many assertations made in the book were backed up by more than almost 500 footnotes. It is very clear that these two organizations are at polar odds with each other. Google's "Think" tank works for the Department of Defense, the State Departments, foreign governments and the like. They purposefully plant and promote disinformation. Wikileaks is in the business of finding (illegally, most of the time) the "truth" and publicizing it. The US government, in my humble opinion, has really overstepped its bounds in persecuting and prosecuting Julian Assange under the Espionage Act. I did not like this book because at least 1/3 of it is very techie, way over my head. Assange claims he has been in prison for 20 years, holed up at the Ecuadorian Embassy. Makes you almost feel sorry for him. However, he was wanted in Sweden on several charges, the most serious rape. By avoiding extradition, it makes one question his innocence. Assange claims it was a sham created by the Swedish and American governments to get him to Sweden, where then the US would arrest him. CAT: RTT-The Press 190 pages 3 1/2 stars

"“One of the hopeful things that I've discovered is that nearly every war that has started in the past 50 years has been a result of media lies. The media could've stopped it if they had searched deep enough; if they hadn't reprinted government propaganda they could've stopped it.”
-- Julian Assange… (more)

This book is a conversation between Julian Assange, Jacob Appelbaum, Andy Müller-Maguhn and Jeremie Zimmermann. If you know these people, you know what to expect: A discussion about the internet, freedom, censorship and surveillance. And that is exactly what you will get.

For me, that's fine. I know that Jacob and Julian are very good with such discussions, and Andy and Jeremie are quite good at this kind of thing as well, as it turns out. There are no revolutionary new ideas here, but it serves as a short summary of the problems of the world and the internet, as seen by these people.

I picked this book up on sale for $1, which it is definitely worth. I am not sure how much more I would be willing to pay for it, though, simply because I basically already knew pretty much everything they are talking about. If you, however, are looking for an introduction into the world view of these people, by all means, give it a read.… (more)

It wasn't a view that one should simply complain about the burgeoning surveillance state and so on, but that we can, in fact, must build the tools of a new democracy.

Plagiarism has been the flashpoint on GR this weekend. I thought about the controversy when copyright law is called into question throughout Cypherpunks. Sharing and privacy not only maintain autonomy, so the book goes, but each further civilization. It is difficult to argue with that. That said, this discussion was all a bit "meh" for me. Lord knows I hate that judgment but it sticks to me. There is total lack of rigor in this book. Points are made and then begins a retreat into glib rejoinders and cliché. It is important to recall that this occurred before the Snowden revelations. I will likely explore some secondary sources now.
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