Some WikiLeaks Contributions To Public Discourse 299
Hugh Pickens writes "The EFF argues that regardless of the heated debate over the propriety of the actions of WikiLeaks, some of the cables have contributed significantly to public and political conversations around the world. The Guardian reported on a cable describing an incident in Afghanistan in which employees of DynCorp, a US military contractor, hired a 'dancing boy,' an under-aged boy dressed as a woman, who dances for a gathering of men and is then prostituted — an incident that contributed important information to the debate over the use of private military contractors. A cable released by WikiLeaks showed that Pfizer allegedly sought to blackmail a Nigerian regulator to stop a lawsuit against drug trials on children. A WikiLeaks revelation that the United States used bullying tactics to attempt to push Spain into adopting copyright laws even more stringent than those in the US came just in time to save Spain from the kind of misguided copyright laws that cripple innovation and facilitate online censorship. An article by the NY Times analyzed cables released which indicated the US is having difficulties in fulfilling Obama's promise to close the Guantánamo Bay detention camp and is now considering incentives in return for other countries accepting detainees, including a one-on-one meeting with Obama or assistance with the IMF. 'These examples make clear that WikiLeaks has brought much-needed light to government operations and private actions,' writes Rainey Reitman, 'which, while veiled in secrecy, profoundly affect the lives of people around the world and can play an important role in a democracy that chooses its leaders.'"
Re:Just make sure to not talk about Zimbabwe (Score:3, Interesting)
Just keep conveniently forgetting that his "political rival" happens to be a dictator that exemplifies all the bad connotations of that word.
But now that reformers have been handed a big setback, I'm sure the reincarnation of Jefferson will magically appear in Zimbabwe, and you'll have a politician there who measures up to your standards.
Re: Spain (Score:5, Interesting)
The law wasn't approved in Spain because the opposing parties didn't support it, true, but that had little to do with wikileaks.
Most Spanish politicians simply ignore the whole wikileaks deal; they don't mention it, publicly, at all. I think many of them don't even understand what wikileaks is (besides the most obvious effects of exposing some of their dirty clothes to the public)
The lack of support happened because the opposing parties didn't get the benefits they wanted in other negotiations. It was a reprisal to the governing party, which proposed the law. It would have happened just the same without wikileaks.
It was one of those occasions in which the egoistical interests of a few benefited the many. Which is funny and sad at the same time.
Re:Let's Keep Having Wars (Score:5, Interesting)
That's the whole issue, isn't it? How can you objectively prove Wikileaks whether is good or bad for the average person? What's too much or too little transparency?
One interesting side effect I've noticed is that regular news coverage appears to be better. I think Wikileaks has motivated a lot of investigative journalists to step up their game.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
An example from Denmark (Score:5, Interesting)
Here in Denmark, the newspaper Politiken recently got access to all the documents. They found that which the (right-wing) government had publicly said that they would firm ask the US whether the US used Danish airspace for extraordinary rendition [wikipedia.org], the government privately told the US that they did not really want any answers.
A good example of how WikiLeaks can expose governments acting against their citizens interest. It might not be in the US's interest to expose this, but it is certainly in my interest as a citizen.