During the past week, the US has seen its dirty laundry posted all over the internet; it was caught with its pants down; it was caught like a kid with its hand in the cookie jar... you get the idea. In an effort to "keep governments open" wikileaks has leaked classified US embassy cables from around the world. Here's a taste from what has been revealed during this past week. They have 251,287 cables and are slowly releasing them online. Their site was temporarily offline after they were forced to change domains. Amazon also dissalowed use of its EC2 server cloud to wikileaks after interventions from a specific Senator.

There have been a number of debates the world over, about whether wikileaks and its sources are traitors, spies, helping free speech, hurting free speech, helping people by giving them a more transparent view of government or putting people in danger by exposing diplomats and their views online. What I'd like to focus on is the power of online exposure. The internet allows Julian Assange to first of all publish the content that he has in a manner that gives access to newspapers and individuals. They can process and publish what they want to, but it also allows individuals to go and read what they want. Publishing the content online also allows Assnge to keep his shop open by using a distributed system.

The internet is a medium that allows for more open communication and information. We don't have to listen to what newspapers or governments tell us, we can go and find the primary source and see for ourselves. In addition, no information is controlled on the internet. I can access CNN and Al Jazeera; I can access see, hear and read all opinions.

If it goes online it spreads like wildfire, a broken dam, a penny tossed from a high rise building... you get the idea.

 Update: Paypal cuts donation to wikileaks.