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The essence of the Assange and WL strategy is to force their opponents to build elaborate defenses against leaks. These defenses will then degrade the effective
by panarky 12y ago
The essence of the Assange and WL strategy is to force their opponents to build elaborate defenses against leaks. These defenses will then degrade the effectiveness and potency of their opponents.
From the source[1].
The more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks
induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie.
This must result in minimization of efficient internal communications
mechanisms (an increase in cognitive "secrecy tax") and consequent
system-wide cognitive decline resulting in decreased ability
to hold onto power as the environment demands adaption.
Hence in a world where leaking is easy, secretive or unjust
systems are nonlinearly hit relative to open, just systems.
Since unjust systems, by their nature induce opponents, and in
many places barely have the upper hand, mass leaking leaves
them exquisitely vulnerable to those who seek to replace them with
more open forms of governance.
[1] http://cryptome.org/0002/ja-conspiracies.pdf http://cryptome.org/0002/ja-conspiracies.pdf
- ThomPete 12y agoYup thats what the quote is talking about in a more abstract manner.
- dmix 12y agoThere is a long history of this line of thinking among cypherpunks in the 1990s. If anyone is interested in the topic I highly recommend reading: This Machine Kills Secrets http://www.amazon.com/This-Machine-Kills-Secrets-WikiLeakers/dp/B00B9ZCGHA http://www.amazon.com/This-Machine-Kills-Secrets-WikiLeakers... It provides a great historical context which Wikileaks fits into from a look at the old usenet groups where hackers were building early anonymity networks (ala Tor), early versions of cryptocurrencies, and writing the crypto-anarchy manifesto.
- omouse 12y agoIt's funny when you work in a corporate environment of any sort and you read this and you realize that openness is the only way to be safe. Lack of transparency lets people hide corrupt activities which degrade the organization at some point.
- webnrrd2k 12y agoI didn't know this, and it strikes me as ironic that Assange & WL are using a strategy similar to Al-Qaeda. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda#Strategy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda#Strategy
- chii 12y agoi read nothing similar - what is this similarity you're suggesting?