Julian Assange has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons, but it was always going to happen at some time.
The transparency capability delivered by the web has forever changed most commercial operations. It is naive to think that so called “classified” documents that Governments would prefer to be held close to the chest for a variety of reasons, many spurious, would be able to withstand the tsunami of information and knowledge democratisation that has swept over us over the last decade.
The cat is out of the bag, legal action to gag Wikileaks, incarcerate Assange, and stop the leaks may succeed in the short term, but are destined to fail, as has every other effort to prevent the inevitable.
The current political blathering about prosecuting Assange, if it comes to pass, will be as effective as the music industry prosecuting their customers for downloading music, and smacks of a conspiracy to prevent something they do not like, were not ready for, and will cause them pain. The reaction is understandable, but destined to fail, and demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the behavorial changes driven by the web.
The world has changed, Governments need to change with it. Assange delivered his philosophy potently in this TED talk posted back in July, so these leaks, following those a few months ago relating to the activities of the US military effort in the Gulf should not come as a surprise.
Irrespective of your views on the rights and wrongs of Wikileaks releasing these documents, the horse has bolted, get used to it.
