UK Information Commissioner Says Wikileaks Means Governments Should Be More Open
from the well,-duh dept
This is a bit of a surprise. As many are claiming that the end result of Wikileaks will be that governments try to be even more secretive, the UK's information commissioner, Christopher Graham, is apparently urging governments to take a different lesson, and that it shows they should be a lot more open in the first place:"We are strongly of the view that things should be published. Where you're open things will not be WikiLeaked. Whatever view you take about WikiLeaks -- right or wrong -- it means that things will now get out. It has changed things. I'm saying government and authorities need to factor it in. Be more proactive, [by] publishing more stuff, because quite a lot of this is only exciting because we didn't know it. You can't un-invent WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks is part of the phenomenon of the online, empowered citizen ... these are facts that aren't going to go away. Government and authorities need to wise up to that."He also suggests that becoming more secretive would be a mistake. Specifically, he calls it nonsense:
"One response is that they will clam up and not write anything down, which is nonsense, you can't run any organisation that way. The other is to be even more open. The best form of defence is transparency -- much more proactive publication of what organisations do. It's an attitude of 'OK. You want to know? Here it is'."It would be nice if anyone listened to him, though I'm not convinced anyone in power actually will...
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Filed Under: christopher graham, openness, transparency, uk, wikileaks
Companies: wikileaks
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I suspect that true secret documents will be better encoded, and in the long run, will require much more secure and tracable methods to access. It won't happen overnight, but I expect it to be the case.
Manning showed there was holes, and those holes are rapidly being blocked, or filled with shite for the next one to get and make an ass out of themselves with.
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Mumbo Jumbo
What's really going on in the government our [sarc]voluntary[/sarc] taxes are paying for, on the other hand, will be as obfuscated and hidden as ever--perhaps more than it ever was.
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Re: Mumbo Jumbo
This is entirely true, if one believes that they MUST, by law, support a society that has been and continues to be party to mass murder.
I suggest that such power can be taken from them. Indeed . . .
"The Nuremberg Principles" are an unequivocal statement of required action by all individuals; as first propounded by Associate Justice of America's Supreme Court, Robert Jackson, in his capacity / position as the Allies Chief Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials: " A citizen not only has a right, but a duty to refuse to support his or her society when it is participating in a war of aggression, "A Crime Against Humanity�. (Or words to similar effect.) He utilized that language to help secure the death penalty against many German and subsequently, via other such prosecutors, Japanese participants in the madness of the Second World War.
Due such, ALL must agree that they have a right and a duty, at law, to REFUSE to support societies that are party to such madness.
However, we face the reality that the vast majority, worldwide, lack the parts to say and do what MUST be said and done.
Ergo, by default, we continue on the road to the TOTAL use of all nuclear and other weapons of mass murder as "Peak Oil" starts to meaningfully disrupt and threaten America's otherwise "Non-Negotiable Lifestyle". Alas.
Looking Away
Society's victims, aloof, askance
Suffering the poison of indifference.
Living in violent pinpoint balance,
In subservience to political whores.
COWARDS!
Copyright February 21, 1988 Daniel J. Lavigne
To read more, access:
http://www.taxrefusal.com/WinterSoldiersTheNurembergPrinciples.html
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Remember: The US revolutionary war was nothing but a bunch of white Guys who didn't want to pay taxes.
Hear that Congress.
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It is getting difficult to keep secrets and it is not just to governments everyone will have to learn to hide less.
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Re:
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"If you aren't doing anything wrong, you have nothing to hide."
Why does that always seem to get tossed at us, the people - yet government thinks it shouldn't apply to them.
Does Government mean 'Hypocritical' in some language?
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It does in English - the proof is all around us!
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Is it just me....
The line I liked best was "You can't un-invent WikiLeaks". I'd say the same applies for any technology out there.
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Information Commissioners
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Position of Power
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Re: Position of Power
its very difficult to do anything when the data may not exist to release anymore however at least this is progress(ish)...
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This is not a thing like ACTA that the U.S is trying to create, but undoubtably wants to join to influence.
So far the U.S has been rebuffed because a core-principle of membership is removal of internal subsidies that undermine free trade, such as agricultural subsidies which the U.S isn't likely to dispense with soon.
The reason TPP has strict rules is because it's objective is simple clear and concise (the removal of nearly all tariffs and barriers to free trade) and likely not suitable for the U.S. which will probably find it politically untenable to live up to.
A country that cannot deliver is not wanted as it would dilute to worthless the purpose of membership.
There are currently only four member states;Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore with some nine others negotiating to join.
All members and applicants are APEC countries but TPP is not a APEC initiative.
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Truth, Transparency & Taxes
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Berst Government Money Can Buy
It is refreshing to see TechDIRT and Mike get it right.
It seem to me that our government has become increasingly beholden to big business. We do have the best government money can buy with transnational corporations doing most of the buying.
Ronald J. Riley,
President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
Other Affiliations:
Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
President - Alliance for American Innovation
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 9 pm EST.
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