According to a recent Vanity Fair article, the Wikileaks founder threatened to sue the The Guardian for—wait for it—publishing leaked documents from Wikileaks itself. (You know the drill: first stolen, first serve.)
From the article:
On the afternoon of November 1, 2010, Julian Assange, the Australian-born founder of Wikileaks.org, marched with his lawyer into the London office of Alan Rusbridger, the editor of The Guardian. Assange was pallid and sweaty, his thin frame racked by a cough that had been plaguing him for weeks. He was also angry, and his message was simple: he would sue the newspaper if it went ahead and published stories based on the quarter of a million documents that he had handed over to The Guardian just three months earlier …
He had become the victim of his own methods: someone at Wikileaks, where there was no shortage of disgruntled volunteers, had leaked the last big segment of the documents, and they ended up at The Guardian in such a way that the paper was released from its previous agreement with Assange—that The Guardian would publish its stories only when Assange gave his permission. Enraged that he had lost control, Assange unleashed his threat, arguing that he owned the information and had a financial interest in how and when it was released.
The Guardian has since negotiated a new deal with Wikileaks to allow them to publish the full diplomatic cables. Does anyone besides Assange not see how ridiculous this is?
Image holli52501/Photobucket
While I support Wikileaks, at least conditionally, that in no way prevents me from thinking Assange is a hypocritical jerk.
Like this guy is actually going to win a lawsuit. Good luck with that.
After the dust settled on all those leaked documents, just what value has the WikikLeak / Julian Assange blip been ? We learn that world leaders can be vain, silly, unimaginative and pompous, and that things aren’t always as we’d like them to be.
Wow. Revelatory. Can we move on to something more substantive, like hemlines or Cher’s next plastic surgery ?
Julian Assange is a hero engaged in a fruitless battle with corrupt governments who have an equally corrupt media serving as lapdog. This is not a matter where “playing fair” is relevant. It’s strategy and nothing more. It is just like the trumped up rape charges,or, as some might like to term it- first charged, first impugned, even if it is only a side show to turn mindless media consumers away from the damning contents of Wikileaks documents. Pointing at minor hypocrisies and declaring a “gotcha” in high steaks games played at this level adds absolutely nothing to anyone’s understanding… Read more »
No public figure deserves immunity from media scrutiny. It’s fully possible to appreciate his contribution to transparency while admitting he’s a self-serving asshole.
Trumped up? I don’t care what country you’re in or how suspect the timing of the allegations—if you penetrate your partner in her sleep, unprotected and without prior consent, it’s still rape, and his accusers are no less deserving of due process.
That “high steaks game” sounds delicious. Rare, I hope.
No victim deserves to get her complaints dismissed just because the man in question is embroiled in controversy. I don’t know is Assange is guilty or innocent, & I agree that there is attention being paid to this case that is regardless of the actual charges, but I refuse to dismiss rape charges out of hand– too often, that is what happens.