Reuters Exclusive: Assange suggests bank documents are a snore

[Robb]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/09/us-wikileaks-bankofamerica-idUSTRE7185W620110209">Exclusive: Assange suggests bank documents are a snore

LONDON (Reuters) -The bombshell that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said could "take down a bank or two" may in fact be something of a dud.

Assange has said privately he does not know if his cache of internal Bank of America data, whose public release he has suggested might be imminent, contains any big news or scandal, according to three people familiar with the WikiLeaks leader's private discussions about the material.

They said that Assange said it consists of e-mails from the hard-drive of a Bank of America executive's computer and that the latest messages are dated sometime in 2006.

The sources said that Assange privately acknowledged the material was not self-explanatory and that he personally was unable to make much sense of it. Assange indicated it would require a substantial amount of effort by financial experts to determine whether any of the material was newsworthy, according to the sources.....

Read More: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/09/us-wikileaks-bankofamerica-idUSTRE7185W620110209

[Brickbat]

1. Heh.

[MilesColtrane]

2. Come on, Mr. Assange, release it already.

We want to see if you've been hyping it, or if this article is soft pedaling it.

[Bragi]

12. Why?

Wikileaks always reviews documents before release to assess their importance and relevance, if any. That's how they work. Why should they change course and indiscriminately dump this particular material?

[bemildred]

3. Yet more unattributed babble. nt

[Robb]

18. *Triple-sourced* unattributed babble. (nt)

[JackRiddler]

20. All I see here is petty (and premature) Schadenfreude.

Who's the force for bad in your world: Wikileaks or the Bank of America?

That question may serve to clarify the divides at DU over this rather neatly.

[Robb]

21. False premise.

My criticism of Assange neither extends to Wikileaks' mission, nor does it imply any support of BOFA.

That you would even pose a question framed that way exemplifies what I feel is a horribly misplaced faith in Assange himself.

[Ozymanithrax]

4. Since he considers information held by Wikileaks to be a financial interest...

I must not be in his financial interest to take down a bank.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/01/vf-wikieaks/

[seabeyond]

5. he is such an ass. nt

[Robb]

6. I don't think that's entirely fair. Hype is his job.

I think of him as Wikileaks' Flavor Flav.

[seabeyond]

9. i think of him as an..... ass

i know

not popular on du. he gives me the creeps, from day one.

[Bragi]

14. Note this:

There is a huge campaign promoting antipathy towards him.

See http://wikileaks.ch/IMG/pdf/WikiLeaks_Response_v6.pdf

I'm not saying people don't have a right to be creeped out, I'm just pointing out that there is big money now marketing this antipathy.

[Robb]

15. Your link raises an interesting question...

...Why is Wikileaks hosting a document that wasn't leaked to them? I was under the impression they were disapproving of Anonymous' attacks on their behalf?

[Bragi]

22. Hmmmm...

They don't state how the document came into their possession, so can we know if it was leaked or not?

I'm not sure I understand your point about Anonymous. Why does posting this material necessarily suggest they aren't disapproving of the attacks by Anonymous?

[Disintermedia8]

25. Yes. Below is a summary of the tactics

* Feed the fuel between the feuding groups. Disinformation. Create messages around actions to sabotage or discredit the opposing organization. Submit fake documents and then call out the error.
* Create concern over the security of the infrastructure. Create exposure stories. If the process is believed to not be secure they are done.
* Cyber attacks against the infrastructure to get data on document submitters. This would will the project. Since the servers are now in Sweden and France putting a team together to get access is more straightforward.
* Media campaign to push the radical and reckless nature of wikileaks activities. Sustained pressure. Does nothing for the fanatics, but creates concern and doubt amongst moderates.
* Search for leaks. Use social media to profile and identify risky behavior of employees.

The complete presentation is available online. At this point the catapulting of the propaganda is getting pretty messy.

[seabeyond]

26. there is also a big push to glorify him to at least.... god. regardless

i have felt he is a creep from day one.

all on my lonesome.

[Bragi]

10. How is that hype?

People accuse him of hype, now he's reported as privately saying that, on investigation, one haul of leaks sent to them may not be all that important.

if true, isn't that the opposite of hyping?

[Robb]

11. He's hype in public.

This article is about what he says in private.

Again, I don't fault him the hype. But I'm sticking to my analogy, although I have yet to figure out who gets to be Chuck D. :D

[bemildred]

7. This has nothing to do with the B of A FUD campaign, really.

:sarcasm:

[BeFree]

8. Unrec

Pure trash.

Besides, maybe the bank already went down so this isn't news?

[msanthrope]

13. I'm glad he secured his 1.5 mil book deal before this little tidbit---

Seriously--this assclown doesn't need the CIA to bring Wikileaks down...hubris, hubris, hubris...

[Blue_Tires]

16. maybe he realized they were bait intended to discredit WL

[KittyWampus]

17. LOL! Pretty much everything WL's has released is ultimately a snore. What a buffoon.

[SidDithers]

19. +1...nt

Sid

[Disintermedia8]

23. Sometimes the dissonance is deafening

* Feed the fuel between the feuding groups. Disinformation. Create messages around actions to sabotage or discredit the opposing organization. Submit fake documents and then call out the error.
* Create concern over the security of the infrastructure. Create exposure stories. If the process is believed to not be secure they are done.
* Cyber attacks against the infrastructure to get data on document submitters. This would will the project. Since the servers are now in Sweden and France putting a team together to get access is more straightforward.
* Media campaign to push the radical and reckless nature of wikileaks activities. Sustained pressure. Does nothing for the fanatics, but creates concern and doubt amongst moderates.
* Search for leaks. Use social media to profile and identify risky behavior of employees.

[Robb]

24. "Under th' bus w' ye, Reuters!!"

:rofl: