Inside Wikileaks

What has been made public so far about WikiLeaks is only a small fraction of the truth. With his insider knowledge, Daniel Domscheit-Berg is uniquely able to tell the full story.

Since its launch in 2006, WikiLeaks has rapidly grown into the most powerful and influential whistleblowing organisation ever. Its status as a repository and publisher of leaked sensitive and confidential documents — while preserving the anonymity and untractability of its contributors — as well as the statements and behaviour of its leader, Julian Assange, have made WikiLeaks daily front-page news and a topic of enormous controversy.

In this eye-opening account, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who joined WikiLeaks in its early days and became its spokesman, reveals never-disclosed details about the inner workings of the organisation that has struck fear into governments and businesses worldwide. He also provides a remarkably up-close portrait of Julian Assange himself.

Under the pseudonym Daniel Schmitt, Domscheit-Berg was effectively No. 2 at WikiLeaks and the organisation’s most public face after Julian Assange. In this book, he tells the backstories of major leaks, and reveals the evolution, finances, and inner tensions of the whistleblower organisation, beginning with his first meeting with Assange in December 2007. He also describes what led to his September 2010 withdrawal from WikiLeaks, including his disenchantment with the organisation’s lack of transparency, its abandonment of political neutrality, and Assange’s increasing concentration of power.

About the Author

Daniel Domscheit-Berg is a computer scientist who worked in IT security prior to devoting himself full-time to WikiLeaks. He remains committed to freedom of information on the Internet. He and other former WikiLeaks people are currently working on a more transparent secret-sharing website called OpenLeaks ( http://openleaks.org/), to be launched in 2011. He lives in Berlin with his family.