Daniel Domscheit-Berg

De schrijver is beter bekend onder de naam Daniel Smitt , waarmee hij twee en een half jaar opereerde als woordvoerder en vooral technisch medewerker bij WikiLeaks. In dit boek beschrijft hij op zeer toegankelijke wijze hoe de opkomst ervan te werk ging, hoe de spanningen steeds meer toenamen tussen hem en Julian Assange en hoe hij tenslotte aan de kant werd gezet. Hij vertelt dit vanuit zijn standpunt en staaft het relaas met feiten en quotes uit chatberichten. Niet alleen gaat hij in op de technische organisatie van dit vrijwilligersbedrijf die steeds meer gaat rammelen, maar ook op de enorme geldzorgen die ontstaan, de spanningen tussen de leden en het steeds arrogantere optreden van Julian Assange. Nadat de fondsenwerving op gang is gekomen, worden de technische problemen opgelost, maar de verwijdering tussen Assange en de schrijver wordt steeds groter, wat leidt tot zijn ontslag. Daniel richt dan samen met oud-medewerkers OpenLeaks op. Het boek geeft een aardig beeld hoe de auteur zijn belevenissen bij WL heeft ondervonden en hoe WL misschien ten onder zal gaan.… (más)

A difficult book to judge. In large part, it seems to be one side of a battle over a broken relationship. Not knowing the other side, how am I to judge who's right? And why should I bother?

In this particular case, the dispute is between the book's co-author, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, and famed Wikileaks director Julian Assange. I'll credit Domscheit-Berg and/or his co-author Tina Klopp (who I presume is a ghost writer), with showing some restraint; they paint Assange as an arrogant and irresponsible egomaniac, but you can see them trying hard not to seem too obviously one-sided.

As for the truth of the details, how the hell am I to know? It's believable that Assange is an asshole. On the other hand, that's just if you go by Domscheit-Berg's word. Frankly, there are a million stories like this out there: a working relationship gone sour. I've had a few of them myself. Unfortunately this one isn't terribly more interesting than, well, any of mine for example! It's only the celebrity of Assange and Wikileaks that got this book into print.

There are two things that could have redeemed this book. One would have been great writing. I can't speak for the original German edition, but the translation in the English edition was merely workmanlike. Oh, it was handled well enough that it didn't jump out at me as a translation; whoever went over the translation did a good enough job, as far as that goes (and incidentally, I used to touch up and in some cases re-write poorly translated articles for a magazine myself, so I have some experience in this area). But the writing simply isn't anything special. Nor is there, for example, any particular humor to the book.

The other potentially redeeming factor would have been some really insightful details about the workings of Wikileaks. There's some of that here, and it is somewhat interesting. If it's credible (and I have no particular reason to doubt it) then Wikileaks is in a real technological pickle. But again, although I support openness and the stated principles of Wikileaks, technical issues don't mean a lot to me here.

The book is remarkably current. It's about issues that took place as recently as five or six months ago. That's a bit jarring! It gave me the feeling that I could have been reading the whole thing on some online forum.

I also have to say that I can't help but feel a little bit taken advantage of by Mr. Domscheit-Berg. His book seems to be little more than a veiled continuation of a running battle with Julian Assange. Okay, if his account is accurate, then Assange is an irresponsible egotist and bastard. But I wasn't involved in this battle, and why is Mr. Domscheit-Berg making money off of me in pursuit of his war? Apart from anything else, that seems a highly ironic act for someone who professes such high ideals.

Incidentally, the book was a birthday gift from my sister and her husband. I'm quite sure they hadn't read it themselves. It was a thoughtful gift - if you're reading this, sis, I hope this review doesn't hurt your feelings - because I am interested in openness, politics, and Wikileaks. I just wish Domscheit-Berg had produced something more worthwhile and in-depth.… (más)