The United States government is diligent - some might say to the point of obsession - in defending its borders against invaders. Now we are told a small, international band of renegades armed with nothing more than laptops presents the greatest threat to the U.S. regime since the close of the Cold War. WikiLeaks' release of a massive trove of secret official documents has riled politicians from across the spectrum. Even noted free-speech advocate Floyd Abrams blames WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for the certain defeat of federal shield-law legislation protecting journalists. Hyperbole, hysteria? Certainly.
Welcome to the Age of Transparency. But political analyst and writer Micah Sifry argues that WikiLeaks is not the whole story: It is a symptom, an indicator of an ongoing generational and philosophical struggle between older, closed systems, and the new open culture of the Internet. Despite Assange's arrest, the publication of secret documents continues. As Sifry shows, this is part of a larger movement for greater governmental and corporate transparency: When you combine connectivity with transparency - the ability for more people to see, share and shape what is going on around them - the result is a huge increase in social energy, which is being channeled in all kinds of directions.
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"Micah Sifry gives us an amazing overview of what government transparency advocates around the globe have accomplished over a very short time through crowd sourcing,crowd scouring and their relentless commitment to open government. This book was a real eye-opener for me-- a low tech reader." — Joan (5 out of 5 stars)
"Micah Sifry gives us an amazing overview of what government transparency advocates around the globe have accomplished over a very short time through crowd sourcing,crowd scouring and their relentless commitment to open government. This book was a real eye-opener for me-- a low tech reader."
" This short book gives a solid overview of a lot of open government initiatives. It also touches on what things like Wikileaks mean for governance. Sifry's conclusion is that it just means that it will become increasingly hard say you do something and do something else. "
" Interesting read for my class. Makes me really wonder about things... "
" First rate look at how WikiLeaks exemplifies the trend toward transparency in public affairs -- and the threats/complications this brings. "
" Awesome book, and yes I'm biased, as this is written by my fantastic, super-smart big brother. "
" This isn't a particularly accessible book unless you have a bit of background knowledge of American-based organisations pushing for government transparency. There's a lot less about Wikileaks in it than the title suggested to me. I'm not sure if I'm much wiser having read it. "
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