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15th out of 15 books
—
7 voters
WikiLeaks and the Age of Transparency
by
Micah Sifry (Goodreads Author),
Andrew Rasiej
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 rile...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
March 15th 2011
by Counterpoint
(first published February 14th 2011)
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The idea that Internet transparency tools will lead to a happy period of greater governmental, business, and organizational openness reminds me of previously-held ideas that electric street lighting would lead to less crime, or more powerful weapons would make war too horrible to engage in. They didn't, and it won't. That said, closing your mind to the use and implications of new inventions is never a wise idea. The inventions are here to stay. If you've been too busy earning a living or watchin...more
Michael Sifry's Wikileaks and the Age of Transparency is the most comprehensive survey to date of the the various movements (of which Wikileaks is only a part) to open up and free, in the name of democracy, the closely guarded information held by various government and corporate entities. The first half of the book is a review of the growth of groups like the Personal Democracy Forum, the Sunlight Foundation, and others in the community of "politically minded hackers and technologically savvy ac...more
Very good book on how new internet tools can be used to improve transparency. It is a huge step forward in comparison to other books on transparency which I have read, because it is modern and you can see that the author has a practical not just academic approach. The part at the end of the
book is very useful - there is a Resource Guide with selected web pages with good practice examples.
book is very useful - there is a Resource Guide with selected web pages with good practice examples.
If you have read WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy and want to learn more about WikiLeaks, do not bother with this book. After the first few chapters, more than 100 pages pass with the work "WikiLeaks" being written. Sifry returns to WikiLeaks in the last two chapters, which salvage the book a bit. I am glad that other people liked it, but it was not what I was looking for.
This is a really interesting overview of both WikiLeaks and the wider issues of open government, open society and how the internet is enabling both. It's important we all understand we are in the journey to openness and the impediments still in the way. Our freedoms from serfdom to the middle class of modern societies were hard won over many centuries, be awake to how open and free our society really is.
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 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.
Technology has moved fast. It's moved faster than industry, and it's moved faster than government. It's such a new and relevent subject, and Sifry's open-minded précis of the issue is an excellent introduction into the discussion.
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.
Interesting read for my class. Makes me really wonder about things...
This is actually less about wikileaks and more about the impact and utility of the web on the political process. Sifry shows how the web has allowed a degree of democratization of journalism, showing how bloggers have uncovered stories that weren't (and would not have been) covered by mainstream journalists.
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.
Apr 05, 2013
Matt Kelly
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