Dentro de Wikileaks: Mi etapa en la web más peligrosa del mundo

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Dentro de Wikileaks: Mi etapa en la web más peligrosa del mundo

by Daniel Domscheit-Berg, Ana Duque de Vega (translator), Carles Andreu Saborit (translator)

3.21 of 5 stars 3.21 · rating details · 325 ratings · 56 reviews

En septiembre de 2010, Daniel Domscheit-Berg escribió sus últimas líneas como portavoz de WikiLeaks en un chat en el que anunciaba que se iba. Atrás habían quedado unos años muy intensos, ?los más intensos de mi vida?, puntualiza el propio Domscheit-Berg. Años en los que fue la mano derecha de Julian Assange y pieza fundamental en el desarrollo, despegue y consolidación de...more

Paperback, 253 pages

Published July 1st 2011 by Roca (first published January 1st 2011)

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Dec 17, 2011 Joe rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story of WikiLeaks -- its early days, internal politics, and a small amount of technical detail -- as told by one of its earliest and most significant contributors, Daniel Domscheit-Berg. In telling the story, Domscheit-Berg also relays many of his personal interactions with Julian Assange, and describes the ups-and-downs of his own life during those years.

WikiLeaks is pretty fascinating in any case, and this book explains many interesting aspects from a perspective that only a few people in...more

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Sep 08, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

*So far I'm approaching this book as I often tend to, first and foremost, as an interest in the cult of personality. In that respect, meditations on the subject of leadership and generally how one person or a great idea really can change the world are my source of inspiration, here. There are too many threads of thought to follow there, so I will leave it at that for now. I don't doubt your own ability to spearhead that subject independently.

*Otherwise, this story is obviously a one sided versio...more *So far I'm approaching this book as I often tend to, first and foremost, as an interest in the cult of personality. In that respect, meditations on the subject of leadership and generally how one person or a great idea really can change the world are my source of inspiration, here. There are too many threads of thought to follow there, so I will leave it at that for now. I don't doubt your own ability to spearhead that subject independently.

*Otherwise, this story is obviously a one sided version from a 2 person team, and I kind of wonder how much validity to place in that. It would be easy for me to simply take this as a passing of blame or defensive reaction in response to whatever falling out they've had (haven't gotten that far in the book yet), if Domscheit-Berg wasn't so even handed in his rational of their relationship. I'd like to read the same story from Assanges perspective, perhaps just to see how much fact can be verified through their respective P'sOV. Now that I consider it, I'm probably hung up on this idea simply because of the way it is written, with Domscheit-Berg seeming to have this sense of awe at the experience, himself.

*On a more technical side, or as much as I am capable of analyzing with my limited knowledge of the more technical computer system stuff, I'm more interested in the organization from the perspective of how it is set up. It is such and interesting social system in that it is always evolving, having information injected into it and even being run from/by anonymous sources. The simple question of how to glean fact from fiction, or the entire dynamic of this in respect to politicking is a total mind-fuck in itself. Assange has also arranged the organization based on the same sort of model that other closed organization do, with most of the players blind to the larger picture (think CIA) of whatever action or agenda is being fulfilled. It seems counterintuitive to his own philosophy to do so, but it works in that he has set up an organization that can be a functional player on the political chessboard...carved a very particular niche if you will, very impressive!

*OH! how could I forget the censorship issue?!

*either way this book brings up enough questions to spark a huge amount of debate, best for a book club. I'll have to finish this review later! ::frustrated::

...To be continued... (less)

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Apr 10, 2011 Maryan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This memoir of WikiLeaks has no literary pretence; however the detailed and chronological account of the web site and its founder is very compelling.

WikiLeaks and Assange need no introduction. This account of Domscheit-Berg’s charts the very scrappy founding of what appeared to be an ad hoc website with limited servers, outdated technologies and a couple of brilliant techies to become a force to be reckoned with worldwide.

He also chronicles the personal relationship between Assange and himself f...more

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Apr 03, 2011 Peter rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: nobody in particular...

Shelves: nonfiction, politics

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 irresponsibl...more 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.(less)

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Apr 20, 2011 Paul rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Although this book offers a fair bit of interesting information on Wikileaks; the people involved, the set-up behind the scenes, some info on leaks that weren't published, etc, Inside Wikileaks is essentially a vehicle for Daniel Domscheit-Berg's bitter attacks on Assange and I told you so statements.
He plugs his new site, relentlessly attacks and criticises Assange, tells us (with the benefit of hindsight) what he would have done in such and such a situation and other petty, pathetic bullshit....more

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Apr 11, 2013 Kate Bradley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a welcome insight into many aspects of WikiLeaks which Julian Assange is keen to conceal, or at least bias. It would have benefitted from a deeper discussion of the issues which clearly interest Domscheit-Berg: rather than just asking questions, I would have liked more critical discussion of issues of transparency, media rights and whistle-blowing in general, and a lot less sniping at Julian Assange. Assange is probably a difficult character, but every page of this book had a reite...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Lorenzio Phillibuster Fireworks rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first half of this audiobook started out really slowly. There's a lot of self indulgence in his writing - it was not necessary for a blow by blow account of boiling his potatoes, braising his meat and boiling his vegies. I also felt that he was trying to position us against Julian Assange from the beginning - long before any conflicts appeared timeline-wise between the two of them. From the beginning, we hear a lot about how idealistic Domscheit-Berg is, and at times he sounded overly naive...more

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Feb 21, 2011 Evilynn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, non-fiction

This was a more interesting and rewarding read than the Guardian Wikileaks book, but I dont think Domscheit-Berg should (or will) aspire to a career as a writer. There is so much hopping back and forth and so much absolutely pointless detail that I can't for the life of me believe there was an editor involved. Why didn't the ghost writer remove some of the dead meat from the text? Nevertheless, it's an interesting look at how a really small NGO went from obscurity to worldwide phenomenon. Domsch...more

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Apr 07, 2011 Stuart rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fascinating account of the rise and fall(?) of Wikileaks. I read it cover to cover over two days.

It clearly recounts the early history of Wikileaks and in a way is the account of a breakup of the relationship between Julian Assange and Daniel Domscheit-Berg. Also it is the story of a start-up. It shows what can be done by two driven guys sleeping on sofas with an old server and a concept to sell to the world. Assange is portrayed as brilliant, eccentric and manipulative and Domscheit-Berg often...more

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Mar 29, 2011 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I went into this book with high expectations. I like many have been facinated by the metioric rise of WikiLeaks over the years and believe in the principals they do. Unfortuently those expectations
were let down thanks to writing which left me pulling out my hair in frustration.

The book centres on author Daniel Domscheit-Berg's time in WikiLeaks from 2007 till his departure late last year. Along the way he details the organisations rise from a small disorganised group to what it is today. Dissapo...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Spook rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's hard not to be interested in WikiLeaks, as it seems that half of what I read in the news these days traces back to them. As Domscheit-Berg was involved from the early days, he has a unique perspective on the events surrounding the organization.

That being said, a *lot* of the book seems to be a mantra of "Julian Assange is a weirdo/jerk/egomaniac/etc" and while that part of things does get old, there are a lot of legitimate criticisms to be made of Assange and the organization as a whole. Th...more

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Mar 06, 2011 Aquarium rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Aquarium by: Vasil Kolev

This is a book more about the wikileaks as a phenomena than the people behind it. It shows the changes in team's dynamic while wikileaks' visibility increased but does not help answering why people behaved the way they did. It explains reactions and leaves to imagination the motivations.

Definitely Assange's book should be read too when it comes out.

I was expecting more focused book with better chronology of wikileaks' time table. The back and forth in time could have been avoided.

Random good st...more

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Mar 10, 2011 Jack rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

I've read the Guardian's WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy and, along with this book, it gives you an interesting history of the organisation and how it was and is run.

As with the Guardian's book, the first two thirds is the most interesting as it is dealing with closed situations so it's far easier to put a perspective on them. Towards the end of both books the authors are dealing with current events, some of which will have gone out of date in the few short weeks between the b...more

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May 11, 2013 Gabriel Schoenfeld rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If Julian Assange emerges from the pages on "Inside WikiLeaks" as a fairly ghastly human being, Daniel Domscheit-Berg does not come out looking much better. Apart from his own acknowledged dishonesty as the organization's spokesman, he still shares his former idol's toxic political views. He proudly calls WikiLeaks the "world's most dangerous website" and launched his own Assange-free version, called OpenLeaks.

More than anything else, there is remarkable shallowness to Mr. Domscheit-Berg's memoi...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Bryan Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like many I share a cautious attitude toward the personal attacks Domscheit-Berg makes on Assange. However, the narrative he tells reasonably explains Wikileaks' unfortunate fracturing. I was persuaded by the read to believe that the goals of Wikileaks are sound and that the project does represent a necessary revolution in transparency, which is big because two years ago, at the time of Cablegate, I wanted Assange dead. I find it unfortunate that Domscheit-Berg's decentralized approach with Open...more

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Feb 23, 2011 Andy Oram rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: politics

Amidst all the arguments about whether WikiLeaks is good, bad,
sustainable, replicable, or just plain inevitable, I've been
frustrated by two gaps in the discussion. First, commentators tend to
treat WikiLeaks as some kind of pure emanation of the Internet,
ignoring the vast legal, financial, media, and other systems that make
it possible. Second, they either praise or criticize its mission, but
rarely ask how it could be improved. It can advance our understanding
of WikiLeaks in the context of global...more

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Jul 14, 2012 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a solid read. Obviously, it was told from the perspective of a gentleman who has had a falling out with Wikileaks' charismatic founder Julian Assange, but he managed to keep it very neutral in his telling of how the volatile rise to prominence of the website came to pass.

Perhaps the best part of the book was in the second to last chapter, when Mr. Domscheit-Berg went into a lengthy meditation on why he believes so strongly in the notion that people need to take responsibility for...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

The author of Inside WikiLeaks, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, had a front row seat to the phenomenon that is WikiLeaks through the strange friendship he developed with Julian Assange. Due to events in Sweden in 2010, Assange himself has now become more “story” rather than any of the material the website published, so it is interesting to learn how it all began. The story that emerges in Inside WikiLeaks is that in its early years the organisation was neither well funded nor well organised. For example,...more The author of Inside WikiLeaks, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, had a front row seat to the phenomenon that is WikiLeaks through the strange friendship he developed with Julian Assange. Due to events in Sweden in 2010, Assange himself has now become more “story” rather than any of the material the website published, so it is interesting to learn how it all began. The story that emerges in Inside WikiLeaks is that in its early years the organisation was neither well funded nor well organised. For example, the author notes that WikiLeak’s “technical infrastructure was a joke and irresponsible. If someone knew where the server was located they could have shut WikiLeaks down permanently.”

While the author’s account of Assange will be subject to bias, it does make for compelling and somewhat sad reading. Domscheit-Berg obviously idolised Assange and the disillusionment he experienced is obvious. It is amazing the author managed to tolerate Assange’s faults for so long. These faults include Assange's huge ego and a paranoid belief he was being followed even before there was a reason for anyone to do so. Inside WikiLeaks also reveals the hypocrisy of Julian Assange. While WikiLeaks operates on the premise of increasing transparency, Assange ensures the organisation itself is far from transparent in its operations.

Among the many fascinating revelations in the book is that despite his position at WikiLeaks, Domscheit-Berg says he does not know what is in the encrypted “insurance” file WikiLeaks famously posted to the site in July 2010. WikiLeaks has the password would be released if anything “grave” took place involving its staff. Whether this means it would occur if Assange were to lose his legal battle over the Swedish rape allegations is unknown, but Domscheit-Berg appears interpret it this way. However, he says it was never meant to be used in relation to Assange’s personal matters.

Domscheit-Berg is no longer associated with WikiLeaks, but remains committed the cause of transparency. Along with other former WikiLeaks staffers and volunteers, the author has developed another whistleblower site called OpenLeaks.org, which was launched in early 2011.(less)

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Feb 21, 2011 Vasil Kolev rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: must-read, politics

I'll probably need to read Julian Assange's book when it comes out, to compare the picture, but what's said in this book looks right.

There are no technical details on the wikileaks setup, there's nothing that can be used to trace people or disrupt the site, in this regard the book (and the conduct of Daniel Domscheit-Berg) are proper and professional.

It paints the story of wikileaks, and especially of Assange (who is almost the personification of WL), of his behavior, increasing paranoia and som...more

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Sep 07, 2011 Riana rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: current-events

this book was moderately interesting to read. what was going on behind the scenes while wikileaks was gaining popularity so rapidly actually really surprised me. i suppose the whole organization always was a lot less organized and structured than they had the whole world believe.

however, this is where it ends already....... i guess for the most part, the book has the feel of a frustrated employee lashing out against his old boss. i did not find it vengeful, just most of it really trivial and ir...more

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Mar 30, 2011 Alex rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very, very quick read — you can skim this in an afternoon if you are dedicated. Not the world's best-written book, and, frankly, the protagonist, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, doesn't exactly come off smelling like roses, either. He ends up looking pretty spineless and pretty hapless. Nonetheless, the portrait he paints of Assange is quite interesting and compelling: one part arrogantly brilliant and paranoid, one part unbearably self-righteous, and one part incorrigible sexist.

If you're looking for...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Kevin Sexton rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"...we learned a lot from the people we were fighting against. Later, when it came to our finances, Julian would try to avail himself of concealment tactics similar to those used by Julius Bär. Like Scientology, we didn't want outsiders to be able to see our internal structures, and we encouraged a sense of mystery concerning who was who on our team."

This book will definitely give you a new view of the organisation and Julian Assange.
Even if you're not that interested in WikiLeaks, it's an insp...more

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Jun 15, 2011 Justin Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An amazing book that shows the true side to Julian Assange. I love how wikileaks showed the inside details to all the political contreversies and how this is Daniel's last wikileak to show what actually happened inside wikileaks. Going from a good friend relationship at the start of the website between Julian and Daniel to a hated enemy war. Personally I like some of the things wikileaks did but some of it was a bit to personal. This book even made me start to hate Julian Assange. A great book f...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Sofía Navarro rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Es suficientemente entretenido. El autor no es escritor, pero tiene dotes comunicativas, por lo que se hace sencillo entender lo complejo que es el corazón de la historia, aunque el lector no sea ducho en el mundo de la informática, los medios de comunicación o la política.
Muy interesante si el lector, de hecho, está interesado en dichos temas.
Juega peligrosamente con la línea entre la objetividad y la demonización con respecto a Assange. Precisa de un segundo punto de vista en cuestiones perso...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Dave rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The biggest revelation in this book is not that Julian Assange is an even bigger a-hole than previously reported, but just how disorganized—and at times dishonest—WikiLeaks was as it went from being an intriguing idea to the "world's most dangerous website." Domscheit-Berg punctures the aura of infallibility that WL wrapped around itself, as well as the notion, promoted by its detractors, that it's some kind of diabolical conspiracy. In reality, it was a seat-of-the-pants operation run by a duo...more

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Dec 24, 2011 Esther Bradley-detally rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am intrigued by WikiLeaks, and have tremendous sympathy for Bradley Manning. That said, I don't really know the innocence or noninnocence of any involved. I think they fall under the category of whistle blower. Daniel Domscheit-Berg's view is interesting and believable. The writing is not superb, but the subject is fascinating. I highly recommend the book and then would love thoughtful conversation about it.

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Dec 01, 2011 Manuel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was a great book to know the insights of WikiLeaks and all that has happened to the organization. It is very interesting to see how an organization related with transparency and whistle-blowing can be so opaque.

On the other hand, the author's style seems a bit too much sour regarding Julian Assange, probably due to his deep personal implication (his friendship).

If you approach with some distance, it can be a good book to document on WL.

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Oct 24, 2011 Tanvir Muntasim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Provides some fascinating insights into how the leading whistle blowing site Wikileaks came into being, and how Assenge's ego and paranoia pushed it to the brink of collapse. While the language isn't very literary, it is easy to read and provides some food for thought about the nature of openness and transparency of information that can lead to a more just world.

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Sep 02, 2012 Iñaki Tofiño rated it 3 of 5 stars

Detrás de las grandes ideas a veces hay personas muy mediocres... No sé si debo creerme todo lo que cuenta, pero si me creo la mitad me creo que el tal Assange es bastante cretino. En cualquier caso su idea de crear una plataforma de denuncia / acceso libre a la información era y es buena; parece que Domscheit-Berg pretende continuarla a través de Openleaks. Espero que tenga suerte.

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May 13, 2011 Teri rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The author, formerly involved with WikiLeaks, charts his time with the organization and with its eccentric founder who he considered a friend. He shows the problems any organization can have in setting up a chain of command and responsibility. There is little here about the actual leaks and more about how decisions were made, or not made.

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