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    WikiLeaks Block Hurts Anonymity Everywhere

    Knight 2007 News Challenge Winner

    Anonymous communication online is becoming quite a theme here on Idea Lab.

    The web site WikiLeaks.org (if you're in the United States, right now you'll have to access it through their IP address) reports that it has been censored by U.S. court injunction (it is also banned in China).

    The point of the web site is to allow people to post anonymously information - in large quantities - that governments and corporations don't want people to know.

    This is bad. Taking down a domain name is a drastic measure for suppressing information on the Internet. If this is not pushed back against strongly by everyone who believes in journalism and the right to an informed public, it will have a chilling effect on all media that operates online. Which is to say, almost all media - from the largest corporation to the smallest local forum.

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    I think newspapers, blogs, and magazines should all be doing audio versions. I grew up enjoying and listening to audiobooks and now I don't have the same option for the short form content that I prefer to consume.

    Will Mayo
    Do Touch That Dial: Turn Your Newspaper Into a Radio Station

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