Jimmy Wales: people think I'm responsible for Wikileaks

- by Shane Richmond, for Telegraph.co.uk

WikiKarma?

"Wiki" is a generic term for a type of site, but in the public's mind it's now so heavily identified with Wikipedia that any other site with the prefix is likely to be misidentified as being affiliated. You can actually see what motivates some companies to get excessively vigorous in threatening trademark infringement suits against others with names even vaguely resembling theirs, though so far there has been no attempt that I know of for Wikimedia to try to gain proprietary ownership of this generic word.

See Wikia Nswers v. WikiAnswers.

Maybe this is a cause for some of the confusion.

http://www.wikileaks.net/
Queried whois.godaddy.com with "wikileaks.net"...

Registrant:
Wikia, Inc.
500 3rd St.
Suite 405
San Francisco, California 94107
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: WIKILEAKS.NET
Created on: 03-Jan-07
Expires on: 03-Jan-11
Last Updated on: 05-Jan-09

http://www.wikileaks.com/
Queried whois.godaddy.com with "wikileaks.com"...

Registrant:
Wikia, Inc.
500 3rd St.
Suite 405
San Francisco, California 94107
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: WIKILEAKS.COM
Created on: 03-Jan-07
Expires on: 03-Jan-11
Last Updated on: 05-Jan-09

Wikia Inc is the registration agent for WikiLeaks?

And Wales is one of the founding officers of Wikia Inc?

Is that about right?

He's not just a co-founder, he's Chairman of the Board. Holy crap, Tarantino!

I think I remember something about this, that as a "charitable gesture", Wikia served as the domain registrar for this upstart whistleblower organization called Wikileaks.

Wikileaks.org isn't Wikia-owned though.

Looks like Wikia is just parking the others, which in itself is pretty seedy.

So Wikia did muddy the waters? I thought that Mr. Wales might have a legitimate grievance here but it seems not to be the case. He should then just shut the fuck up about any confusion in the minds of the public.

Correct.

Wikia:
http://whois.domaintools.com/wikileaks.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/wikileaks.com

....vs the "real" wikileaks:
http://whois.domaintools.com/wikileaks.org

Wikilieaks.Org was created on October 4, 2006.

Three months later, Wikia Inc acted as registration agent for Wikileaks.Com and Wikileaks.Net, both created on January 3 2007.

Correct.
A copy-cat complaining about confusion of brands? Lovely!

Still they don't have clean hands concerning the public misunderstanding. Also currently Wikileaks.net and Wkileaks.com go to what appears to be identical to Wikileaks.org but my address bar does not change to "Wikileaks.org." I believe this indicates a mirror rather than a redirect but others could say for certain.

Is Wikileaks.org a 501 - c -3 in the US? I know it's considered a charity in Europe, and hasn't been taxed by anybody. These may all be the same people, but who knows? This looks a lot like the same-old Wikipedia/Wikia scam where one ostensibly tax-exempt company generates content and public exposure, all to be tapped eventually by the for-profit company waiting in the wings. Except Wikia does some drafting of WMF NOW (as much as it dares), whereas wikileaks.net and wikileaks.com are probably intended to be the one day private-owned profitable taxpaying US side of wikileaks.org, and are presently just sitting there as domains, whose name indicates future intent.

Does anyone know what copyright license WL uses? I looked briefly but nothing jumped out. It would seem to me that even if the content was provided via an open license that the logo name etc would be "owned" IP.

At the moment I'm getting "Server not found" errors when I try wikileaks.[net|com] (though the .org address works).

Kelly can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Wikia's nameservers have CNAME records (or aliases) that in effect points www.wikileaks.com or .net to the IP address of www.wikileaks.org. So it's not a mirror. There are no DNS records for wikileaks.com or .net (without the www).

Wikia also owns wikileaks.us.

Strange. I get the same on [net|com] as I get on the .org-site.

Let's do a little DNS digging...


What that means is that the authoritative nameserver, ns1.wikia.com, answers the DNS query and says "The answer is, 'There is no answer.'"

OK, I do now too. I must not have typed the "www." the first time; it's unusual that they configured those domains not to work without it.

Yep.

barry@pentium-4:~/Desktop$ host www.wikileaks.com
wikileaks.com has DNAME record wikileaks.org.
www.wikileaks.com is an alias for www.wikileaks.org.
www.wikileaks.org has address 88.80.17.18
www.wikileaks.org has address 88.80.17.21

barry@pentium-4:~/Desktop$ host www.wikileaks.us
www.wikileaks.us is an alias for www.wikileaks.org.
www.wikileaks.org has address 88.80.17.21
www.wikileaks.org has address 88.80.17.18

So Wikia Inc really is a registrant for Wikileaks.

Strange non-news article, could be read as a clever piece of market positioning ... of himself mostly. What is the news angle? People on the internet are dumb?

Oh, I see, the news is Jimbo is setting up a pad for himself and his commercial prooduct in London ... off the Wikipedia's back ... AND claiming credit for the word Wiki DESPITE it existing before him and being invented by someone else.

Usual puke stuff that the dumb media lap up and which exposes the crapworthiness of it all ...

The domains are registered in the name of Michael E. Davis, ex- Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia foundation, Chief Operating Officer of Wikia, Inc, import from Jimbo's trading days and he of the $800,000 court case loss not paid.

So, if they come and get Julian Assange shouldn't they be coming to get Jimmy Wales and Michael E. Davis too?


Good work as ever tarantino.

That's one of those turns of phrase that just couldn't be better. Thanks.


+1

So, with all the wikiplebeians who frequent here, is it too much to hope one might mention something on his talk page? You know, just to help clear up all the confusion.

Well, it's time for Greg to post an update about the "rest of the story" that Jimbo is not telling.

"A truth that's told with bad intent, beats all the lies you can invent" (Pope)

Jimbo's not narrowly responsible for the original wikileaks.org, and that allows it to operate and grow without his having to pay taxes on it, or worry about it.

However the US domain names for it, presently redirected to it out of Wikia, the for-profit company of which Jimmy is co-owner, are registered in the name of Jimmy's partner the CEO of Wikia, and stand ready to make a profit one day for Jimmy and friends. That includes wikileaks.net, wikileaks.com, and wikileaks.us. The confusion here is of Jimmy's making, but he's not going to tell you that. So the "rest of the story" is what he leaves you to infer, that is wrong. In other words, a lie.

Note that the registrant for Wikileaks.org (the primary site) is a privacy firm with a PO box in 94401 - San Mateo. Wikia's headquarters (before moving within the "available rental radius" of Wikimedia Foundation) was? San Mateo.

That's an awfully interesting coincidence.

Yes, it is. That registration document and the site of Wikia's former headquarters at the time, plus the Wikia CEO registrant for related domain names, are all just the kind of thing that should be posted on.... Wikileaks. It would be interesting to see if a site that specializes in publishing other people's little secrets, can stand some sunshine up its own butt.

Dynadot LLC
Todd Han, president
205 E 3rd Ave Suite 201
San Mateo, CA 94401

Wikia's former address
60 E 3rd Ave Ste 210
San Mateo, CA 94401

They're about two blocks apart.

The domain name wikileaks.org is supposedly owned by John Shipton, an Australian citizen living in Kenya.

That´s funny, Julian Assange is an Australian who lives at least part time in Kenya.


PS: I was in Kenya/East Africa in the 90´s: ok, there were Aussies all over the place.

Dynadot is a domain name registrar like GoDaddy. Somebody from Wikia probably just walked down the block and signed up with them for all the wikileaks-related domain names. Any bets that Dynadot is the company that handles all Wikia's domain name registration needs, anyway?

Clearly Assange is in bed with everybody at Wikia, and is the journalist point man who decided to formally accept the awards and take the "heat" for Wikileaks. But just as clearly, it's a deal run out of Wikia, by people connected through Wikia.

John Young of Cryptome was the original domain registrant for wikileaks,org and one of its co-founders. Now he's one of the organization's more prominent critics. That story sounds familiar.



From the front page of Cryptome:

And this part if it sounds even more familiar:

Cryptome has come up in an earlier discussion of WL. But there they seemed very gun-hoe supporters very interested in the crypto-anarchy aspects of the leak and ready to republish files and keys if WL was shut down. They did echo "don't trust anybody who says they will protect you" sentiment of John Young in the Cnet article. I suppose now is not a good time to roll out the new WR $5,000,000 fund raising drive?

For those of you not familiar with Declan McCullagh, pay attention to his work.

He has the forensic investigatory skills of our own Tarantino and the journalistic writing skills of John Markoff.

Declan MCullagh is the best high-tech investigative journalist in the business.

Aha! The deliberate silly error to see if anyone's awake! That is of course by William Blake, who wasn't even born when Pope died.

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/a_truth_th...the/150004.html


It's probably the cleverest thing Blake ever said.

"Buggers worthy of attack prove their worth by snitting back." —Piet Hine

Domain ID:D130035267-LROR
Domain Name:WIKILEAKS.ORG
Created On:04-Oct-2006 05:54:19 UTC
Last Updated On:13-Feb-2008 01:32:30 UTC
Expiration Date:04-Oct-2008 05:54:19 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Dynadot, LLC (R1266-LROR)
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:C-13000
Registrant Name:John Shipton
Registrant Street1:c/o WLK PO Box 8098-00200
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Nairobi
Registrant State/Province:
Registrant Postal Code:none
Registrant Country:KE
Registrant Phone:+1.2026576222
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:an1984@hush.com

The PO Box and email address was also used by:

Domain ID:D148197239-LROR
Domain Name:SUNSHINEPRESS.ORG
Created On:21-Jun-2007 20:18:13 UTC
Last Updated On:24-Jul-2009 19:06:14 UTC
Expiration Date:21-Jun-2010 20:18:13 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Key-Systems GmbH (R51-LROR)
Status:OK Registrant ID:C-31198
Registrant Name:slava tomaz
Registrant Street1:c/o WLK PO Box 8098-00200
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Nairobi
Registrant State/Province:
Registrant Postal Code:none
Registrant Country:KE
Registrant Phone:+1.202657622
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:an1984@hush.com

Domain ID:D148083936-LROR
Domain Name:LJSF.ORG
Created On:12-Jun-2007 05:12:06 UTC
Last Updated On:20-Apr-2008 00:26:49 UTC
Expiration Date:12-Jun-2011 05:12:06 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Key-Systems GmbH (R51-LROR)
Status:OK
Registrant ID:C-31198
Registrant Name:slava tomaz
Registrant Street1:c/o WLK PO Box 8098-00200
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Nairobi
Registrant State/Province:
Registrant Postal Code:none
Registrant Country:KE
Registrant Phone:+1.202657622
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:an1984@hush.com

He's only once ever mentioned the Wikimedia Foundation in his 1,100+ articles on CNET. I'm not sure if he's worthy of putting on my reading list.

He usually has much bigger fish to fry. But that article about curious edits to WP exemplifies the kind of forensic reporting Declan is known for.

Shortly after John Young became disgusted with wikileaks, he published an archive of their internal emails, which included discussion of Wikia's registrations.

Young says


Wired reported it took wikileaks 6 months to get Wikia to point their domains to wikileaks.org.


"John Shipton c/o Dynadot", the current registrant for wikileaks.org, has also registered khmer440.com and savethepeopleoficeland.com.

Recently Julian Assange and "Daniel Schmitt" relocated wikileaks to Iceland and persuaded their government to pass the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, legislation that will offer "journalists and publishers some of the most aggressive protections for free speech and investigative journalism in the world."

How transparently disingenuous. "Oh, somebody at my company Wiki registered the same domain names with different suffixes? Well, I'm not going to even ask who, because the whole subject bores me. Might have been that EssJay guy-- you know, Mr. Ryan. I have no memory of it. I have more important things to do than worry about why somebody in my company has this hobby, maybe. But I'm okay with it. My eyes are glazing over. I am getting sleepy. Why are we talking about this?"

Iceland is tough. When the US tried to screw with Bobby Fisher for violating an embargo imposed on US citizens (rather like our Cuban one) by revoking his passport WHILE Fisher was traveling (sorry, Bobby), Japan imprisoned him. But Iceland took him in. And there he died and there he rests. The IRS still wants his estate, but I think Fisher's estate has a rather good point that if your country revokes your passport and claims to be able to order you around, you have the right to renounce your citizenship, stay away from them forever, and then you don't owe them any more taxes. Taxes are part of what you pay to your home country for protecting you, not screwing you.

I got pulled over in west Texas
so they could look inside my car
he said are you an american citizen
I said
yes sir
so far


-ani defranco

There are records for wikileaks.com:
A DNAME is a "domain alias" record that should effectively alias all of *.wikileaks.com to *.wikileaks.org (sorta like a CNAME except for an entire domain). Not all DNS clients understand DNAME.

Wikileaks.net returns essentially the same result.

Wales is neither "founder" of Wikipedia nor of Wikia.

To be fair on Jimbo, he may have known but not been originally behind the idea. David Gerard, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, are friends from Australia going back to the early days of the internet in Melbourne. Gerard's own anti-Scientology website, Australian Critics of Scientology Resource Collection, is hosted on suburbia.net which Assange (username: Proff) was administrator on.

http://www.suburbia.org.au/homealone/homes.11.php3

http://www.suburbia.net/~fun/scn/pers/fun/pi/970918-fun.txt

http://www.solitarytrees.net/pickets/gerar...ut/951214dg.htm

Split off Redhead stuff to Politics and such. This thread is to good to be thrashed.

Very good. Didn't know you had musical taste.

"What do you care what other people think?" —Arline Feynman

I sofixedit to "leader". I'm not sure what the right word would be.

"Exploiter" or "Shill" would work.



Gerard doesn't work for Wikia, Inc., though. Someone who works for Wikia, Inc. made the domain reservations.

That actually helps to explain a lot of the crazy Wiki-culture. Although many of Jimbo's volunteers are apparently willing to risk arrest to insure a NOTCENSORED Wikipedia, Jimbo Himself sits in the warm comfort of his Kremlin office, stupidly and arrogantly sending wave after wave of Wikinfantry to their deaths.

Assange evidently has the nerve to stand up to an (admittedly corrupt and foolish) American military establishment. I sometimes wonder if David Gerard has as much fortitude. Easier to protect pedophiles and posters of porn pics, isn't it, David? You're at base a coward, aren't you, David?