

Assange: Statement on the publication of an unauthorized "autobiography" - sathishmanohar
http://wikileaks.org/Julian-Assange-Statement-on-the.html

======
sgentle
Yeesh. What does that make it now, an outstanding rape/international
extradition case, a massive falling out with Domscheit-Berg, the Guardian
unredacted document leak and now this. I'm missing a lot more, I'm sure. Agree
with him or not, you gotta feel for Julian Assange.

I met his biological father once at a party about a year ago. We didn't talk
in much detail ("hey, so your son's under house arrest" isn't the best
conversation starter) but he seemed cautiously upbeat and if nothing else
proud of Julian. It was a strange reminder that despite all this he's still
just a guy, like any of us, trying change the world for the better. Except
we're not under house arrest with an international funds embargo and lawsuits
circling like buzzards. He's still just a guy. I wonder how he's doing?

All these troubles can't be unconnected. I wonder if it's a fundamental result
of his personality or his methods. That would be a tempting answer, but I'm
not sure it's entirely true. Similarly tempting would be to assume that it's
all pressure from the remarkable US political machine. But that's not entirely
true either. I'd wager there's even some component of "Julian Assange,
transnational wounded deer" - no country to back him up, no multi-million
dollar board to sit on and nurse his wounds. He is, in that sense, uniquely
vulnerable; alone among the infamous.

Julian once said that he volunteered to be the lightning rod of WikiLeaks.
Well, here's the lightning. WikiLeaks will go on even as he burns, but what of
the man? Is it fair to ask one person to be the punching bag for an idea? Is
it fair for him to ask that of himself?

------
epo
Assange received an advance for this book which he has declined to repay. He
could hand the money back and then have a morally defensible position with
regard to it's publication. As it is the publishers are entitled to recoup
their investment and Assange is a whining hypocrite.

EDIT publisher's side of it here
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/22/julian-a...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/22/julian-
assange-unauthorised-autobiography-wikileaks-canongate)

~~~
Estragon
It's more complicated than that.

    
    
      The advance was paid direct into my former solicitors’ (FSI) bank
      account wholly without my consent. The money sits unspent in an FSI
      client account. FSI has refused to release the money to Canongate as a
      result of a legal fees dispute (FSI initially agreed to handle my
      extradition case “pro-bono”, or without fee). The FSI fees have been
      audited by an independent costs draftsman. The audit shows extreme
      over-charging. The outcome of this dispute is pending, but a
      favourable finding would release the entire advance, which has not
      been touched, back to Canongate and Knopf.

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masaq
The BBC reported earlier in the week that he received £500,000 as an advance,
and later wanted to cancel the contract but had, by that point, spent the
money (and didn't intend to repay it).

The reference to that amount has been removed since - I don't know why. Either
way, if the above is true it's laughable that he should have any complaint.
Enjoy your half a million (and royalties - they are honouring the contract you
signed).

------
runjake
"You reap what you sow", "Live by the sword, die by the sword", et cetera...

I understand Assange's distinction between goverment/corporate privacy and
personal privacy. But did someone who's placed themselves in the position he's
in expect anything different? By being the public head of Wikileaks, he put
himself out there. He's made himself a target to those he attacked.

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tompagenet2
Private Eye has a good piece here on the self-aggrandising nature of Assange:

[http://www.private-
eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=stree...](http://www.private-
eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=street_of_shame)

Wikileaks has become his personal toy - he's long given up the original
mission of what was a worthy organisation.

~~~
rimantas
Are you sure the original mission was not to have it as a self-promotional
toy?

------
danso
>I am not “the writer” of this book. I own the copyright of the manuscript,
which was written by Andrew O’Hagan. By publishing this draft against my
wishes Canongate has acted in breach of contract, in breach of confidence, in
breach of my creative rights and in breach of personal assurances. The US
publisher, Knopf, withdrew from the deal when it learned of Canongate’s
intentions to publish without my consent. This book was meant to be about my
life’s struggle for justice through access to knowledge. It has turned into
something else. The events surrounding its unauthorised publication by
Canongate are not about freedom of information — they are about old-fashioned
opportunism and duplicity—screwing people over to make a buck.

Not to repeat "what's good for the goose is good for the gander"...but this
complaint:

>This book was meant to be about my life’s struggle for justice through access
to knowledge. It has turned into something else.

Stolen creative property aside, this a complaint that can be made by anyone
who has ever been the subject of a story. Or who has ever has had their
embarrassing secrets leaked.

~~~
calpaterson
> "what's good for the goose is good for the gander"

Assange is not, as far as I know, in favour of widespread breaches of privacy.
He is in favour of breaching the privacy of governments and non-state
organisations, etc for the public benefit.

Assange spent a large amount of his life (before wikileaks) working on
technology that enables individuals to maintain their privacy and protect
their personal information. It's important to understand that wanting to
control his own autobiography is not a contradiction with respect to his work
on government and corporate leaking.

~~~
nkassis
I really hate when people attack him with this. Personal privacy and
government secrecy are not the same thing at all.

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cpeterso
Could this news be a promotional stunt? Assange has a flair for the dramatic
and the ironic parallels between publishing an "unauthorized autobiography"
and leaking secret documents are rather convenient.

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wglb
Information wants to be free

Unless it is about Me

