On January 21st, a panel at the Churchill Club in San Jose, California debated the meaning of WikiLeaks and its broader impact to the Internet and democracy.
The issue of how Wikileaks relates to open government, Internet freedom, free speech and the use of technology in government is going to continue to be hotly debated in 2011. This conversation lays out some of the core issues, from the perspective of media analysts, the academy, technologists and, crucially, a man who was at the heart of the release of one of the most important releases of classified government information in the history of the United States.
It’s worth a watch.
The panel was moderated by Paul Jay, CEO and Senior Editor, The Real News Network, and included the following speakers:
- Daniel Ellsberg, Former State and Defense Dept. Official prosecuted for releasing the Pentagon Papers
- Clay Shirky, Independent Internet Professional; Adjunct Professor, Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University
- Neville Roy Singham, Founder and Chairman, ThoughtWorks
- Peter Thiel, Technology entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist
- Jonathan Zittrain, Professor of Law and Professor of Computer Science, Harvard University; Co-founder, Berkman Center for Internet & Society
E Pluribus Unum 