The Wikileaks era is already over

The organization is in tatters; its early successes have prompted both new competition and new controls on leaks.

As WikiLeaks’ founder, the mercurial cyber-militant Julian Assange, faces criminal investigations in Sweden and the United States, some of his lieutenants — alienated by Assange’s domineering ways — have split to form a new, competing leak depository called “OpenLeaks.” Even more threatening, the New York Times is considering a plan to cut out the middleman by opening an electronic leak channel of its own. “The aim would be to facilitate tips and information from sources who are afraid to directly approach a reporter,” the Times’ editor, Bill Keller, told me via e-mail.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has taken steps to prevent others from doing what a soldier based in Iraq, Pfc. Bradley Manning, allegedly did for WikiLeaks, downloading secret cables onto compact disks and spiriting them away. “Bradley Manning could not do today what he did a year ago,” an official said.