Čtvrtek 28. března 2024, svátek má Soňa
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Lidovky.cz

Czech site inspired by WikiLeaks opts for Swedish security

  19:49

Identity protection concerns have led founders of PirateLeaks to delay the site’s launch

Registrací domény PirateLeaks.cz učinila Česká pirátská strana další krok na cestě ke zveřejnění utajovaných dokumentů. foto: webČeská pozice

The Czech Pirate Party (ČPS) announced on Dec. 13 that it may have to delay the launch of a Czech equivalent of WikiLeaks due to privacy issues with local webhosts.

“We could host content immediately; that’s straight forward. But what isn’t straight forward is insuring 100 percent anonymity for the informers,” Jakub Michálek, editor-in-chief of PirateLeaks, told Czech Position, pointing out problems experienced by WikiLeaks.

“To begin with, they also had an anonymous posting box [for informers to post leaks], but it’s not there now. Protecting the identity of sources, especially now that the whole case has been so exposed in the media, is a very tough problem to solve,” he said.         

The ČPS has therefore turned to the Swedish company PeRiQuito (PRQ) for its hosting needs. PRQ belongs to Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij, founders of the well-known torrent site the Pirate Bay, which facilitates peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing of music and videos. The company has built a reputation for hosting controversial sites and for asking for practically no information from clients.    ‘Protecting the identity of sources ... is a very tough problem to solve’

Michálek says the hosting service has a clear advantage. Any telecommunications company or government agency that investigates PirateLeaks “will reach a dead end at PeRiQuita,” he said.  

The ČPS also says that they opted for the Swedish webhosting service in response to statements and comments by Czech politicians in response to the news of the imminent launch of PirateLeaks. Cyril Svoboda, former chairman of the Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL), told Czech Position by phone last week that the activists “belong behind bars.”

Michálek said that such statements have nothing to do with freedom and only confirm that PirateLeaks in the Czech Republic is being met with “strong resistance from some politicians.” He added that the ČPS considered organizing a petition calling for Svoboda to be renamed “Cyril Censor.” Ironically, “Svoboda” means “freedom” in Czech.   

More leaks springing up

The recently announced launch of OpenLeaks by former WikiLeaks spokesman Daniel Domscheit-Berg will help to get more leaked documents before the public, according to Michálek. “Documents won’t be published on just one server; slowly but surely a decentralized network is emerging that no one will be able to stop,” he said. 

Michálek could not give a definitive date for the launch of PirateLeaks.  

 

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