In our community of Internet Researchers it makes sense that academics and scholars are interested in WikiLeaks from an interdisciplinary perspective. Regardless our personal view about the controversial phenomenon of publishing secret documents, and its implications, the event raises a question: would this have been possible without the internet? WikiLeaks gathers, verifies, releases information to the general public via the internet. The "cables" released to the public come from the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, or SIPRNet, the worldwide US military internet system. Millions of people as we speak read the cables on the web, share them via social media all over the world, read blogs, twitt about it, upload vlogs on uTube, join WikiLeaks groups on Facebook at an unprecedented rapid diffusion rate , and without any possibility of control or arrest. Even the next super-secret tranche of documents is ready to be released from a popular online file sharing service: http://www.torrentz.com/76a36f1d11c72eb5663eeb4cf31e351321efa3a3 I think this case is already internet history and it will be studied in future textbooks. Anyone interested in collaborating on a WikiLeaks interdisciplinary panel submission to the Seattle conference? Monica -------------------------- Monica Murero , Ph.D. AoIR Exec, 2003-2009; AoIR Treasurer, 2005-2009 AoIR Lifetime Member Director E-Life International Institute Associate Professor in Politics of e-Government and in Sociology of New Technology University Federico II, Italy Consultant, World Health Organization LinkedIN: http://it.linkedin.com/pub/monica-murero-ph-d/16/52/606 Twitter: monica_murero Facebook: murero monica