WikiLeaks is now stronger than ever, supporters rally around the world, mirror sites grow

[Liberal_in_LA]

WikiLeaks avoids shutdown as supporters worldwide go on the offensive


By Joby Warrick and Rob Pegoraro
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, December 8, 2010; 2:09 PM

Over the past several days, the anti-secrecy Web site WikiLeaks has been hit with a series of blows that have seemed to threaten its survival. Its primary Web address was deactivated, its PayPal account was frozen and its Internet server gave it the boot.


The result: WikiLeaks is now stronger than ever, at least as measured by its ability to publish online.

Blocked from using one Internet host, WikiLeaks simply jumped to another. Meanwhile, the number of "mirror" Web sites - effectively clones of WikiLeaks' main contents pages - grew from a few dozen last week to 200 by Sunday. By early Wednesday, the number of such sites surpassed 1,000.

At the same time, WikiLeaks' supporters have apparently gone on the offensive, staging retaliatory attacks against Internet companies that have cut ties to the group, as well as other perceived enemies. On Wednesday, hackers briefly shut down access to the Web site for MasterCard, which announced it had stopped processing donations to the group.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/08/AR2010120804038.html