With the loss of its DNS, WikiLeaks has moved to Switzerland (source: @mpoppel).

This raises a few interesting issues, not the least of which is the contention between freedom and secrecy. But is the fight fixed? If the publication of content expresses freedom, and the suppression of content expresses secrecy, the media of publication become points of control. It seems to me that freedom is “winning” the current conflict only due to the plethora of media. As dams are erected, water will find new outlets, sometimes unexpected, until every channel is shut. Whether this is possible with the modern Internet is yet to be seen.

What is interesting is the fact that people are trying. There is a coordinated effort on the part of governments to stop the flow of this information. The success or failure of this effort has implications beyond the scope of WikiLeaks, and whether its actions are right or wrong, journalism or piracy. People in more open societies tend to think of the Internet as a public entity, the democratization of information. But this is true of content, not of transport. Can content be free if the mechanisms by which it is delivered are managed, however benevolently, by individuals or organizations that are largely unaccountable for their management? I expect the WikiLeaks debate will soon intersect that of net neutrality.