Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, a former WikiLeaks spokesman, said: “A small alpha phase test will begin in the next few weeks.”<\/p>\n
“A beta test phase will begin in the summer … and we are looking at a full release towards the end of the year,” he added.<\/p>\n
Unlike WikiLeaks, OpenLeaks will not publish leaked documents directly online but instead make leaks available to partner media and other organisations.<\/p>\n
“We are just a mechanism to accept documents from sources and these sources decide who they want to give it to … we are actually a very neutral mechanism,” said Domscheit-Berg.<\/p>\n
It would be a not-for-profit organisation with all the services free, he added.<\/p>\n
Media taking part in the project would have an OpenLeaks section on their websites where whistleblowers can submit information. OpenLeaks ensures the anonymity of the sources, Domscheit-Berg explained.<\/p>\n
“All we are doing is providing the conduit and protecting the anonymity of the source. That’s what we’re good at, we’re technology experts,” he told AFP.<\/p>\n
He added he wanted to work with similar whistleblowing organisations that have sprung up in the wake of WikiLeaks’ success.<\/p>\n
“We don’t see them as competitors but as something that can help these organisations to create more robust solutions, so we’d like to exchange knowledge and experience,” he said.<\/p>\n
Founded in 2006, WikiLeaks emerged into the media spotlight last year with major document leaks on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
It then unleashed a major diplomatic storm by releasing thousands of secret US embassy cables.<\/p>\n
Domscheit-Berg said he believed OpenLeaks would be at least as successful as WikiLeaks. “I think we’re going to be way more efficient,” he said.<\/p>\n
However, the aim is to be less high-profile, he added. Since OpenLeaks will not be publishing any documents of its own, “we are unlikely to come under the same scrutiny as WikiLeaks,” he said.<\/p>\n