Why the DOD is Mishandling WikiLeaks...

As y'all are probably well aware, the WikiLeaks vs. Department of Defense saga continues to unfold...

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Defense Department demanded WikiLeaks return secret military reports from Afghanistan leaked to the website and purge all copies from their records, including tens of thousands of reports already publicly posted.

But here's why the DOD's attempt to censor WikiLeaks are futile... and will likely backfire:

The Streisand effect is a primarily online phenomenon in which an attempt to censoror remove a piece of information has the unintended consequence of causing the information to be publicized widely and to a greater extent than would have occurred if no censorship had been attempted. It is named after American entertainer Barbra Streisand, following a 2003 incident in which her attempts to suppress photographs of her residence inadvertently generated further publicity.

As early as 1993, John Gilmore observed that "the Net treats censorship as damage and routes around it."[1] Examples of such attempts include censoring a photograph, a number, a file, or a website (for example via a cease-and-desist letter). Instead of being suppressed, the information receives extensive publicity, often being widely mirroredacross the Internet or distributed on file-sharing networks.[2][3]

This phenomenon is the Internet equivalent of the earlier-known effect of a listing on the Index of Prohibited Books. The Index was discontinued in 1966, but in its time, it would act as a reading list for what were, or would become, best sellers,[4] and Papal condemnation was seen as a welcome endorsement.