Julian Assange is back in the news today because, after nearly two months of holding out in Ecuador's London embassy, he has been granted "political asylum" by the Ecuadorian government. The decision has set off a diplomatic stand-off, with the U.K. government threatening to revoke the embassy's diplomatic status, and Ecuador responding with anger. In this article, I argue that the cause of transparency is far, far bigger than the legal troubles of one brilliant, courageous but ultimately flawed individual. Unfortunately, he has turned into Wikileaks' single point of failure. Britain ought to let Assange to Ecuador, because there's little chance he can get a fair trial in either Sweden or the United States, but then let's be done with him. Those of us who want freedom of information to thrive should learn a key lesson from Assange's case. For information to flow freely, there can't be any single point of control. Read More

We're happy to announce techPresident's "Politics and the Internet" timeline, a living archive tracking how technology has started to change politics, government and civic life in the United States, worldwide and online, from 1968 to present. The timeline is an eclectic list of people, ideas and events that our editors have compiled according to our own sense of what has mattered most. It is a work-in-progress. If you would like to suggest an important development that we may have missed, or make a correction to the record, please use this form. Read More

The act of observing something can sometimes change the thing being observed. Case in point: my observation on Monday that we might be able to get useful clues as to the identity of Mitt Romney's vice president pick by watching for a surge of edits on their Wikipedia page. Not any more. Those pages have been protected from excessive editing by site administrators, apparently acting after comedian Stephen Colbert called on his viewers last night to help pick the VP by editing their favorite's page. Read More

A recent study finds an overwhelming majority of Americans do not want targeted political advertising, but industry insiders dismiss the results. They say that unlike broadcast or direct mail, their ads are delivered anonymously. They're missing another difference: With Internet advertising, the viewer can talk back. And they may be ignoring this at their peril. Read More

If past history is any guide, the tip-off to Mitt Romney's choice for his running mate may come from watching the Wikipedia pages of the likely contenders — and spotting a last-minute surge in edits. Read More

Today, Twitter announced the launch of the "Twitter Political Index" in partnership with the social data analysis firm Topsy and pollsters The Mellman Group and North Star Opinion Research, and the twittering class swooned. "Twitter Will Gauge Voter Sentiment in New Venture" was the headline at National Journal--never mind the fact that this is neither a measure of voters or of sentiment. Read More