Julian Assange at SXSW: All Talk but Nothing to Say

AUSTIN, Texas — Embattled WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange made a rare onstage appearance at SXSWi on Sunday via Skype in a wide-ranging conversation about the NSA and WikiLeaks' role in the political discourse and online communications over the past decade.

The interview, conducted by Benjamin Palmer of the creative agency Barbarian Group, was marred by technology issues for those at SXSW as well as those trying to view the live stream online.

Assange answered questions from Palmer and curated from the hashtag #AskAssange on Twitter. It was less of a conversation than an opportunity for Assange to pontificate at length; the session was filled with talking points and sound bytes for which the WikiLeaks founder has become known Read more...