Wiki soldiers march onwards

Over the past several days WikiLeaks has been hit with a series of blows that have seemed to threaten its survival.

Over the past several days WikiLeaks has been hit with a series of blows that have seemed to threaten its survival. Its primary Web address was deactivated, its PayPal account was frozen, and its Internet server gave it the boot.

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The result: WikiLeaks is now stronger than ever, at least as measured by its ability to publish online.

Blocked from using one Internet host, WikiLeaks simply jumped to another. Meanwhile, the number of "mirror" Web sites - effectively clones of WikiLeaks' contents pages - grew from a few dozen last week to 200 by Sunday and by Wednesday, the number was 1,000.

At the same time,its supporters have gone on the offensive, attacking Internet companies that have cut ties to the group amid fears they could be associated with it.

WikiLeaks' seeming invulnerability is seen by experts as a demonstration of the power of new Web-based media to take on not only governments but also the traditional news media.

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