The New York Times is considering developing a system that will let anonymous leakers easily submit large and confidential files directly to the newspaper. Sound familiar?

While nothing is concrete yet, NYT executive Editor Bill Keller says that it could be similar to Al Jazeera‘s Transparency Unit, a system launched earlier this year that encrypts file submissions from anonymous leakers.

“A small group from computer-assisted reporting and interactive news, with advice from the investigative unit and the legal department, has been discussing options for creating a kind of EZ Pass lane for leakers,” Keller told Yahoo’s The Cutline.

The potential confidential leaking system is a direct response to the rise of WikiLeaks. The New York Times has worked with the secretive organization and its eccentric founder, Julian Assange. While it has been a strong partner for the Afghan Diaries, the Iraq War documents and the diplomatic cables leaks, we’re sure that NYT would rather have the exclusive on these leaks.

Not only that, but creating its own system would put the combative Julian Assange out of the equation. As The Cutline rightly points out, news organizations have had difficulties working with him. Assange attacked both NYT and The Guardian for their coverage of Assange’s personal life, even threatening to sue the latter after it leaked details about his sexual assault case.

Is this the start of a trend? Will other news organizations start their own mini-WikiLeaks websites? Will leakers still choose WikiLeaks when they could send their information to established news organizations like The New York Times? We’re going to find out soon.