<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<iframe src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets/hub.html"
style="position: absolute; top: -9999em; width: 10px; height:
10px;" name="twttrHubFrameSecure" tabindex="0"
allowtransparency="true" id="twttrHubFrameSecure" frameborder="0"
scrolling="no"></iframe><iframe
src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/hub.html"
style="position: absolute; top: -9999em; width: 10px; height:
10px;" name="twttrHubFrame" tabindex="0" allowtransparency="true"
id="twttrHubFrame" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
<div class=" fb_reset" id="fb-root">
<div style="position: absolute; top: -10000px; height: 0px; width:
0px;">
<div><iframe tabindex="-1"
src="http://static.ak.facebook.com/connect/xd_arbiter.php?version=17#channel=f3c58e29dad92d8&origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehindu.com&channel_path=%2Fnews%2Finternational%2Fwikileaks-initiative-to-beat-banking-blockade%2Farticle4210468.ece%3Fcss%3Dprint%26fb_xd_fragment%23xd_sig%3Df352ea7159d4fc6%26"
name="fb_xdm_frame_http" id="fb_xdm_frame_http"></iframe><iframe
tabindex="-1"
src="https://s-static.ak.facebook.com/connect/xd_arbiter.php?version=17#channel=f3c58e29dad92d8&origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehindu.com&channel_path=%2Fnews%2Finternational%2Fwikileaks-initiative-to-beat-banking-blockade%2Farticle4210468.ece%3Fcss%3Dprint%26fb_xd_fragment%23xd_sig%3Df352ea7159d4fc6%26"
name="fb_xdm_frame_https" id="fb_xdm_frame_https"></iframe></div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="container">
<div id="header-nav">
</div>
<div id="header">
<div id="headerlogo">
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/"><img
src="cid:part1.05090703.00090305@gmail.com" alt="Return to
frontpage"></a>
</div>
</div>
<div id="content">
<div id="left-column">
<div>
<span class="breadcr">
<h3 class="artbcrumb">
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/">News</a>
» <span><a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/">International</a></span>
</h3>
</span>
Published: December 17, 2012 23:06 IST |
Updated: December 17, 2012 23:20 IST </div>
<h1 class="detail-title">WikiLeaks initiative to beat banking
blockade</h1>
<span class="author">Hasan Suroor</span>
<div class="detail-info"> </div>
<div class="art-horizantal-colored">
<div id="hcenter">
<img src="cid:part5.03060009.09030806@gmail.com"
class="main-image" alt="This December 17, 2012 screen
grab shows the home page of the Freedom of the Press
Foundation site. " title="This December 17, 2012 screen
grab shows the home page of the Freedom of the Press
Foundation site. ">
</div>
</div>
<div class="photo-caption">
<span class="photo-source"></span>
This December 17, 2012 screen grab shows the home page of
the Freedom of the Press Foundation site. </div>
<div id="article-block">
<div class="article-text">
<div class="articleLead">
</div>
<p class="body"> WikiLeaks on Monday announced the launch
of a new platform called the Freedom of the Press
Foundation to beat the “the extra-judicial” banking
blockade against it, and to promote “aggressive,
public-interest journalism focused on exposing
mismanagement, corruption and law-breaking in
government”.</p>
<p class="body">It said the Foundation was an initiative
of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a
U.S.-based non-profit digital rights advocacy group, and
was backed, among others, by former Pentagon Papers
whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and actor John Cusack.</p>
<p class="body">“They will crowd-source fundraising and
support for organisations or individuals under attack
for publishing the truth,” it said.</p>
<p class="body">WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange vowed
to fight “this immoral blockade” which had led to 95 per
cent of the contributions to the organisation being
stopped. </p>
<p class="body">“We’ve fought this immoral blockade for
two long years. We smashed it in the courts. We smashed
it in the Treasury. We smashed it in France. We smashed
it in Germany. And now, with strong and generous friends
who still believe in First Amendment rights, we’re going
to smash it in the United States as well”, he said.</p>
<p class="body">In a statement, WikiLeaks said its
“running primary cash reserves” were down from more than
a million dollars in 2010 to under a thousand dollars,
as of December 2012, because of the blockade.</p>
<p class="body">“Only an aggressive attack against the
blockade will permit WikiLeaks to continue publishing
through 2013. The new initiative, combined with a recent
victory in Germany, means contributions to WikiLeaks now
have tax-deductible status throughout the United States
and Europe,” it said. </p>
<p class="body">Explaining how the system would work, it
said: “The Foundation’s first ‘bundle’ will crowd-source
funds for WikiLeaks, the National Security Archive, The
UpTake and MuckRock News. Donors will be able to use a
slider to set how much of their donation they wish each
organisation to receive and can donate to WikiLeaks
using their credit cards. The Foundation holds 501(c)
charitable status, so donations are tax-deductible in
the U.S. Other courageous press organisations will be
added as time goes by. It will not be possible to see by
banking records what portion of a donor’s contribution,
if any, goes to WikiLeaks.”</p>
<p class="body">John Perry Barlow, a board member of the
Foundation, said the initiative aimed to achieve more
than just crowd-sourced fundraising.</p>
<p class="body"> “We hope it makes a moral argument
against these sorts of actions. But it could also be the
basis of a legal challenge. We now have private
organisations with the ability to stifle free
expression. These companies have no bill of rights that
applies to their action — they only have terms of
service”, he said.</p>
<p class="body">WikiLeaks says the blockade by Visa,
MasterCard, PayPal, Western Union and a host of other
financial institutions is “unlawful” and part of a
“politically motivated” retaliation by American
authorities against it for publishing leaked secret
diplomatic cables. </p>
<p class="body">“In heavily redacted European Commission
documents recently released by WikiLeaks, MasterCard
Europe admitted that U.S. Senate Homeland Security
Chairman Joseph Lieberman and Congressman Peter T. King
were both directly involved in instigating the
blockade,” it said. </p>
<div id="articleKeywords">
<p>Keywords: <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/wikileaks-initiative-to-beat-banking-blockade/article4210468.ece?css=print#">WikiLeaks</a>, <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/wikileaks-initiative-to-beat-banking-blockade/article4210468.ece?css=print#">banking
blockade</a>, <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/wikileaks-initiative-to-beat-banking-blockade/article4210468.ece?css=print#">Freedom
of the Press Foundation</a>, <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/wikileaks-initiative-to-beat-banking-blockade/article4210468.ece?css=print#">Electronic
Frontier Foundation</a>, <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/wikileaks-initiative-to-beat-banking-blockade/article4210468.ece?css=print#">digital
rights advocacy group</a>, <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/wikileaks-initiative-to-beat-banking-blockade/article4210468.ece?css=print#">Pentagon
Papers</a>, <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/wikileaks-initiative-to-beat-banking-blockade/article4210468.ece?css=print#">Daniel
Ellsberg</a>, <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/wikileaks-initiative-to-beat-banking-blockade/article4210468.ece?css=print#">John
Cusack</a></p>
</div>
<div id="keywordline"> </div>
<div class="rel-block-news">
<h2> RELATED NEWS</h2>
<a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/wikileaks-fights-back-in-the-face-of-financial-blockade-and-armtwisting/article2567884.ece"
title="Updated: October 25, 2011 at 15:35 IST
Published: October 24, 2011 at 18:30 IST in OP-ED"
alt="Updated: October 25, 2011 at 15:35 IST Published:
October 24, 2011 at 18:30 IST in OP-ED">WikiLeaks
fights back in the face of financial blockade and
arm-twisting</a> <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/resources/statements-on-financial-blockade-of-wikileaks/article2567797.ece"
title="Updated: October 24, 2011 at 18:37 IST
Published: October 24, 2011 at 18:30 IST in RESOURCES"
alt="Updated: October 24, 2011 at 18:37 IST Published:
October 24, 2011 at 18:30 IST in RESOURCES">Statements
on financial blockade of WikiLeaks</a> <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/resources/major-exposes-by-wikileaks-200711/article2567878.ece"
title="Updated: October 24, 2011 at 18:47 IST
Published: October 24, 2011 at 18:30 IST in RESOURCES"
alt="Updated: October 24, 2011 at 18:47 IST Published:
October 24, 2011 at 18:30 IST in RESOURCES">Major
exposes by WikiLeaks (2007-11)</a> <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/resources/financial-blockade-chronology/article2567793.ece"
title="Updated: October 24, 2011 at 18:37 IST
Published: October 24, 2011 at 18:30 IST in RESOURCES"
alt="Updated: October 24, 2011 at 18:37 IST Published:
October 24, 2011 at 18:30 IST in RESOURCES">Financial
Blockade: Chronology</a> </div>
<div class="rel-block-sec">More In: <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/">International</a>
| <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/">News</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="com-tab">
<a class="cptab" href="javascript:void(0)" id="cl"
title="Comments">Comments</a>
<a class="cptab" href="javascript:void(0)" id="ep"
title="Recommended">Recommended</a>
<a class="cptab active" href="javascript:void(0)" id="pc"
title="Post a comment">Post a comment</a>
</div>
</div>
<div id="printfooter">
<p>
Printable version | Dec 18, 2012 1:55:10 PM |
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/wikileaks-initiative-to-beat-banking-blockade/article4210468.ece">http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/wikileaks-initiative-to-beat-banking-blockade/article4210468.ece</a></p>
<p class="copyright">
© The Hindu
</p>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<div id="th_footer">
<div class="fmenu">
<b>The Hindu:</b>
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/" title="Home">
Home</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/" title="News">
News</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/" title="Opinion">
Opinion</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/sport/" title="Sport">
Sport</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/business/" title="Business">
Business</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/arts/" title="Arts">
Arts</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/" title="Life
& Style">
Life & Style</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/" title="S & T">
S & T</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/education/" title="Education">
Education</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/health/" title="Health">
Health</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/homes-and-gardens/"
title="Homes & Gardens">
Homes & Gardens</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/shine-jobs/" title="Jobs">
Jobs</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/classifieds/"
title="Classifieds">
Classifieds</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/topics/" title="Topics">
Topics</a> |
<br>
<b>The Site:</b>
|
<a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/navigation/?type=static&page=aboutus"
title="About Us">About Us</a> |
<a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/navigation/?type=static&page=contact"
title="Contacts">Contacts</a> |
<a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/navigation/?type=static&page=archive"
title="Archives">Archives</a> |
<a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/navigation/?type=static&page=subs"
title="Subscriptions">Subscriptions</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/navigation/?type=rss"
title="RSS Feeds">RSS Feeds</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/navigation/?type=sitemap"
title="Site Map">Site Map</a> <br>
<b>Group Sites: </b>
<a href="http://thehindu.com/" title="The Hindu">The Hindu</a>
|
<a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/" title="Business
Line">Business Line</a> |
<a href="http://www.sportstaronnet.com/" title="Sportstar">Sportstar</a>
|
<a href="http://www.frontlineonnet.com/" title="Frontline">Frontline</a>
|
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/publications/"
title="Publications">Publications</a> |
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/ebooks/" title="eBooks">eBooks</a>
|
<a href="http://www.thehinduimages.com/" title="Images">Images</a>
|
</div>
<div class="ftrinfo">
<p>Disclaimer: <i>The Hindu</i> is not responsible for the
content of external internet sites.<br>
Republication or redissemination of the contents of this
screen are
expressly prohibited without the written consent of <i>The
Hindu.</i> <br>
Comments to: <a href="mailto:web.thehindu@thehindu.co.in">web.thehindu@thehindu.co.in</a>
Copyright© 2012, The Hindu
</p>
</div>
</div>
<img src="cid:part51.08020606.05070006@gmail.com" alt=""
height="1" width="1"> </div>
</body>
</html>