German Foundation on Funding WikiLeaks: 'Donations Were Never as Strong as Now'

[marmar]

from Der Spiegel:



REUTERS
A pro-WikiLeaks demonstration in Madrid on Saturday: "Donations were never as strong as now."


Even though key payment channels have been blocked, donations for WikiLeaks keep flowing in. Hendrick Fulda is a board member of Germany's Wau Holland Foundation, one of the whistleblowing platform's main funding channels. He spoke to SPIEGEL about WikiLeaks' internal finances, PayPal's recent payment block and how support for the organization is booming.

SPIEGEL: PayPal, Mastercard and Visa have stopped cash flows to WikiLeaks. Has it put you out of action?

Hendrik Fulda: No, it just means that we have lost one option for collecting donations. Of course, the option of paying via PayPal was very popular because it is so easy. It was much less effort than giving us money via a bank transfer -- a few clicks of the mouse was all you needed. We had twice as many donations through PayPal as through normal banks, but of course the conventional way of transferring money still works. The rumor that our bank account has been blocked is false. Our foundation doesn't handle Visa and Mastercard payments.

SPIEGEL: The Ebay subsidiary PayPal justified halting donations by saying that WikiLeaks supports illegal activities.

Fulda: That is far-fetched and we took legal steps against it. PayPal reacted quickly and released the frozen donations. The criticism is that WikiLeaks is possibly encouraging people to break the law. PayPal is explicitly calling that an opinion, but continues to cite its business terms and conditions. Our account remains blocked for new donations. If PayPal doesn't want to work with us any more, it will always find a reason. We see this chapter as finished -- end of story.

SPIEGEL: In response, hackers have targeted the websites of Mastercard and Visa, temporarily putting them out of action. What do you think about such attacks?

Fulda: We have nothing to say on that subject. We do not encourage people to take such action, nor do we have anything to do with it. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,734318,00.html

[marmar]

1. Wiki-kick

:kick:

[WillyT]

2. Alzo Wiki-Kick !!! - K & R !!!

Sounds like the start of a Monty Pytyhon movie, no???

:evilgrin:

:rofl:

:hi:

[marmar]

3. Teehee.....Yup.

:P :hi:

[Luminous Animal]

4. Good. There are only two things I'm donating to for the forseeable future..

Wikileaks and the Bradley Manning Defense Fund.