No Comment — August 6, 2010, 6:16 pm

Financing WikiLeaks

Munich’s Süddeutsche Zeitung takes a look at what makes WikiLeaks tick and finds that it rests on the in-kind contributions of supporters, who tend to be young computer geeks who believe that freedom is threatened by the secrecy in which governments around the world operate, and a tiny handful of cash donations.

WikiLeaks aims to collect 460,000 Euros per annum. That would be enough for the five staffers and some of the approximately 900 volunteer helpers to recover some of their costs in the future. Up to this point, not even Assange receives a salary. He lives off his savings, has no permanent residence and frequently sleeps with friends during his perpetual travels…

At present, there are four ways to provide financial support to WikiLeaks. The most important are conventional bank transfers and the online payment system Paypal, which deposits directly to an account administered by Wau Holland Foundation. WikiLeaks staffers are able to recover their costs against this money by submitting invoices. “This account was opened in October 2009, today it has a balance of roughly 700,000 Euros,” says Fulda.


Nordic readers can hear me discuss the American government’s war against WikiLeaks on Swedish Public Radio (SverigesRadio) on Saturday afternoon’s “On the Media” program. We talk about the demands of Marc Thiessen and Republican Congressman Mike Rogers for dire criminal actions against the WikiLeaks leakers, including advocacy of possible criminal acts against them such as kidnapping and assault. Should European governments cooperate with the American intelligence community in its efforts to shut down WikiLeaks? Internet feed is here.

Share
Single Page

More from Scott Horton:

Context, No Comment August 28, 2015, 12:16 pm

Beltway Secrecy

In five easy lessons

From the April 2015 issue

Company Men

Torture, treachery, and the CIA

Six Questions October 18, 2014, 8:00 pm

The APA Grapples with Its Torture Demons: Six Questions for Nathaniel Raymond

Nathaniel Raymond on CIA interrogation techniques.

Get access to 165 years of
Harper’s for only $45.99

United States Canada

CATEGORIES

THE CURRENT ISSUE

November 2015

Lost Girls

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

Miracles and Wonders

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

Bombast Bursting in Air

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

The New China Syndrome

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

view Table Content

FEATURED ON HARPERS.ORG

Article
Miracles and Wonders·

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

“Unmistakable, yet greatly varied, the visible breast can be shaped like a pear, melon, apricot, or orange — for some reason, produce is a common metaphor — but also like a cone, sausage, softball, plate, ham, or loaf of bread.”
Illustration by Katherine Streeter
Article
Lost Girls·

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

“She no longer had a husband to serve; she didn’t live with male relatives who oversaw her life and gave it a veneer of respectability. She didn’t have a pimp either. She was free, to some degree, of society’s expectations, because she had stepped outside that society’s conventional boundaries long ago.”
Artwork by Tiana Markova-Gold
Article
Williamsburg Bridge·

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

“Quick trip yesterday, so today I’m certain and determined, though not in any hurry. Why should I be? All the time in the world at my disposal. All mine the moment I let go.”
Photograph by Benjamin Lowy
Article
The New China Syndrome·

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

“The Chinese increasingly appear to aim at more direct forms of control over foreign companies. In China, there is no independent judiciary, no rule of law, no real property rights, and certainly no corporate ‘free speech’ rights.”
Illustration by John Ritter
Article
Trench Town Rock·

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

From A Brief History of Seven Killings, for which James was awarded the 2015 Man Booker Prize.
Photograph by Niklas Halle'n

Price from an Illinois company to turn the cremated ashes of a loved one into a 1.5-carat diamond:

$24,999

Shifting one’s eyes back and forth horizontally can enhance memory.

Fifteen women withdrew from the Miss Iraq beauty pageant after at least two contestants received death threats.

Subscribe to the Weekly Review newsletter. Don’t worry, we won’t sell your email address!

HARPER’S FINEST

Subways Are for Sleeping

By

“Shelby is waiting for something. He himself does not know what it is. When it comes he will either go back into the world from which he came, or sink out of sight in the morass of alcoholism or despair that has engulfed other vagrants.”

Subscribe Today