WikiLeaks declares war on banking blockade

[pressrelease at wikileaks.org]

Dear Friend of WikiLeaks

Today sees the launch of the Freedom of the Press Foundation b a new
initiative inspired by the fight against the two-year-long
extra-judicial financial embargo imposed on WikiLeaks by U.S.
financial giants including Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and the Bank of
America.

The Freedom of the Press Foundation
(https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/about), an initiative of
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) co-founder John Perry Barlow,
former Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, the actor John
Cusack and others, will crowd-source fundraising and support for
organizations or individuals under attack for publishing the truth. It
aims to promote "aggressive, public-interest journalism focused on
exposing mismanagement, corruption and law-breaking in government".

Over the last two years the blockade has stopped 95 per cent of
contributions to WikiLeaks, running primary cash reserves down from
more than a million dollars in 2010 to under a thousand dollars, as of
December 2012. 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.

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' publisher, said: bWe'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.b

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 organization 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
organizations 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.

It is admitted by Visa, MasterCard and others that the blockade is
entirely as a result of WikiLeaks' publications. In fact, the U.S.
Treasury has cleared WikiLeaks and WikiLeaks has won against Visa in
court, but the blockade continues.

John Perry Barlow
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/20/hacktivists-battle-internet?INTCMP=SRCH),
a board member of the new Foundation, says the initiative aims to
achieve more than just crowd-sourced fundraising: "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 organizations with
the ability to stifle free expression. These companies have no bill of
rights that applies to their action b they only have terms of service."

The WikiLeaks banking blockade showed how devastating such
extra-judicial measures can be for not-for-profit investigative
journalism and free press organizations. Initiatives such as the
Freedom of the Press Foundation are vital to sustain a truly
independent free press.
In heavily redacted European Commission documents recently released by
WikiLeaks (http://wikileaks.org/European-Commission-enabling.html#pr),
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.

As journalist Glenn Greenwald
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/23/anonymous-trial-wikileaks-internet-freedom)
b also on the FPF board b recently wrote: "What possible political
value can the internet serve, or journalism generally, if the U.S.
government, outside the confines of law, is empowered b as it did here
b to cripple the operating abilities of any group which meaningfully
challenges its policies and exposes its wrongdoing?... That the U.S.
government largely succeeded in using extra-legal and extra-judicial
means to cripple an adverse journalistic outlet is a truly
consequential episode: nobody, regardless of one's views on WikiLeaks,
should want any government to have that power."

But what of the chance these U.S. companies will blockade the FPF like
they did WikiLeaks? "Let Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and all the rest
block the independent Freedom of the Press Foundation. Let them
demonstrate to the world once again who they really are," said Mr
Assange.



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