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CPBF condemns temporary shutdown for WikiLeaks
Source BBC news website
DATELINE: 2/2/10
WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website that allows people to publish uncensored information anonymously, has suspended operations owing to financial problems. Its running costs including staff payments are $600,000 (£377,000), but so far this year it has raised just $130,000 (£81,000). WikiLeaks has established a reputation for publishing information that traditional media cannot. The website claims to be non-profit and relies on donations.
A statement on its front page says it is funded by "human rights campaigners, investigative journalists, technologists and the general public". WikiLeaks does not accept money from governments or corporations.
A list of names and addresses of people said to belong to the British National Party (BNP) was posted on the site in October 2009.
WikiLeaks also published e-mail exchanges involving US politician Sarah Palin after her account was hacked. The site claims to have information about corrupt banks, the UN and the Iraq war that it is unable to publish while funds remain low. While it has won awards for its work from the Economist and Amnesty International, WikiLeaks has also fought more than 100 legal challenges.
"WikiLeaks has established a good name for itself and broken some good stories," Julian Petley, chair of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, told BBC News. "One of the reasons why WikiLeaks is so useful is that it's able to put original documents up - unfiltered by comment and editorial."
Investigative journalist Paul Lashmar said he had been "startled" by the effectiveness of WikiLeaks in publishing suppressed information.
However he thought that the funding issue would not be easily resolved.
"(Web) users aren't interested in how the people behind sites make their money," he said.
"The problem for the self-funding model is that sites like WikiLeaks will not find it easy to attract funding through advertising.
"At some point people who care about free speech will realise that free speech has to be funded, otherwise it's not free."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/8490867.stmPublished: 2010/02/01 11:28:21 GMT
© BBC MMX
Last modified: Tuesday, February 2, 2010
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Previous stories
Free Speech & Censorship
Panorama nurse can return to work
Secret filming nurse up for award
Whistleblower Nurse Appeal
Breen judgment a landmark victory for press freedom
An untold story?
Hundreds demonstrate their freedom to photograph
Olympic builders forced to sign gagging orders
Brown backs down in expenses row
Access to MPs' expenses move criticised
Triumph for journalists' rights as Sally Murrer wins her case
No Place for Censorship at Olympics
Journalists facing harassment in China says Greenslade
Chinese Authorities' Broken Promises
AGM condemns threats to Media Lens
CPBF condemns Tesco libel action
Unite demands reinstatement for Pizza man
Response to the Ministry of Justice proposal to extend FoI
Reporters Without Borders launch free expression day
Update on Mordechai Vanunu
'We must be able to show world as it is'
CPBF response to the cartoons
Derek Pasquill
Pasquill Trial collapses
Campaigners welcome FoI climbdown
UPDATE on Vanunu+free speech attacked in USA
Murdoch is "all business" - zero ethics
UPDATE on Vanunu+free speech attacked in USA
Murdoch takeover of WSJ 'is bad news'
Vanunu faces further prison sentence
Campaigners win official secrets case concession