Wikileaks suspends operations
p2pnet news view | Freedom:- Wikileaks is shutting down its whistleblowing activities.
But only until January 6.
That’s because it’s joined the growing band of sites which are looking to users for help.
“Wikileaks has probably produced more scoops in its short life than the Washington Post has in the past 30 years,” it states.
“To concentrate on raising the funds necessary to keep us alive into 2010, we have very reluctantly suspended all other operations, until Jan 6,” it says, going on >>>
The Sunshine Press (WikiLeaks) is an non-profit organization funded by human rights campaigners, investigative journalists, technologists and the general public. Through your support we have exposed significant injustice around the world—successfully fighting off over 100 legal attacks in the process. Although our work produces reforms daily and is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the 2008 Economist Freedom of Expression Award as well as the 2009 Amnesty International New Media Award, these accolades do not pay the bills. Nor can we accept government or corporate funding and maintain our absolute integrity. It is your strong support alone that preserves our continued independence and strength.
“Support us financially,” it asks.
“Support us technically.
“Support us legally.”
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Wikileaks – We protect the world—but will you protect us?, December 25, 2009
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December 26th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
It has nearly reached the point where everything important and integral to sane and good operations is requesting funds or donations.
The inference may be taken that, should times and financial dealings turn even more sour, all that remains that is well and good with the world shall depart from it, to be replaced with a sinister new format of existence that can lead only to further evil, misery, injustice and (yes) death.
It now remains to see whether lackluster charity can be successfully replaced with good intentions and a willingness to fight against the corrupt. History has already claimed otherwise.
December 26th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
@ Eric:
“It has nearly reached the point where everything important and integral to sane and good operations is requesting funds or donations …”
We’re at a crisis point in history. Now, it’s survival of the unfittest.
I asked for donations to help keep p2pnet online, but took the button down several weeks later after reaching a little under $500. I think p2pnet has a place online but at the end of the day, all my good intentions aside, it’s a personal site and as someone asked me, “Why should I donate to a personal site?”
Meanwhile, Wikileaks’ problems made me wonder about my own and a little while ago, my daughter Emma, 13, and my wife, Liz, had a family conference. Subject? If Wikileaks is in trouble, what chance does p2pnet stand? So shall I close p2pnet down or struggle on and pray?
Earlier this month I said I was going to keep going, but that was before an awful screw-up with my move to a new host meant I lost my ranking, which means my unique traffic has plummeted. I was hoping to get ads to keep p2pnet afloat, but advertisers look at unique hits and so the loss is very serious.
To keep going would’ve meant taking a loan. But I’ve already sunk a very great deal of money into p2pnet and now, with my ranking down the tubes, and with it, my hope of attracting ads, I dare not take on any further debt.
Bottom line, although I sympathise with Wikileaks, at least, what they offer is tangible and I’m quite sure they’ll make it.
For myself, I’m going to try to tread water, but this’ll mean far fewer posts, and probably periods where there’ll be none at all. I’m told the ranking will rebuild, but it could take quite a while.
Meanwhile, I’ll pray for a miracle …
Cheers!
December 26th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Sorry to learn this. But shit happens.
December 26th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
We’ve already donated a good chunk of server capacity (in jurisdictions and hosting situations particularly well-suited to their mission – but also particularly expensive, and otherwise unavailable to them as a result) to Wikileaks, quietly and with no fanfare, and will gladly continue to increase our corporate support so long as they are in a position to accept it. I am not sure anyone else has stepped in to put entire servers and full bandwidth on the table for them – we worked hard to find a way to really impact their ability to do good work, rather than just a “feel good” donation. Still, it feels good to help.
Creating structures that allow customers to purchase real services, while also supporting additional projects and efforts that are usually considered “non-profit” is, to my mind, the only way forward. Folks are generous, but too many hands out asking for donations becomes overload and inevitably there will be some scammers that get in on the “free money via donations” bandwagon and sour the pot for everyone. Yes, I know of one example specifically of such a scam situation – our company provided hosting and bandwidth – plus hard dollar cash – to the tune of nearly $10,000 over several years. Little did I know, the selfless admin of the “non-profit community site” was also still accepting paypal donations quietly from the public (we were funding 100% of their operational costs and needs), and using that money to pay his rent, groceries, etc. without telling anyone. Indeed, he told the world those donations were desperately needed to “pay the site bills” instead of being honest that he needed to pay his own bills, also. We pulled our support when we found out, and most folks stopped donating. People like that cause such harm for the many, many honest folks seeking to do good work.
There’s no ironclad law of physics that says people doing genuinely good work need to starve and live as beggars. The way to effect long-term, sustainable, positive change is to connect real services and real revenue to socially essential projects like Wikileaks – then, nobody starves and the people fighting the “good fight” aren’t heading into battle with rusty rifles and no ammunition. We’ve been treated with disrespect and derision, as a for-profit company, by people who consider themselves “more pure” because they are begging for donations instead of providing service and that, frankly, makes no sense to me. Sometimes, I fear that people are unconsciously committed to a “noble failure” and the strange pleasure of losing but losing with honor – and for me, I’d rather WIN with honor, any day.
Losing has many lessons to teach, but it’s sure as hell not much fun. Unfortunately, it can also get to be a habit – a bad one, and hard to break.
Fausty
(company affiliation studiously un-mentioned, lest I pollute the discussion with any commercial references, etc.)
December 26th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
@ Fausty:
“company affiliation studiously un-mentioned, lest I pollute the discussion with any commercial references, etc.”
I knew you’d get it in the end.
All the best for the new year …
Cheers!
December 29th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
“Wikileaks has probably produced more scoops in its short life than the Washington Post has in the past 30 years”
Highly unlikely given the Post’s love for revealing classified information to our enemies. And definitely not even close to the New York Times, who has perfected the art of publishing classified national security information.