WikiLeaks has been so dependent on the business model built up during the commercialisation of the web — that all one needs to do is get people people to hit the “confirm payment” button — that the withdrawal of such became a political tool.
Visa
Rundle's ruminations: The humble credit card is now a political tool
Crikey Says: The slow financial strangulation of WikiLeaks
The slow financial strangulation of WikiLeaks by the major credit card institutions Mastercard, Visa and online payment giant PayPal, has certainly harmed the whistleblower organisation’s capacity to embarrass the world’s governments.
Funding illegal Israeli settlements?
Priceless.
Visa, Mastercard and PayPal have all blacklisted Wikileaks, but they enable donations to West Bank settlements that breach both international and in some cases Israeli law - and worse.
Faris: Boat people put Rudd to the test
This is Australia’s version of the US Green card lottery, writes Peter Faris.
16 months in Baxter detention centre: that’ll cost you $160,000
Former Baxter detainee Kasian Wililo has been invoiced for his time in detention: for $161,684.60, reports Sophie Black.
After 475 visa comes 485 – just don’t call it immigration
There are some 250,000 foreigners studying at Australian tertiary institutions and two-thirds of them don’t want to be. Don’t want to be foreign, that is, writes Michael Pascoe.
The Haneef fiasco: Case adjourned
In my opinion, at 3pm CDPP Damian Bugg will withdraw the charge and that will be the end of this fundamentally flawed prosecution, writes Peter Faris QC.
