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"WikiLeaks, which was down to about $120,000 in total reserves at the end of June because of a blockade program by Visa and MasterCard, is now accepting donations again.\nThe organization announced on Wednesday that it had found a loophole via the French credit card system, Carte Bleue. Carte Bleue is linked with Visa and MasterCard globally, but both are contractually barred from cutting off merchants within the Carte Bleue system, according to WikiLeaks. The French non-profit FDNN (Fund for the Defense of Net Neutrality or Fonds de D\u00E9fense de la Net Neutralit\u00E9) has set up a Carte Bleue fund for WikiLeaks. \nNow WikiLeaks is asking supporters to donate before MasterCard and Visa find a way to block payments again.\nThe plea comes as WikiLeaks is expected to run out of cash within a few months. The organization's goal is to raise \u20AC1 million (about $1.22 million) \"immediately.\" \nLast week, WikiLeaks won an important legal battle against Visa and MasterCard in Iceland \u2014 where the credit card companies' local partner was ordered by a judge to resume processing credit card donations made to the controversial secret-sharing site.\nThe Icelandic court ruled that Valitor, Visa and MasterCard's local partner, ran afoul of contract laws when it stopped processing donations to WikiLeaks, according to The Associated Press.\nVisa and MasterCard, along with other U.S.-based financial firms such as PayPal, blocked transactions headed for WikiLeaks in 2010 after the website published more than 250,000 American classified diplomatic cables. \nValitor must restore service to WikiLeaks within two weeks or face fines of about $6,000 every day. The company is planning to appeal the decision.\nMeanwhile, WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange requested political asylum from Ecuador after losing his appeal against extradition from the U.K. to Sweden last month. He's wanted by Swedish authorities to answer for accusations of sexual misconduct, but says he believes Sweden would send him to the United States to be tried for crimes related to WikiLeaks releases. \nThe United States has not publicly charged Assange with any crime.\n\n\nJulian Assange: His History and Story\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJulian Assange\n\nJulian Assange, 40, is an Australian-born political activist and journalist known for his controversial website WikiLeaks, which has published leaked documents that allege government and corporate misconduct. Assange fell into his career path after he was a hacker-activist in his early days. \nPhoto courtesy Wikimedia\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nExposing the Government\nFrom publishing material about extrajudicial killings in Kenya to toxic waste dumping in C\u00F4te d'Ivoire, Assange has long sought to bring controversial concepts to the forefront. On 28 November 2010, WikiLeaks and its five international print media partners (Der Spiegel, The New York Times, Le Monde, The Guardian and El Pa\u00EDs) began publishing U.S. diplomatic cables.\n\nImage: Flickr, Chris Wieland\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBeyond WikiLeaks\nIn addition to controversy surrounding the published documents in 2010, Assange's personal life became the center of a media uproar when he was arrested and taken into custody amid sex crime allegations. He remains a subject of a grand jury investigation in the U.S. and awaits the ruling of Britain\u2019s Supreme Court regarding the possibility of extradition to Sweden.\n\nImage: iStockphoto,  Fenito\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFree Julian Assange Protests\nThe self-described \u201Cprotector of victims\u201D continues to fight extradition to Sweden before Britain\u2019s Supreme Court. The appeal is Assange\u2019s latest move to avoid being sent to Sweden to answer allegations of sexual crimes.\n\nImage: Takver\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe World Tomorrow\nAlthough Assange is under house arrest, he has hardly stayed out of the public eye. He recently completed filming episodes for his upcoming reality TV show \"The World Tomorrow,\" which will air on Tuesday, April 17 on the Russia Today (RT) network. It was filmed over the past two months at his temporary home in England. The focus is a series of conversations with \"some of the most interesting and controversial people alive in the world today.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn the Public\nCourt appearances and his new series aren't the only times the public has seen Assange recently. He played himself in the 500th episode of The Simpsons in February by recording his lines while under house arrest and was directed remotely. He also recently announced plans to run for a seat in the Australian Senate. \n\nImage: Flickr, acidpoly\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAssange, The Movie\nActor Anthony LaPaglia is expected play a detective tracking a young Assange in an upcoming film that focuses on his early days involved with Internet hacking. In the made-for-TV movie called Underground produced by Australian TV station Network Ten and set for global distribution through NBCUniversal, Assange will be played by film newcomer Alex Williams.\n\nImage: Flickr, andygee1\n\n\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/07/18/wikileaks-taking-donations/>