14 DAY TRIAL // Julian Assange, the founder and some say iron-fisted ruler of WikiLeaks, is facing several legal threats and he has now signed a couple of book deals which, he says, will help him fund his and the site's defence if the case may be.
He revealed that he has signed a deal with the US publisher Alfred A Knopf, a unit of Random House, worth $800,000 for the rights to his autobiography. The British publisher Canongate will pay £325,000 ($502,000) for a similar deal.
Overall, he stands to make over £1.1 million, almost $1.7 million, from the book deals.
This money will go towards the legal costs of his defense and for the site itself if there will be formal charges against WikiLeaks.
WikiLeaks may be ushering a new wave of transparency for governments and corporations, or at least that's what it aims for, but much of the discussion in recent weeks has been less about the leaks themselves and more about the site and its founder Julian Assange.
The controversial leader is facing charges unrelated to the site or the leaks in Sweden but may yet be facing charges and a request for extradition from the US.
He claims to have spent £200,000 ($309,000) on his defense so far, money which came from direct donations or from the site's funding. Overall, the legal costs for him and WikiLeaks so far amount to £500,000 ($772,000) more than the sum needed to keep the site afloat on a yearly basis.
With several financial and payment companies not doing business with WikiLeaks anymore, funding has been at a premium at a time when it was needed the most, as WikiLeaks rose to global prominence.
At this point, the US government is tough to be looking for a way to charge WikiLeaks and its founder which may prove difficult as there are no proper legal basis for this, if the site is to be treated as a publisher.