Banks And Wikileaks

From The New York Times.


...Visa, MasterCard and PayPal announced in the past few weeks that they would not process any transaction intended for WikiLeaks. Earlier this month, Bank of America decided to join the group, arguing that WikiLeaks may be doing things that are “inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments.”

The Federal Reserve, the banking regulator, allows this. Like other companies, banks can choose whom they do business with. Refusing to open an account for some undesirable entity is seen as reasonable risk management. The government even requires banks to keep an eye out for some shady businesses — like drug dealing and money laundering — and refuse to do business with those who engage in them.

But a bank’s ability to block payments to a legal entity raises a troubling prospect. A handful of big banks could potentially bar any organization they disliked from the payments system, essentially cutting them off from the world economy...

Bank of America says it won't process payments intended for WikiLeaks

From The Kansas City Star.

By RICK ROTHACKER
McClatchy Newspapers


Bank of America Corp. said Friday evening that it was joining other financial institutions in declining to process payments intended for WikiLeaks.

"Bank of America joins in the actions previously announced by MasterCard, PayPal, Visa Europe and others and will not process transactions of any type that we have reason to believe are intended for WikiLeaks," the bank said in a statement.

"This decision is based upon our reasonable belief that WikiLeaks may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments."

Assange still committed to publishing secret documents: mother

From Reuters.


"My convictions are unfaltering. I remain true to the ideals I have expressed. This circumstance shall not shake them," said Assange, according to his mother who supplied the network with a written statement of her son's answer.

"If anything this process has increased my determination that they are true and correct."

WikiLeaks has provoked fury in Washington with its publications of secret U.S. cables and has vowed to make public

the 250,000 embassy documents it had obtained.

Assange is under arrest in Britain over sexual assault charges in Sweden.

Assange was also critical of the major finance companies who suspended payments to his WikiLeaks site.

"We now know that Visa, Mastercard, Paypal and others are instruments of U.S. foreign policy. It's not something we knew before," he said.

Iceland's Datacell Joins Fight On The Side Of Wikileaks, Prepares Law Suit

From The Hindu


WikiLeaks' payment processor to sue card companies



WikiLeaks’ payment processor says it is preparing to sue credit card companies Visa and MasterCard over their refusal to process donations to the secret-spilling website.

The statement by Iceland’s DataCell comes as Internet payment company PayPal says it will return the funds frozen in WikiLeaks’ account to the foundation that was fundraising for it.

It isn’t yet clear where or when such a lawsuit would be heard. DataCell CEO Andreas Fink told The Associated Press that he would seek to have his case heard in a court in London, where Visa Europe Ltd. is based.

Fink said in an e-mail that “it is simply ridiculous to think WikiLeaks has done anything criminal.” Visa and MasterCard have not immediately returned e-mails seeking comment.

Pro-Wikileaks Vigilantes Down Visa.com

They are down. Keep kicking them.

From Wired.com

Visa and Mastercard might be competitors but they share at least two things in common – they both decided to cut off donations to Wikileaks through their services, and both of their websites have been knocked off the net in retaliation.

The group responsible is the self-named group Anonymous which has marshalled Wikileaks supporters into supporting a denial of service attack on the U.S.-based credit card companies. Visa.com stopped responding early in the afternoon Wednesday Pacific time, while Mastercard.com fell at least eight hours earlier and remains unresponsive.

Hackers Shut Down Mastercard In Revenge For Wikileaks

Welcome to MasterCard Worldwide....Not! Try it yourself.

These hackers are good, can we get them to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well? Force Rove and other neocons to go to jail? Turn off Obama's teleprompters? Put Lieberman on some terror list? So many wishes....mmm....what other good deeds can they do I wonder?


From The Guardian

MasterCard site partially frozen by hackers in WikiLeaks 'revenge'

'Operation: Payback' hacks into MasterCard site over payment network's decision to cease taking donations to WikiLeaks