Civil Liberties, Anyone?

[Matilda]

I would love to hear from anyone with legal knowledge as to whether the withdrawal of services to Wikileaks from Amazon, PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, banks or any other organisation, is legal?

Wikileaks itself, and Julian Assange as its founder, have not even been formally charged with a crime, let alone found guilty. One would think therefore, that those who wish to donate to the organisation, or to Assange's legal defence fund, should be free to do so, as long as no formal judgment has been handed down against them.

How can a company like PayPal or a credit card company decide who can donate what to whom? On this basis, if the head of one of these organisations didn't like a particular church, he could forbid transfers to them. Or a group involved with women's rights, or animal rights, or anything else you care to name.

And what is happening to the funds that have been deposited in good faith? I donated through Visa card to datacell in Switzerland on Monday, and at this time, I have no idea whether the money was transferred or whether it's being held by the bank or by Visa, nor whether it will be returned if the payment wasn't put through. We all have a right to know what has been done with those funds.

And if those organisations who withdrew their services did so because of threats from the government or the shadowy people who do the dirty work, they should, as a matter of principle, tell us who threatened them and how. Call their bluff; make them answerable to us, the people.

[originalpckelly]

1. When the laws of the nation have been formed in the image of tyranny...

anything the rulers of that nation want will be legal.

And if anyone dare not call it tyranny, in their very own language they surrender on the spot to the tyranny that befalls us all. Let us not buy into this anymore!

[sharesunited]

2. All of those intermediaries have terms of service which pretty much give them absolute discretion.

You can always put legal tender cash currency in the hands of the recipient.

[Avalux]

3. The words "civil liberties" have no meaning to Corporations.

They are above the law and hold all the cards.

[madmax]

4. They damn will hold all the cards because I will

be sending back MC, Amazon and PayPal in pieces to their corporate office. Fuck'em. How I spend my money is my business not theirs. Who will they deem illegal next, Planned Parenthood?

I never carried a balance so they won't miss me or any interest monies. Bill comes in payment goes out.

[EFerrari]

5. Yes'm.

:kick: