Why Assange and Wikileaks have won this round

[Karmadillo]

http://www.ianwelsh.net/why-assange-and-wikileaks-have-won-this-round/#comments

Why Assange and Wikileaks have won this round
2010 December 8
by Ian Welsh

The odd thing about Wikileaks is that their success has been assured, not by what they leaked, though there is some important information there, but by their enemies.

<edit>

The massive and indiscriminant overreaction by both government and powerful corporate actors has ensured this, and includes but is not nearly limited to:

*Shutting down Wikileaks servers, starting with the Amazon server
*Stopping domain name server propagation
*Paypal refusing to send payments
*VISA and Mastercard refusing to process payments
*The Swiss Bank PostFinance shutting down Assange’s account
*Senator Lieberman pressuring firms over Wikileaks
*The odd behavior of prosecutors in the Assange rape accusations/case
*Wikileaks and Assange have now been made in to cause celebres.

If corporations and governments can destroy someone’s access to the modern economy as they have Wikileaks, without even pretending due process of the law (Paypal, VISA, Mastercard, Amazon, etc… were not ordered by any court to cut Wikileaks) then we simply do not live in a free society of law, let alone a society of justice.

<edit>

It has proved that the West is run by authoritarian thugs with completely twisted priorities. Kill hundreds of thousands of people and engage in aggressive war? No big deal. Cause the greatest economic collapse of the post-war period sending millions into poverty? We couldn’t possibly prosecute the people who did that, but we will give them trillions! Reveal our petty secrets and lies, and that we know the war in Afghanistan is lost, have known for years and continue to kill both Afghanis and our own soldiers pointlessly? We WILL destroy you, no matter what we have to do.

more...

[msongs]

1. the world's biggest terrorist organization is banning discs and thumb drives lol nt

[laughingliberal]

2. K & R nt

[Occam Bandage]

3. Paypal, Visa, Mastercard, and Amazon do not need to engage in "due process of the law."

They are privately owned and operated, independent entities. They can choose to do business with whomever they like, under whatever conditions they like. That's part and parcel of that "free society" business.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

6. i think that was the point of the column

[bemildred]

7. So they are outlaws, or above the law, or something? nt

[Occam Bandage]

8. No. They are not part of the legal system. They are private entities. nt

[bemildred]

11. I'm pretty sure the "due process" applies to the goverment, not Amazon etc.

The business entities are on the hot seat for being spineless tools, which is certainly their right. They will pay for it, but not in the legal system.

Edit: Though they might well be sued. I doubt there is any special law yet that protects them from lawsuits for damages of one sort or another.

[The Doctor.]

13. Very true, but their actions strongly suggest their allegiance.

Their policies, like those of any competent business, allow for interpretation. They did not have to interpret Wikileaks actions as unlawful, as such actions are not clearly so.

Do note, however, that the prima facie illegality of ordering torture, and other numerous high crimes, did not prompt any bank or credit card company to freeze the accounts of Bush or anyone in his administration.

This is most certainly a PTB issue.

[bemildred]

4. Yeah, a lot of politicians who ought to know better beshitting themselves in public.

Best show I've seen in years.

[glitch]

9. !

:spray: you got me.

[Matariki]

5. I'm still worried about him being in custody.

[gateley]

10. I can't believe he hasn't even been charged and yet he's denied bail and has

our government (and others?) furiously trying to find a way to hang him.

I'm worried about him, too. The good thing is we'll know every move they make against him.

[girl gone mad]

12. Remember when the powers that be went after Napster and trashed Sean Parker?

That put a stop to all illegal music downloads.

I'm sure the attacks on WikiLeaks will be just as effective.

(:sarcasm:, of course)

[Karmadillo]

14. Kick

nt

[TexasObserver]

15. recommend

[malaise]

16. 100% correct

Hopefully the world's citizens finally see the truth

[NoPasaran]

17. 100% Delusional

[Unknown Liberal]

18. The Swiss have found someone they won't do business with

It is humorous that they would take Hitler's money and gold teeth from CC victims, but this guy is too evil for them to do business with.