After BofA Escalates, Refuses To Process Wikileaks' Payments, Wiki Retaliates, Advises Americans To

[IScreamSundays]

Source: Zero Hedge

After BofA Escalates, Refuses To Process Wikileaks' Payments, Wiki Retaliates, Advises Americans To Put Their Money "Somewhere Safer"

Bank of America just fired the preemptive escalation shot in its duel with Wikileaks. Late on Friday, America's biggest mortgage lender, and the firm that is now getting sued left and right for various mortgage transgressions, announced it is joining MasterCard, Paypal and Visa in ceasing transactions for Wikileaks. While this decision will certainly not improve Operation Anonymous' empathy toward the North Carolina bank, it may just precipitate overt retaliation by Assange, who is now rumored to be in possession of data that could provie harmful to BAC. Which is why this sudden escalation out of left field by the bank strikes as surprisingly odd: BofA's upside is very limited while its downside could be 100% - even if Wikileaks is bluffing, why provoke them. And as expected, Wikileaks has already retaliated: in two sequential tweets it advised its 568,117 (and very rapidly growing) subscribers to pull their money out of Bank of America, and also to close all their accounts with the firm, urging them to put their money "somewhere safer." What is curious is to see whether this sudden escalation, in what has now become synonymous with a quest for preserving the first amendment for a substantial deal of people (and freedom of speech globally), will have a far broader impact than the comparable "Pull Your Money" out of the Big Banks venture that was attempted by Huffington Post over a year ago, with unsatisfactory results. If people suddenly personify Bank of America with a First Amendment threat, arguably the one freedom most cherished in America, which is precisely what Assange is trying to do, all bets for the Countrywide acquirer may soon be off.

snip>

wikileaks
Does your business do business with Bank of America? Our advise is to place your funds somewhere safer.
about 13 hours ago via web

We ask that all people who love freedom close out their accounts at Bank of America.
about 13 hours ago via web

http://twitter.com/wikileaks

Read more: http://www.zerohedge.com/article/after-bofa-escalates-refuses-process-wikileaks-payments-wiki-realiates-advises-americans-put

[Dreamer Tatum]

1. Sorry, but if Wikileaks has dirt on BAC, and they're ALL ABOUT social justice

then they'd have posted the material already.

They don't have SHIT on BAC.

[EFerrari]

4. The material is due to come out in January.

They have their hands full at the moment with the other 98% of cablegate.

[killbotfactory]

5. Some of the people who feed them info ask them to not publish it before a certain date

So they won't be put in danger.

[sabrina 1]

11. It's scheduled to come out in January.

They had made an agreement with the five major news organizations who are analyzing and publishing the material how it would be published since there is so much of it. The Bank information was always scheduled for January, the reason, many think, the U.S. has been going after Wikileaks so frantically.

Many people guessed it was the Bank of America that Assange was referring to. Sounds like they may have been right.

[DCKit]

2. The could have asked people who are paying mortgages to BoA to ask for their notes. nt

[Donnachaidh]

3. Assange stated earlier that he would release the banking data in January

Wonder if BofA's bullshit maneuver will give him a reason to release it earlier?

Come on WikiLeaks -- show us the *money*!

[matt819]

6. Even if WL doesn't have anti BoA info

That doesn't make BoA's decision any less vile. This is an organization that has not been accused of any crime. Looking at it this way, BoA, MC, PP, Visa, etc., could refuse to handle payments for any organization they don't like or approve of in any way. Of course, you do have to chuckle when these organizations have no problem accepting payments for companies involved in pornography, for example. What if, regardless of the cost, they decided they didn't like a particular candidate and chose not to process donations made to that candidate. Or a non-profit that had a position they didn't approve of. Sure, they're a private company and can do anything they want, but I think you see the point. Where can this end? Further polarization, further hate. This is a very slippery slope.

[The Doctor.]

7. Bye-Bye BofA.

I'm out as of next week.

[dickthegrouch]

8. I just refinanced away from BofA

They lost a 6.5% 23 year mortgage to a 3.75% 15 year one that ends up saving me nearly $100,000 in interest. Their counter offer was for 4.75%
It feels good to be out of their clutches.

[Statistical]

9. I refinanced away from BofA....

my new loan got sold to countrywide and then BofA bought countrywide. :(

I simply can't escape. Closed checking accounts & credit cards and moved to USAA but sadly I have no right on where my mortgage ends up.

[RegieRocker]

10. You mean Bank of China?

[jwirr]

12. Was it Wiki that retaliated or anonymous? This sounds more like

anonymous. However, now is the time to release the data that Wiki says they have on BofA.

[Turborama]

13. Link to the tweet itself....

http://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/15982876201844736#