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You don't want to piss off the State Department. They can make things very difficult you in the future. At least, I suspect this might be the strategic thinking

by dtf 16y ago

You don't want to piss off the State Department. They can make things very difficult you in the future. At least, I suspect this might be the strategic thinking of PayPal, Amazon, EveryDNS, MasterCard, Visa, most national media organizations and any other business large enough to care.

Seth_Kriticos 16y ago
Nobody doubts that. Insisting on due process (wait for an official subpoena form a court) would be the legally and ethically correct thing, especially if you want to avoid bad reputation. But wikileaks is pissing off an incredible amount of people, and it's probably a bad idea to stand in the crossfire, so their reaction to try getting out of the story is understandable. IMO the argumentation of PayPal is pathetic. They did not even have the balls to admit that they just wanted to stay out of trouble and trying to shift the blame to someone else. On the other hand, from what I know they don't have much reputation left anyway, so it's a bit of a moot point.
- ryanwaggoner 16y ago
  Due process is a requirement that the government respect the rights due a person or organization under the law and isn't really relevant here, as the government isn't taking direct action and a private business has the right to not do business with anyone they want. Also, a subpoena is a written order to compel testimony or evidence. I think you mean a court order.
  - Dylan16807 16y ago
    The idea is that the government should be using due process instead of applying unofficial pressure, and better behavior for the businesses would be to insist on that.
paulshort 16y ago
"You don't want to piss off the State Department. They can make things very difficult you in the future." That is the real problem here. Even though the SD can't, or hasn't yet figured out how to charge Wikileaks with a criminal offense, they wield their power as a bullying tactic to get what they want. "Comply, or else ..." is an abuse of power and is exactly what wikileaks was set up to expose in the first place. Even if the SD does succeed in trouncing wikileaks into oblivion, that very act serves to expose how corrupt governments can be.
iuyhgthyujik 16y ago
Happens everywhere. We were told by one government customer that they weren't happy about the ethnicity/religion of our receptionist. Not telling us to fire them of course - just a 'friendly briefing' of their 'security concerns'

by dtf 16y ago

Seth_Kriticos 16y ago

Nobody doubts that. Insisting on due process (wait for an official subpoena form a court) would be the legally and ethically correct thing, especially if you want to avoid bad reputation. But wikileaks is pissing off an incredible amount of people, and it's probably a bad idea to stand in the crossfire, so their reaction to try getting out of the story is understandable. IMO the argumentation of PayPal is pathetic. They did not even have the balls to admit that they just wanted to stay out of trouble and trying to shift the blame to someone else. On the other hand, from what I know they don't have much reputation left anyway, so it's a bit of a moot point.

ryanwaggoner 16y ago
Due process is a requirement that the government respect the rights due a person or organization under the law and isn't really relevant here, as the government isn't taking direct action and a private business has the right to not do business with anyone they want. Also, a subpoena is a written order to compel testimony or evidence. I think you mean a court order.
- Dylan16807 16y ago
  The idea is that the government should be using due process instead of applying unofficial pressure, and better behavior for the businesses would be to insist on that.

paulshort 16y ago

"You don't want to piss off the State Department. They can make things very difficult you in the future." That is the real problem here. Even though the SD can't, or hasn't yet figured out how to charge Wikileaks with a criminal offense, they wield their power as a bullying tactic to get what they want. "Comply, or else ..." is an abuse of power and is exactly what wikileaks was set up to expose in the first place. Even if the SD does succeed in trouncing wikileaks into oblivion, that very act serves to expose how corrupt governments can be.

iuyhgthyujik 16y ago

Happens everywhere. We were told by one government customer that they weren't happy about the ethnicity/religion of our receptionist. Not telling us to fire them of course - just a 'friendly briefing' of their 'security concerns'