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MasterCard breaks ranks in WikiLeaks blockade
- il 13y agoNote this is likely due to a Supreme Court decision rather than any particular goodwill from MasterCard.
- reso 13y agoNo, Mastercard International has now stated that they are ending the blockade. In a letter from VALITOR´s lawyers, VALITOR relates how it sought the opinions of MasterCard International and VISA on the proposed July 1 cut-off. In its response MasterCard made clear to VALITOR that it no longer desires to blockade WikiLeaks. VISA has not responded.
- loceng 13y agoIt probably was only in the U.S. they were getting in shit from the government.
- rocky1138 13y agoThis is something VALITOR has said, yes? Have we heard directly from MasterCard? Why the reversal?
- lhnz 13y ago>> In a letter from VALITOR´s lawyers, VALITOR relates how it sought the opinions of MasterCard International and VISA on the proposed July 1 cut-off. In its response MasterCard made clear to VALITOR that it no longer desires to blockade WikiLeaks. VISA has not responded. There goes, I read the article for you.
- pvnick 13y agoAwesome! So happy to see some common sense being sporadically applied these days. Crossing my fingers that Mastercard stands up to the inevitable "cordial" phonecall from old Biden.
- Amadou 13y agoTwo steps forward. One step back: http://torrentfreak.com/mastercard-and-visa-start-banning-vpn-providers-130703/ http://torrentfreak.com/mastercard-and-visa-start-banning-vp...
- runarb 13y agoGood we have Bitcoin then. Unfortunately if this trends continue sellers of Bitcoin will soon be facing blocks to.
- unreal37 13y agoIt's already very difficult to buy Bitcoin with credit cards. I have no doubt that the credit card people are not happy about BTC trading exchanges.
- trotsky 13y agovpn providers see an enormous amount of fraud.
- justanother 13y agoYes, this. Card issuers do not enjoy doing business in sectors with high chargeback ratios. It probably isn't personal or political.
- zmmmmm 13y agoBut then this is partly a choice on their part. For example, I just received a new Visa PayWave card which lets me pay for anything under $100 just by waving my card over the terminal (no contact, no PIN, nothing). So they are removing just about every form of security from the transaction. The letter that comes with the card is full of assurances that I bear no liability for misuse of the card. So basically, the card providers are throwing security out the window because they want to increase the rate of legitimate transactions and then wholesale black banning whole segments of the market that have slightly higher risk to counterbalance the increased risk. If they were willing to apply slightly higher security measures they could easily mitigate the risk, but they don't want to because it would decrease the rate of legitimate transactions.
- jdmitch 13y agoIf VALITOR processes both Visa and Mastercard aren't they both breaking ranks? Sure, MC has "made clear to VALITOR that it no longer desires to blockade WikiLeaks" but Visa's no response means the same thing. Assuming that the NSA is now going to be tracking everyone that donates to WikiLeaks through VALITOR, at least Visa is not commenting on the situation, rather than sending mixed messages.
- tedivm 13y agoConsidering the wikileaks donation page is taking Visa now I'd say you're right- https://shop.wikileaks.org/donate https://shop.wikileaks.org/donate
- latj 13y agoWe need an alternative currency to credit cards that is easy to transfer to other people and anonymous. We need....cash.
- EthanHeilman 13y agobitcoin, litecoin, freicoin,
- stfu 13y agoBut don't you know that these are only used by criminals and terrorists for money laundering...
- EthanHeilman 13y agoI realize sarcasm, but I wish to note the following facts about the world: * All currency and barter systems ever successfully deployed have been used by criminals, terrorists for money laundering. The use of these systems by such people is merely a sign of widespread adoption and ease-of-use. * In the modern world every human is a criminal because the laws contradict each other and almost all human actions involve the violation of laws.
- stfu 13y agoCompletely agree with you. But the money laundering argument seems to become the CP of financial services. If you somehow establish the notion that a) for "something" illegal, b) money laundering (&terrorists), and c) tax evasion, you pretty much can rally up any political spectrum against it.
- alan_cx 13y agoNever forget to include in that list "pedophiles". Some sarcasm there, but, on reflection, not really. Which is sad.
- DamnYuppie 13y agoCash is good, would be even better if it wasn't regulated by the Fed. We need a currency whose value is not determined behind closed doors. Cash is fine as long as it is backed by something tangible.
- minifigure 13y agoMastercard is a US company. They will store personal details of all people who donate to wikileaks. Isn't that the kind of info NSA would want to have?
- corford 13y agoWell at some point you've got to stand up and put your money where your mouth is. And if you're sympathetic to the Wikileaks cause, you're probably already on an NSA list anyway...
- geekam 13y agoI wonder if it is legal in the United States to visit Wikileaks website.
- hkon 13y agoThat was because the NSA was unable to track wikileaks sympathizers through PRISM. They just want the credit records.
- dudurocha 13y agoWhy not accept bitcoins? I think bitcoins was made exacly for cases like this, where individual freedom and state/private regulations clash. Does anyone knows why not they accept bitcoins? EDIT: Oh, good to know they accept bitcoins, thanks!
- veridies 13y agoThey do, in fact, seem to accept bitcoin: https://shop.wikileaks.org/donate#dbitcoin https://shop.wikileaks.org/donate#dbitcoin
- antocv 13y agoA very convenient way for "security services" of the world and especially USA to get a very fine list of sympathisers of wikileaks world over has been opened. Not that it will stop me!
- rbanffy 13y agoYou can always donate through a pre-paid card purchased with cash from a store you never buy anything from, with the transaction done with a throwaway tablet, also purchased with cash, through an open wifi network you never connected to.
- lettergram 13y agoI wonder if they are doing it to track who is donating
- marcamillion 13y agoYou know...I must say, although Assange has an aire about him that rubs me the wrong way sometimes, I must say I admire his conviction. This man has been holed up in an Ecuadorean embassy in London for the past 2 years, roughly and the USGov't has tried to stifle donations to Wikileaks and he has stuck through all of that. Now his stick-to-it-ive-ness is starting to pay off. Congrats to him for a) Having the conviction of his beliefs, and b) To stick with his conviction, despite the great personal costs. Hats off Assange. Hats off.
- alan_cx 13y agoI do hope people who support freedom, openness, and the rule of law now apply for Mastercard services to show them approval and support. It would be a very good way to demonstrate to MC that they have done the right thing, as well as a clear signal to those who stifle freedom and the rule of law.
- _mulder_ 13y agoI can think of many ways to show "support for freedom, openness and the rule of law". Signing up with a Multinational Credit Card company is certainly not one of them... What about just donating to Wikileaks, Pirate party, or spending your money doing things made only possible because of "freedom, openess, and the rule of law". Like filing that FOI request you've always wanted.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]