WikiLeaks to sue Visa, Mastercard
Elena Vnorovscaia / Chişinău / Moldova.ORG / -- Whistle-blowing outfit WikiLeaks and DataCell, which handles credit card payment processing on its behalf, have announced they intend to sue Visa and Mastercard after the credit card merchants blocked donations to WikiLeaks last year.
Visa and Mastercard have not shown any willingness to negotiate a settlement, according to WikiLeaks, hence the decision to place the matter into the hands of its Scandinavian lawyers.
The whistleblowing site and Datacell, a service provider assisting WikiLeaks, are jointly suing the credit card giants over allegedly running an "unlawful, US influenced financial blockade".
The legal action makes good on a promise delivered in an ultimatum by lawyers acting for WikiLeaks last month threatening to sue in Denmark.
The company said in a statement, "The suspension of payments towards Wikileaks is a violation of the agreements with their customers.
"Visa users have explicitly expressed their will to send their donations to Wikileaks and Visa is not fulfilling this wish.
"Visa customers are contacting us in masses to confirm that they really [want to] donate and they are not happy about Visa rejecting them. It is obvious that Visa is under political pressure to close us down."
WikiLeaks said it would sue in the EU where it believes the credit card outfits' actions will be seen as “anti-competitive” in violation of EU competition laws. Papers are expected to be filed this week.
Credit card firms were at the front of denial of service attacks launched by Anonymous following the decision to suspend WikiLeaks account last year. It's unclear if this is part of the reason why Visa and Mastercard are reluctant to negotiate.
Comments