In December 2010, Visa, MasterCard and PayPal abruptly cut off donation payments to WikiLeaks, crippling its source of funds. Today, however, some more of those donations may be returning due to a decision at Iceland’s Supreme Court. Last July, an Iceland court ordered Valitor — formerly Visa Iceland — to reinstate donations to WikiLeaks’ payment processor DataCell or face a 800,000 ISK (about $6,830) per day. Today, the Supreme Court of Iceland has upheld that decision, and that fine, following Valitor’s appeal.
Iceland Supreme Court upholds Wikileaks win, orders Visa to process donations or face fines again
is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
Be interesting to see whether Visa will spend $204k a month in fines rather than lifting the blockade generally. Either way, we win.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 24, 2013
“We thank the Icelandic people for showing that they will not be bullied by powerful Washington-backed financial services companies like Visa. And we send out a warning to the other companies involved in this blockade: you’re next,” wrote WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange in a press release.
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