12.11.2010

Wikileaks - Today

Three related commentaries on our Corporate Media vs Wikileaks.

Gleen Greenwald takes on TIME

Jay Rosen - Links the NY Times Iraq War propaganda from 2002 to Wikileaks.

EmptyWheel comments on the Corporate Media's ability to be Judge, Jury and Executioner.

And a couple on the MASTERCARD - VISA attacks

The Guardian see the Anonymous attacks on our corporate overlords as ...the cyber equivalent of non-violent action or civil disobedience.

... The hacktivists of Anonymous may be accused of many things – such as immaturity or being run by a herd instinct. But theirs is the cyber equivalent of non-violent action or civil disobedience. It disrupts rather than damages. In challenging the credit card companies and the web hosts in this way, they are reminding these businesses that their brand reputation relies not only on how the state department sees them, but also on how they maintain their independence in the eyes of their users. ...

And sees it as damned important

... In times when big business and governments attempt to monitor and control everything, there is a need as never before for an internet that remains a free and universal form of communication. WikiLeaks chief crime has been to speak truth to power. What is at stake is nothing less than the freedom of the internet. All the rest is a sideshow distracting attention from the real battle that is being fought. We should all keep focus on the true target.

Political Irony has another take on Mastercard and Visa

The Real Enemy

I’ve got confirmed today that I am capable of supporting Al-Qaeda, Ku Klux Klan, buy weapons, drugs and all sorts of pornography with a VISA card. But that’s not being investigated. Instead I can not support a humanitarian organisation fighting for the freedom of speech.

This quote from the founder of Datacell, the Icelandic company that processes credit and debit card donations to WikiLeaks, points out the absolutely stunning hypocrisy of companies like Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, and Amazon.com who suddenly stopped doing business with WikiLeaks, while continuing to do business with other organizations that clearly violate their sacred terms of service.

Interestingly, after WikiLeaks’ website got kicked off of Amazon they moved to French hosting provider OVH. But when the French government demanded that OVH stop hosting WikiLeaks, instead of meekly complying, the company asked the courts what to do. The courts ruled that the French government has to actually, you know, prove that WikiLeaks broke the law before trying to intimidate private companies into dropping them.

I guess this means that Muslims can stop hating us because because of our freedoms!

I do have to mention that Twitter and Facebook have so far continued to keep WikiLeaks as members. And if you still want to donate money to WikiLeaks, at least one US company will process donations to them, saying “While people may or may not agree with WikiLeaks, we at XIPWIRE believe that anyone who wishes to support the organization through a donation should be able to do so. We’re fully aware that not everyone likes what Wikileaks is. But we are prepared to accept the consequences.”

The story, in the US at least, has become about Wikileaks, the Media, transparency, and corporate-government oppression rather than the leaks themselves.

tnb

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