Both MasterCard and Visa imposed a blockade on Wikileaks on the same day - December 7th, 2010. Yet, as iTWire reported at the time, they were quite happy to accept to donations for an organisation that is a thinly disguised front for the Ku Klux Klan.
The Australian Greens welcomed the decision by the Reykjavik District Court, with Greens communications spokesperson, senator Scott Ludlam, saying: "The Icelandic court ruling against Valitor, the company that handles Visa and MasterCard payments in Iceland bodes well for the European Commission anti-trust complaint and investigation into the banking blockade of the publishing website...[And] credit card companies here have trampled the right of Australians to donate to a legal organisation engaged in legal activities...It's arguable that this constitutes cartel-like behaviour."
He called on the Australian Treasurer and the Reserve Bank "to prevent unnecessary court action here against this misuse of market power by acting now to reinstate the rights of Australians to donate to whom they please."
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Ludlum said: "As a MasterCard holder I have questioned the legal basis upon which the company has taken this action given that Wikileaks has not been charged with any crime in any jurisdiction, yet still I am prevented from donating and my correspondence goes unanswered."
