

Updated Statement about WikiLeaks from PayPal General Counsel, John Muller - steveklabnik
https://www.thepaypalblog.com/2010/12/updated-statement-about-wikileaks-from-paypal-general-counsel-john-muller/

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jcr
The site hosting the paypal blog seems to be under DDOS attack. I've reposted
it below so it's accessible.

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Updated Statement about WikiLeaks from PayPal General Counsel, John Muller

December 8, 2010

Media reports today regarding a statement made by our vice president of
platform, mobile and new ventures, Osama Bedier, at the LeWeb conference in
Paris, have created confusion about PayPal’s decision to permanently restrict
the account that was raising funds for WikiLeaks. We want to set the record
straight.

As a global payment service that moves billions of our customers’ funds across
borders and across jurisdictions, we are required to comply with laws around
the world. Compliance with these laws is something we take very seriously.
PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy states that we do not allow any organization to
use our service if it encourages, promotes, facilitates or instructs others to
engage in illegal activity. This policy is part of an agreement we’ve made
with our account holders and with the companies that allow us to process
global payments. It’s also an important part of our commitment to protect our
customers and to ensure our business can continue operating around the world.

In 2008 and 2009, PayPal reviewed and restricted the account associated with
WikiLeaks for reasons unrelated to our Acceptable Use Policy. As soon as
proper information was received from the account holder, the restrictions were
lifted.

The account was again reviewed last week after the U.S. Department of State
publicized a letter to WikiLeaks on November 27, stating that WikiLeaks may be
in possession of documents that were provided in violation of U.S. law. PayPal
was not contacted by any government organization in the U.S. or abroad. We
restricted the account based on our Acceptable Use Policy review. Ultimately,
our difficult decision was based on a belief that the WikiLeaks website was
encouraging sources to release classified material, which is likely a
violation of law by the source.

While the account will remain restricted, PayPal will release all remaining
funds in the account to the foundation that was raising funds for WikiLeaks.

We understand that PayPal’s decision has become part of a broader story
involving political, legal and free speech debates surrounding WikiLeaks’
activities. None of these concerns factored into our decision. Our only
consideration was whether or not the account associated with WikiLeaks
violated our Acceptable Use Policy and regulations required of us as a global
payment company. Our actions in this matter are consistent with any account
found to be in violation of our policies.

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kilian
This means I can finaly delete my paypal account.*

That's right. I couldn't delete my paypal account because I had unfinished
payments. To Wikileaks. Which paypal blocked. If anyone at paypal reads this:
this is absolutely preposterous, fix it.

* I haven't been able to, yet

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Xuzz
If you can't access that post, I TidyPub'd it here: <http://tidypub.org/lzYkh>

