Quote:'Hacktivists' Launch PayPal Boycott
Groups take credit for 33,000 account closures in gesture of support for WikiLeaks

By Hadley Robinson on July 27, 2011 - 6:03 p.m. PDT
The FBI arrested 14 people in connection with a cyberattack on PayPal
In a memo calling WikiLeaks "a beacon of truth in these dark times," the so-called hacktivist groups Anonymous and Lulz Security launched a campaign Wednesday morning to boycott PayPal. The San Jose-based online payment company shuttered WikiLeaks' account in December after the organization published more than 250,000 confidential U.S. military and diplomatic documents.

"We encourage anyone using PayPal to immediately close their accounts and consider an alternative," the statement released Wednesday on Anonymous' news blog said. "The first step to being truly free is not putting one's trust into a company that freezes accounts when it feels like, or when it is pressured by the U.S. government."

The joint statement comes a week after the FBI arrested 14 alleged cyberattackers including at least two people from the Bay Area on charges of conspiracy and intent to harm a protected computer. According to the indictment, the suspects attempted to overwhelm PayPal's servers in retaliation for the company's decision to close WikiLeaks' account. They allegedly named their attack "Operation Avenge Assange" in support of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.


"We've found ourselves outraged at the FBI's willingness to arrest and threaten those who are involved in ethical, modern cyber operations," the statement from Anonymous and Lulz Security read. "Law enforcement continues to push its ridiculous rules upon us Anonymous suspects' may face a fine of up to $500,000 with the addition of 15 years' jail time, all for taking part in a historical activist movement."

The Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into WikiLeaks after the organization posted classified U.S. diplomatic cables and military documents on its website last November. Soon after, PayPal cut off WikiLeaks' account, citing a violation of its terms of service. Visa and MasterCard also severed ties, effectively preventing WikiLeaks from receiving donations it needs to operate.

Anonymous
Creative Commons/Anynonymoose
One of the logos used by the "hacktivist" group Anonymous
PayPal has said it was not contacted by any government organization before it closed WikiLeaks' account. On its blog last December, the company wrote, "[O]ur 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."

WikiLeaks' and Anonymous' Twitter feeds claimed that more than 33,000 PayPal accounts were closed Wednesday.

However, a PayPal spokesperson told The Bay Citizen in an email Wednesday, "We haven't seen any changes to our normal operations (including account opening and closing)."

Hundreds of Twitter users boasted about their breakup with PayPal, some sharing screenshots of messages they had written to the company.

Citing "unwise business practices," one user wrote to PayPal: "Between cutting WikiLeaks.org off (a personal annoyance) and suing innocent people within an inch of their lives with the government as your accomplice, I don't want to have anything to do with you. You guys are just big bullies."

Anonymous, which has claimed repsonsibility for cyberattacks on such companies as Sony and Monsanto as well as the Church of Scientology, is taking credit for a dip in the stock price of eBay PayPal's parent company Wednesday. On a day when the overall markets were down, eBay's shares dropped 3 percent, on par with other companies in its sector.

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/12ViP)