Econintersect: In the fall of last year most credit card companies refused to process any more payments for Wikileaks or its payment provider, DataCell. The justification of the action was that the credit companies are forbidden by their charters from engaging in or facilitating any activity that is directly or indirectly illegal. Forbes has obtained a copy of a document prepared to file a complaint by DataCell to the European Commission that charges the actions by Visa, Mastercard and others violates the EU Treaty.From Forbes:
The complaint argues that the three payment firms have violated Articles 101 and 102 of the E.U. Treaty, which deal with competition among businesses and forbid the creation of anti-competitive cartels. Article 101 prevents firms from creating partnerships for the purposes of price fixing, and Article 102 forbids firms in a “dominant position” from abusing that position.
The entire document of complaint can be viewed following the link below.
