if this is not trolling or sarcasm, you need to go investigate WHY said people have it so 'easy'.
hint: it's because their predecessors refused to accept the same type of crap they're objecting to now. (in some places violently, in others simply by going 'well, that didn't work' and trying a different path.)
further: why the hell are you using paypal anyway?
read their terms of service. they can do this to you Voluntarily, and be perfectly in line with the contract you sign.
they have done worse, in their own right, to other charity organisations for less righteous reasons.
so, this event has drawn your attention to it. and probably that of many others. now, the question is, do they find out who did it and why, or do they simply accept that wikileaks is bad and add this to the pile of reasons, missing the fact that operation: payback is a different entity?
see: agricultural revolution, Industrial revolution, many descriptions of New Zealand's change in government election system...
a revolution is simply a rapid paradigm shift in how a nation (or, i suppose, planet) functions. it is distinct from a revolt, rebellion, or coup, in that the outcome is not, in fact, simply a change in who, exactly, runs things.
of course, the likelihood of the outcome of this investigation simply being ignored is directly related to how much the various entertainment monopolists feel like spending on dinners...
because, you know, it couldn't possibly be 'a little from column a, a little from column b' or, more likely, being large, wealthy entities, the government acting under pressure from Them...
(mind you, i really have no idea. all it really requires is for them all to be a bunch of greedy, paranoid idiots. no further connection required.)
well, stalinism, anyway. the original form that was corrupted to become that does work if applied only on a small scale. Never any good for running empires though
representative democracy is just oligarchy where those on top found a better way to solve questions of who should be in charge at any one time than assasinating each other.
or, possibly, point out that techdirt managed to get to it first and with most relevance, which is sort of an achievement?
this is one of those interesting random facts people sometimes put up just because 'while we're on the subject, this was kinda interesting...' with no further motivation.
... the day websites start accepting standard debit cards, or even set themselves up to receive direct transferrers as part of their sales process, (not even sure if this is Possible unless the banks change their systems, but who knows?) is the day the credit card companies stop being important.
here, i can have visa or mastercard or American Express or some random bank specific ones no one outside the country has ever heard of. for credit cards.
last i checked, only visa (and Possibly mastercard) offered debit cards.
if you live somewhere out in the arse end of nowhere, globally speaking, you end up buying online. if you are like me and realise that credit cards are a Stupid idea on so many levels it's not funny (the american system is set up so you can't really avoid them, unfortunately, but NZ is a lot more focused on Debit cards, and tradesmen and such will still tend to take cash or cheques instead), then these debit cards that run through the credit system and thus can be used online are pretty important.
I'd drop my visa debit card in response to this in a heart beat... were it not for the fact that my only alternative for most of my purchases is using my mother's visa Credit card. (yes, i am aware of paypal. no, an entity who's contract is specifically worded to allow them to take your money and run without providing ANY service or good for it is NOT an acceptable option... especially when it's just as bad)
but yeah, if they worked online i'd drop the visa debit card with it's NZ$10 a year fee (seriously, from the customer's point of view, that is the only difference between it and a regular bank card... and the price of goods is identical whether you use card or cash) and just get a bank debit card (and we once again have a bank integrated with the post office (or at least sharing premises with it), owned by the government and run as a state owned enterprise... after having just that arrangement years ago and selling it off in favour of foreign owned banks, which were then found utterly unsatisfactory. that's the bank i use.)
so, currently my choice is to give visa my 10 bucks a year... or be basically unable to buy any of the books i'm interested in without paying seriously inflated prices for quite limited selection. admittedly this Is a luxury, but a fairly imporant one in my situation.
actually, when you compare this to the actions of chief censors in countries that actually have that post...
it's substantially worse.
(Actual Cheif Censors mostly have their hands full going through all the movies, games, and porn people want to import/sell on a large scale and making sure none of it violates the law, thus not having time for this sort of silliness except by direct order from higher ranking members of the system... who can usually be booted a lot more easily)
monarchies also have the advantage of having an easier time of unsticking themselves from the mire of bureaucratic inertia. well, when the monarch actually plays a role in Ruling, rather than just reigning. they're slightly more prone to going off the rails... and a Lot easier to sort out when they do.
stability an't a great thing when it means you can't correct errors, ya know?
... for given values of 'protectionist' anyway... ridiculous monopolies and corporations are one thing. economic policies designed to actually promote Actual growth within a country are entirely different (and have Nothing to do with forcing things on Other countries, of course)
actually, the one time i was going to pay for something using paypal, i actually read their ToS.
they're quite sneaky.
what it actually says is 'you give us money. we give you ownership of 'paypal dollars'. that is the product. transaction over'
there is Nothing in it stopping them from taking your money and running. the ONLY thing that stops them is that then Other people would hear about it and not give them money.
they've been known to freeze the accounts of religious organizations because the documentation the system produces for the sale includes the word 'jesus', which counts as proselytizing(i have no idea if that's the right spelling of the right word or not...) wonderful. too bad if it's simply the fact that the word was in the title of a book you sold someone and thus shows up on the receipt, or your organization has the word in the name... they freeze the account and are under no obligation to give you back ANYTHING.
you could sue them, but you DID sign the contract agreeing to those terms. it's quite ridiculous.
which is why i never did end up using paypal to buy things (well, except in instances where they were being used as a credit card processor... and even then i think the people using their service are silly)
On the post: Torrent-Finder Plans To Fight Domain Seizure
Re: Re:
On the post: Is Operation Payback A Crime... Or Just The Modern Equivalent Of A Sit In?
Re: Not a sit in ... maybe a serious crime
hint: it's because their predecessors refused to accept the same type of crap they're objecting to now. (in some places violently, in others simply by going 'well, that didn't work' and trying a different path.)
On the post: Is Operation Payback A Crime... Or Just The Modern Equivalent Of A Sit In?
Re: Ignorance Must Be Nice, Guys
read their terms of service. they can do this to you Voluntarily, and be perfectly in line with the contract you sign.
they have done worse, in their own right, to other charity organisations for less righteous reasons.
so, this event has drawn your attention to it. and probably that of many others. now, the question is, do they find out who did it and why, or do they simply accept that wikileaks is bad and add this to the pile of reasons, missing the fact that operation: payback is a different entity?
On the post: If Assange Were In China, US Politicians Would Be Cheering Him On
Re: Do as I say, not as I do
see: South America and the Caribbean.
On the post: FBI 'Thwarts' Another Of Its Own Bomb Plots
Re: Re: Re: Reeeally?
On the post: Operation Payback And Wikileaks Show The Battle Lines Are About Distributed & Open vs. Centralized & Closed
Re:
On the post: Operation Payback And Wikileaks Show The Battle Lines Are About Distributed & Open vs. Centralized & Closed
Re:
a revolution is simply a rapid paradigm shift in how a nation (or, i suppose, planet) functions. it is distinct from a revolt, rebellion, or coup, in that the outcome is not, in fact, simply a change in who, exactly, runs things.
On the post: UK Team Reviewing Copyright Law Will Include James Boyle
On the post: Want To Know Why Visa & Mastercard Cut Off Wikileaks? Because Its Latest Leak Was About Them...
Re:
(mind you, i really have no idea. all it really requires is for them all to be a bunch of greedy, paranoid idiots. no further connection required.)
On the post: Homeland Security Gets Walmart To Tell You To Inform On Your Neighbors
Re:
On the post: Homeland Security Gets Walmart To Tell You To Inform On Your Neighbors
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: State Department, Once Again, Asks Wikileaks To 'Return' Leaked Cables
Re: Re: at risk?
representative democracy is just oligarchy where those on top found a better way to solve questions of who should be in charge at any one time than assasinating each other.
On the post: So WikiLeaks Is Evil For Releasing Documents... But DynCorp Gets A Pass For Pimping Young Boys To Afghan Cops?
Re: Re:
this is one of those interesting random facts people sometimes put up just because 'while we're on the subject, this was kinda interesting...' with no further motivation.
'course, Harbinger could be right too.
On the post: Defense Department Blocking Any Website With Wikileaks In The Title?
Re: Re: So....
they'll flashy-thingy you.
On the post: Visa & MasterCard: KKK Is A-OK, But Wikileaks Is Wicked
here, i can have visa or mastercard or American Express or some random bank specific ones no one outside the country has ever heard of. for credit cards.
last i checked, only visa (and Possibly mastercard) offered debit cards.
if you live somewhere out in the arse end of nowhere, globally speaking, you end up buying online. if you are like me and realise that credit cards are a Stupid idea on so many levels it's not funny (the american system is set up so you can't really avoid them, unfortunately, but NZ is a lot more focused on Debit cards, and tradesmen and such will still tend to take cash or cheques instead), then these debit cards that run through the credit system and thus can be used online are pretty important.
I'd drop my visa debit card in response to this in a heart beat... were it not for the fact that my only alternative for most of my purchases is using my mother's visa Credit card. (yes, i am aware of paypal. no, an entity who's contract is specifically worded to allow them to take your money and run without providing ANY service or good for it is NOT an acceptable option... especially when it's just as bad)
but yeah, if they worked online i'd drop the visa debit card with it's NZ$10 a year fee (seriously, from the customer's point of view, that is the only difference between it and a regular bank card... and the price of goods is identical whether you use card or cash) and just get a bank debit card (and we once again have a bank integrated with the post office (or at least sharing premises with it), owned by the government and run as a state owned enterprise... after having just that arrangement years ago and selling it off in favour of foreign owned banks, which were then found utterly unsatisfactory. that's the bank i use.)
so, currently my choice is to give visa my 10 bucks a year... or be basically unable to buy any of the books i'm interested in without paying seriously inflated prices for quite limited selection. admittedly this Is a luxury, but a fairly imporant one in my situation.
On the post: Freedom Of Expression Is Priceless... For Everything Else, There's Mastercard
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Private business
yeeeeeah.
On the post: US Copyright Czar: Expect More Domain Censorship
it's substantially worse.
(Actual Cheif Censors mostly have their hands full going through all the movies, games, and porn people want to import/sell on a large scale and making sure none of it violates the law, thus not having time for this sort of silliness except by direct order from higher ranking members of the system... who can usually be booted a lot more easily)
On the post: Did Library Of Congress Lie? White House Says No Requirement To Block Wikileaks
Re: Re: No law just executive order
stability an't a great thing when it means you can't correct errors, ya know?
On the post: No Surprise: Wikileaks Leak Shows US Entertainment Industry Wrote Spain's New Copyright Law
Re: Re:
On the post: PayPal Latest To Cut Off Wikileaks
Re: Does paypal keep the money?
they're quite sneaky.
what it actually says is 'you give us money. we give you ownership of 'paypal dollars'. that is the product. transaction over'
there is Nothing in it stopping them from taking your money and running. the ONLY thing that stops them is that then Other people would hear about it and not give them money.
they've been known to freeze the accounts of religious organizations because the documentation the system produces for the sale includes the word 'jesus', which counts as proselytizing(i have no idea if that's the right spelling of the right word or not...) wonderful. too bad if it's simply the fact that the word was in the title of a book you sold someone and thus shows up on the receipt, or your organization has the word in the name... they freeze the account and are under no obligation to give you back ANYTHING.
you could sue them, but you DID sign the contract agreeing to those terms. it's quite ridiculous.
which is why i never did end up using paypal to buy things (well, except in instances where they were being used as a credit card processor... and even then i think the people using their service are silly)
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