Visa, MasterCard Win Suit Over WikiLeaks Block

Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. did not offend the antitrust laws by ordering their licensees to stop processing donations to companies associated with the WikiLeaks website, in the wake of its publication of highly classified State Department documents, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled July 30 (DataCell ehf v. Visa Inc., 2015 BL 245876, E.D. Va., 14-02086, 7/30/15).

DataCell ehf sued both companies under the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §1, after they halted donations to Sunshine Press, WikiLeaks’ operator, at the request of then-Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat, and Rep. ...