PayPal suspends donations to WikiLeaks

Beijing, Dec 5: Wikileaks faces further curbs from all quarters and the recent one comes from PayPal, the online payments service.

The US based service has blocked donations to WikiLeaks and to a German foundation that helps raise funds for the controversial outfit. Wikileaks has gathered a lot of followers and media-attention when it released around 250,000 confidential US government cables.

Wikileaks is facing stiff opposition and were forced to move from one website to another following blocks from most countries. According to the Daily Mail, this is a pressure tactic move to close down the operations of the whistle blower website by the US based company, which is a subsidiary of EBay Inc.

A statement on thepaypalblog.com dated Friday said PayPal had permanently closed the donations account because terms of service had been breached, adding that PayPal did not allow its service to be used for 'illegal activities'.

Another web hosting company OVH who has been hosting Wikileaks since early Thursday after request from a client for a 'dedicated server with... protection against attacks', washed it hands of saying that it was up to the courts to decide on the legality of hosting the site on French soil.

He has also made back up plans as he faces arrest and even death-threats. The sensitive cable documents has already been forwarded to 100,000 people in a scenario of closure of the website. He also stated that the cables would be copied in encrypted form and automatically published online if "something happens to us".

ANI