Hackers take down Mastercard site after Wikileaks donations are banned

Hackers have launched a DDOS attack on the Mastercard.com website, following its announcement that card holders may no longer use their cards to donate to the besieged likiweaks.

The action follows an attack yesterday on the Swiss bank Switzerland Post Finance which announced that it had frozen the funds in Wikileaks spokesperson Julian Assange's Defence account.

Assange is currently in HMP Wandsworth, pending an extradition hearing to Sweden for alleged crimes of a sexual nature. His lawyer has been told that he will not be able to see Assange until a day before the hearing. Assange is wanted for questioning by the Swedish police, and no charges have been laid as yet.

One blogger noted[1] that: "The actions taken against Wikileaks should be a wake-up call to those of us who do value free expression. We need to support organizations, projects, and technologies that will make sure that the Internet remains open, and that information and knowledge are free. We need to recognize the “weak links” and move to strengthen the alternatives."

This story has been taken form UK Indymedia
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/12/470082.html

As of 10.50PM the Mastercard website - www.mastercard.com was still down. The story has yet to be picked up in the mainstream press.