Amazon Pulls WikiLeaks Plug Amid Outrage Over Leaked Documents

Amazon.com helped the United States plug a leak today when the Web host pulled the cyberplug on WikiLeaks amid increasing political pressure — including Sen. Joe Lieberman’s call for U.S. companies to boycott Amazon — to retaliate against WikiLeaks for repeatedly posting classified U.S. documents. WikiLeaks’ main site and an ancillary one devoted to diplomatic documents were unavailable from the United States and Europe, as Amazon servers spurned requests for data, according to the Guardian in London.

The main website and a sub-site devoted to the diplomatic documents were unavailable from the United States and Europe on Wednesday, as Amazon servers refused to acknowledge requests for data, the Guardian reported.

WikiLeaks stirred furor during the weekend with the publication of 250,000 sensitive documents that range from potentially embarrassing to life-threatening, critics contend. It was the third episode of WikiLeaks' exposing U.S. documents.

After Amazon disconnected WikiLeaks, Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said its “decision to cut off WikiLeaks now is the right decision and should set the standard for other companies WikiLeaks is using to distribute its illegally seized material."

"I call on any other company or organization that is hosting WikiLeaks to immediately terminate its relationship with them," said the Connecticut independent.

The Homeland Security Department confirmed Amazon's move.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reported, WikiLeaks tweeted in response: "WikiLeaks servers at Amazon ousted. Free speech the land of the free – fine our $ are now spent to employ people in Europe."