Amazon booted WikiLeaks due to copyright ownership violation

Amazon Web Services just issued a statement refuting the notion that it had discontinued service to WikiLeaks because of a government inquiry or a massive DDOS attack. The company asserts it was neither, but rather WikiLeaks' own failure to comply with Amazon's terms of service agreement. That is to say, they found out that WikiLeaks was doing what WikiLeaks always said it was doing — sharing other people's secret info.

There have been reports that a government inquiry prompted us not to serve WikiLeaks any longer. That is inaccurate.

There have also been reports that it was prompted by massive DDOS attacks. That too is inaccurate. There were indeed large-scale DDOSattacks, but they were successfully defended against.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) rents computer infrastructure on a self-service basis. AWS does not pre-screen its customers, but it does have terms of service that must be followed. WikiLeaks was not following them. There were several parts they were violating. For example, our terms of service state that “you represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content… that use of the content you supply does not violate this policy and will not cause injury to any person or entity.” It’s clear that WikiLeaks doesn’t own or otherwise control all the rights to this classified content.