It seems that this is the time of year when the nazi bastards running the VISA corporation do their think-tanking. Just this week we were given a "warning" from the "good" people at VISA (using CC-Bill as the messenger) that we were to strike certain language from our content or risk losing our VISA account.

Question 1: How far beyond the scope of their enterprise does this heavy handedness run? Visa is a conduit that acts to deliver money from point A to point B... when did that change to include dictating content?

Question 2: Does this not technically infringe on First Amendment rights? I did not know the Bill of Rights had been sold to the Visa Corporation and that they could enact censorship.

Question 3: What is necessary to begin a class-action suit against them for their heavy-handedness? As it stands, we cannot speak out on our websites about Visa's behavior if we are using any Visa product, we cannot even so much as mention their name, we cannot charge a surcharge to customers who elect to use their Visa card in order that we make back the annual fee (read: loss) Visa charges us, and now Visa feels it has the right to enact content control over our websites. As merchants, we are certainly in the class of injured party. So what can be done to begin a class action suit against a corporation that practices "going too far"?

I know Visa is an electivc service, and one can elect to not use them if one so desires. What I fear now is that Visa will set a precedent of censorship which will continue to escalate. At what point will they draw the line? No nudity? No foul language?

Despite my sole venture into a boycott against Visa a few years back (one that was not supported by this industry), I have begrudgingly put up with all the company's previous actions assuming that I had to do so in order to stay in business. But this censorship is the last straw. In addition to a class-action suit against Visa, I am seriously considering saying "fuck it" and dropping them completely. They have indeed gone too far by telling me ~ scratch that... THREATENING me over words they don't want me to use on my website.

Oh, and the word of the day: RAPE
Use it in a sentence: "It is apparent that when it comes to rape the VISA Corporation doesn't want any competition."

Any thoughts? Anyone agree?