I'm really not a fan of Internet mob justice. I don't see how this attack helps Wikileaks in any way. It's only going to make it harder to find anyone willing to do business with them.
MC thought that preventing money from going to some people who move information around was a smart business decision. Anonymous replied with, <<No, trying to prevent the free flow of information is a bad business decision.>>
They do this, presumably, with the idea that next time MC will think twice before doing their part in silencing the flow of information.
This is all irrelevant to WikiLeaks. They have nothing to do with this at all, except that their particular case provides Anon with a clear example to set for MC.
If they continue to choose to ban payments through their system to Wikileaks, I assume they'll continue losing money from DDoSs. shrug I don't have any idea what'll happen, but I think you have to accept that Anon has a point, even if you don't agree with them.
MC slows the flow of information. Anon slows the flow of cash to MC. If MC doesn't respond, it seems like they'll keep losing money.
If I worked for any sort of internet payment gateway, I'd certainly make sure to never take on Wikileaks as a client.
And I think the answer is no, although it's arguable. There is surely a point at which MC will try to do the "right" thing instead of the profitable thing, and it's easy to see how that point is between cutting off Wikileaks (which arguably is harming US national interests) and changing business strategy to appease hackers.
Given that its unclear to me that what Wikileaks even did is illegal (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/world/02legal.html?_r=1) I have little sympathy for MC. It just feels like they're a bully in this situation. It does suck for their customers though. Maybe more customers will drop MC due to their inefficiency? Who knows.
Notice that if there is no response at all from, let's call it "the internet crowd", then there will be no free speech on the internet. Any attempt to say anything which corporations aren't comfortable with (this includes anything that the governments aren't comfortable with) will be quickly silenced.
So, while I am not a fan of 4chan's DDOS attacks, I see them as a reaction — similar to crowds in the streets.