Insanity: PayPal Freezes Mailpile's Account, Demands Excessive Info To Get Access

from the why-we-need-paypal-alternatives dept

Thu, Sep 5th 2013 9:33am — Mike Masnick

See update at the bottom

A few weeks ago, we wrote about Mailpile, a new attempt to create a webmail client that is built with both security and usability in mind -- think Gmail/Outlook-type interface, but which you can control and with built in security. The project looks awesome and is greatly needed these days, as we learn more and more about government intrusions into hosted webmail accounts. Their IndieGoGo campaign has been a huge success, going past their $100,000 target, and is currently at around $137,000, which will allow the three person team to focus on it full time.

Except... as the team announced this morning, PayPal, for reasons known only to PayPal, has decided to freeze their funds and won't let Mailpile access the money that people donated:

Saturday August 31st I woke to two emails from PayPal. The first notified me they had cancelled the debit card associated with my sole proprietor business account, the second was informing me they placed a block on my account barring me from withdrawing or sending any money out of my PayPal account.

Assuming this would get sorted out after a little explaining/security check, the team has been trying to get PayPal to unfreeze the account, with no luck. PayPal is demanding an insane level of detail into Mailpile's personal finances and business:

Afer 4 phone calls, the last of which I spoke to a supervisor, the understanding I have come to is, unless Mailpile provides PayPal with a detailed budgetary breakdown of how we plan to use the donations from our crowd funding campaign they will not release the block on my account for 1 year until we have shipped a 1.0 version of our product. A final email communication from PayPal reaffirmed us of their stance by stating:
"Please provide an itemized budget and your development goal dates for your project"
This puts us in an incredibly uncomfortable position as we do not feel that it's remotely in their jurisdiction to ask for a detailed budget of our business, any more than it is within our right to ask for theirs.

Even worse, it seems that the folks at PayPal recognize that it holds power over Mailpile, and seems almost to be lording that power over them:

Communications with PayPal have implied that they would use any excuse available to them to delay delivering as much of our cash as possible for as long as possible. Asking us to give them justification for such behavior is obviously not in our best interests. PayPal's position particularly ridiculous when contrasted with IndieGoGo's policy of transferring all funds to successful campaigns within 15 days of their conclusion. If IndieGoGo can do it, so can PayPal.

This isn't all of the money raised -- it's about $45,000 of the $137,000, but it's still a huge pain. Mailpile has now had the Software Freedom Law Center look into their legal options for obtaining the money that people donated to the project.

Yes, PayPal has a long history of similar things, but that doesn't make it okay.

Update: And... of course, the inevitable backtrack. After all the publicity. From PayPal:

We have reached out to MailPile and the limitation has been lifted. Supporting crowd funding campaigns is an exciting new part of our business.We are working closely with industry-leaders like IndieGoGo and adapting our processes and policies to better serve the innovative companies that are relying on PayPal and crowd funding campaigns to grow their businesses. We never want to get in the way of innovation, but as a global payments company we must ensure the payments flowing through our system around the world are in compliance with laws and regulations. We understand that the way in which we are complying to these rules can be frustrating in some cases and we've made significant changes in North America to adapt to the unique needs of crowd funding campaigns. We are currently working to roll these improvements out around the world.

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Filed Under: email, frozen account, paypal, secure email
Companies: mailpile, paypal

75 Comments

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BentFranklin (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 9:13am

Paypal is only good for sending money. Anyone who receives money from Paypal is just asking for a buttfucking.
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- BentFranklin (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 9:32am
  
  Re:
  Er, I meant "receives money into a Paypal account".
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Arthur Moore (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:10am
    
    Re: Re:
    Don't be so sure of that. I've had paypal do very strange things to my account before. While I finally figured out what they were doing it wasn't a fun experience. I had to call my bank before I figured it all out.
    
    The best part was when the guy on the phone told me he didn't use paypal, had dealt with too many paypal horror stories, and offered to close my account and make a new one that paypal didn't know about for me.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:53am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Can you clarify this or give more detail? Do you mean that Paypal interfered with your bank account, and how did that work?
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Berenerd (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:58am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      I had paypal grant Ebay $50,000 preapproval without my approval They said that was standard for people who sell on Ebay. So now i don't use them or Ebay anymore.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - BentFranklin (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 4:45pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      I keep two bank accounts. One is just a holding account to upload to Paypal from, as well as other online payees.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
  
  Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2013 @ 6:34am
  
  Re:
  Retarded insiders like you are what makes this site what it is. Thanks!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Rock Sodem, 23 Jan 2014 @ 1:36pm
  
  Response to: BentFranklin on Sep 5th, 2013 @ 9:13am
  Best comment. Sums up pages and pages of comment.... And makes me chuckle
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Vidiot (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 9:38am

Invoke the TOS
I'd be drafting a response while holding a copy of the PayPal TOS in hand... can't imagine they wrote-in a paragraph that says, "You must agree to let us determine whether or not you're spending your money wisely."
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 9:41am

And people wonder why BTC is popular
This, my friends, is why Bitcoin has become a viable digital currency.

There's no "bank", no "regulations", no "gatekeepers" preventing money from exchanging hands.

I still find it somewhat ironic that organizations like Paypal punish their customers to this extent, publicly. As if they are just taunting people to see if they'll stop using the service.
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Travis, 5 Sep 2013 @ 9:44am

Powertrip much?
Wow... it looks like someone at PP is on a power trip. Maybe because their peepee is too small?
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- limbodog (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 11:26am
  
  Re: Powertrip much?
  Or perhaps someone in the government didn't like the idea of an NSA-resistant email service and pulled some strings to illegally thwart legal commerce.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Ben, 5 Sep 2013 @ 12:38pm
    
    Re: Re: Powertrip much?
    PayPal's being cowards! scared of "the man"!
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 1:04pm
    
    Re: Re: Powertrip much?
    I'm absolutely certain this is it. Ever since the Wikileaks debacle, we've seen time and time again that anytime the US government decides they don't like someone, PayPal will suddenly decide to freeze their account for some spurious reason.
    
    At this point, PayPal is de facto nationalized.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 1:18pm
    
    Re: Re: Powertrip much?
    It's an interesting idea. But it doesn't hold water.
    
    Here's why: what Mailpile is doing won't work. Source: close examination of their design by someone who's been running mail servers since before most of you were born.
    
    I know this. I'm sure the NSA et.al. know this. I'm not sure Mailpile knows it, or if they do, if they'll admit it. But there are fundamental design flaws in Mailpile: that is, things that aren't mere coding errors and thus can't be fixed by debugging code. They're baked-in.
    
    Yes, I've informed Mailpile. No response yet.
    
    Oh, incidentally: like I said, I know this, and I'm sure the NSA and friends know this. I'm also sure The Bad Guys know this and can't wait for Mailpile to go live so that they can exploit it.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Sideshow Billybob, 5 Sep 2013 @ 4:07pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Powertrip much?
      ...I'm sure the NSA and friends know this. I'm also sure The Bad Guys know this...
      
      You're from the Redundant Department of Redundancy, right?
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - ECA (profile), 6 Sep 2013 @ 3:02pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Powertrip much?
      AC.
      I know your point. And Agree mostly..
      There are Vulnerabilities IN hardware and software..Its even been reported here.
      There are Problems with making PASSWORDS that cant be cracked..
      There is a BIG ONE, on the Client side, and someone getting access to the person computer.
      
      IF'
      They made an HARDWARE EMAIL BOX(a $50 custom Linux, encrypted CLIENT..
      Then, USed some ODDBALL language...And Customized it abit..
      Then RUN HARDWARE programming to control Any Errors/backdoors to enter the system BEFORE logging into the Email..THEN the software signs into the Email(thats 2 passwords)
      THEN GIVE DEDICATED PASSWORDS of name and passwords, to the persons Client..The USER dont even know them..
      Then REQUIRE the USER to use a PASSWORD to even access the unit..AND IF its MISSED more then 3-5 times...ITS ERASED and the account is LOCKED.
      
      REAL PAIN system to use..
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Mark Harrill (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 9:45am

If a bank...
Imagine the outrage if a "traditional" bank did this? There would be hearings and investigations, but somehow PayPal gets a pass on this kind of behavior.
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- Todd Knarr (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:11am
  
  Re: If a bank...
  That's because PayPal isn't a bank and isn't regulated like one. And they've vehemently opposed any regulation. Myself, I isolate PayPal from my money. The bank account they're linked to is only used for them, and it only has enough money in it for whatever transfers or payments I have in progress at the moment. If I were receiving large numbers of transactions I'd go one step further and switch PayPal over to a dedicated account at a completely different bank, one I didn't use for any other purpose, and all received funds would be immediately swept into the bank account and then transferred over to my real bank (where there'd be an instruction on file denying PayPal authorization to access my accounts) leaving literally nothing for PayPal to tap into.
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  - John Fenderson (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 11:08am
    
    Re: Re: If a bank...
    Or, even better, don't use PayPal. They're scum.
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    - Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 11:28am
      
      Re: Re: Re: If a bank...
      Seconding this. They're pretty much the only company whose practices make payday lenders look like paragons of virtue.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - That One Guy (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 1:40pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: If a bank...
      What alternatives would you suggest?
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - John Fenderson (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 2:43pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: If a bank...
        It depends on exactly what you want to do. If you just want to be able to have people pay you with credit/debit cards, there are a ton of alternatives. More than I can list here. Search the web, or perhaps even better, have a chat with your local credit union.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        That One Guy (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 3:17pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: If a bank...
        Simple payments out, nothing in.
        
        I generally use them for purchases like music and ebooks(bandcamp and smashwords respectively), and while I haven't noticed any problems to date, if other people are having such trouble with them, I'd prefer to find alternatives if possible before I end up with my own 'paypal nightmare story'.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Sarah Black (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 4:23pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: If a bank...
        A list of online payment service providers:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_on-line_payment_service_providers
        
        And there are quite a few more (with some discussion) here:
        http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111019/11202916417/paypal-freezes-diasporas-account.shtml
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        John Fenderson (profile), 6 Sep 2013 @ 10:31am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: If a bank...
        If you're paying someone through PayPal, your risk of a nightmare story is much lower than if you're receiving them, and you may not have any choice but to use it (as it's up to the vendor to decide who it uses to process payments).
        
        Regardless, though, you should use a prepaid debit card, loaded with just enough cash to make the payment you need, to do any online purchasing. That way, the most you could lose is whatever the balance on the card is.
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  - Ray C., 5 Sep 2013 @ 12:04pm
    
    Re: Re: If a bank...
    That's what you think. If the account has your name on it and is in the same institution, Pay Pal has access, no matter what the number may be. They can even get into accounts that you transfer transfer money to. Check some of the older complaints online, you will see what I mean.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Arthur Moore (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:13am
  
  Re: If a bank...
  Don't be so sure of that. While they aren't banks, remember when MasterCard and Visa joined paypal in blacklisting wiki leaks.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Baldaur Regis (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 9:53am

Spending money foolishly is the goddamned birthright of every American. If these fucking commies can't understand that, they can kiss my debt-raddled ass.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 9:54am

Paypal is a Money Broker. That means they are less regulated than banks and credit card companies.

In other words, they play by their own rules. I found this out the hard way when someone tried to scam me on eBay. I ended up getting my money back, but I'll never use eBay or Paypal again.

BTW, Ebay owns Paypal. Literally.
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- Ray C., 5 Sep 2013 @ 11:49am
  
  Re:
  It took me 2 long years and countless emails and phone calls to get Pay Pal to release a bank account they had access to. The account was only for online purchases, so not much in it, but it meant I had to open another account for that purpose. During this time I learned of E bay's ownership and went after them with a cease and desist order that didn't do a lot of good, but got a few of there accounts investigated. BOTH ENTITIES SHOULD BE BOYCOTTED AND PUT OUT OF BUSINESS.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 9:58am

I believe the phrase to describe this would be "probable insider trading case." Seriously, why haven't they gotten investigated?
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:01am

Using Paypal is like using Internet Explorer
Anyone doing so is begging to be fucked over. I find it difficult to sympathize with anyone who doesn't know this. Even if they weren't already painfully aware of it by 2013...2012...2011...then 5 minutes' worth of due diligence research with the search engine of their choice would reveal it. So while PayPal are clearly doing their usual assinine best, the question must be asked: what the hell were the clueless, incompetent, negligent morons at Mailpile thinking?
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Paul, 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:01am

I AM PAYPAL TERRIFIED
As well as PayPal Verified. As a seller, PayPal has screwed me several times. Things were so bad that I opened a new eMail account and a new eBay account using the ID "IamPayPayTerrified". In each & every auction I listed, I invited all those interested to visit a site where others like me posted their stories concerning their PayPal screwing. That site is gone now but there are thousands of stories easy to find with a Google search. PayPals actions are very close to being criminal the way they treat members. It only took eBay 6 months to realize what I was doing before my account at eBay was canceled. They said I was not operating "Within the Spirit of the eBay Family".... Really?? I don't like the fact that PayPal/eBay both seem to have their hands much too deep ino my pockets. Sometimes I have no other choice to accept payment thru PayPal - SO - The moment I see the funds have cleared my account I transfer them to a safe place away from PayPal or eBay. I am afraid to ever leave any funds under their control. I am still "PayPal Terrified" and have learned a hard lesson the hard way.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:04am

PayPal has a history of blocking accounts of people US governmental agencies don't like without a legal basis. Visa did it too.
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Hephaestus (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:08am

When I first read this the indiegogo campaign. I thought the NSA is going to shut them down, the last thing they want is an easy to use e-mail encryption program.

Well what do you know, something that could actually shut down the e-mail gathering capability of the NSA, now without funding ... it makes one wonder
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:09am

PayPal thinks it has the right to tell people what they can do with money, just because it is in a PayPal account! what should happen here is that PayPal should be taken to court and made to seriously pay for what it does. perhaps also being told that it is being broken into smaller sections may help because as it is atm, it is like an international bank, it thinks it's too big, not just to fail but to be taken down!
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:13am

Don't Use Paypall
Paypall are scum and have always been scum.

There's no company operating as an Internet business that is more deserving of being shut down.
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JJ, 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:14am

TinFoil
Time to get out the box of Tin Foil, and make some hats.

Think ebay/paypal will let me sell them?
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Thomas (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:19am

Paypal...
is nothing but a bank that is unregulated, and is not responsible to any overseeing organization. All legit banks have to comply with many laws, Paypal ignores them all. I would never have a Paypal account.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:25am

Easy fix
The easy fix for eBay & PayPal is to ignore them. Don't use their services! We watched them doing bad things to their customers again, again and again. Do people don't learn? Professional sellers could team up and start a new market platform instead of paying extortionate fees.
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vilain (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:27am

Still have an account, but
I won't verify it by giving them a bank account. The credit card I used was their Providian card that takes *weeks* and USPS letters to resolve payment issues. I switching to a bank credit card.

I never use Paypal to accept payments. I only use it to send payments which charges my credit card. I stopped using eBay years ago after being burned on some auctions.

Lost a client who was a Paypal engineer when he offered to pay me through Paypal. He didn't like what I had to say about their service and wanted a check or cash. That's just fine with me.
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- bigjuliefromchicago (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 11:50am
  
  Re: Still have an account, but
  "I never use Paypal to accept payments. I only use it to send payments which charges my credit card."
  
  uh...and how does your payee get the the money, if not through Paypal?
  
  YOU won't use Paypal to receive funds but it's OK for the other guy. nice.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 12:13pm
    
    Re: Re: Still have an account, but
    I don't see the problem here. He's not willing to risk Paypal being in control of his money, but accepts it when someone else decides they're willing to let Paypal be in control of their money.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Blowhard, 7 Feb 2016 @ 1:14am
    
    Re: Re: Still have an account, but
    Sometimes you have no choice but to use paypal because the seller insists on it.
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EvilBill (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:32am

It is time to regulate paypal like a bank. The last time they were threatened with this, they suddenly got call-in numbers (where before it was web-form email only) and unlocked a lot of accounts such as mine, which had seven cents in it.
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- Internet Zen Master (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 12:20pm
  
  Re:
  It is time to regulate paypal like a bank.
  
  This. This. A thousand times this.
  
  I've always been wary of using that thing, and try to avoid using it if at all possible for obvious reasons.
  
  PayPal is a bank in everything but name. They know it, we (the internet) knows it, so why the hell haven't the regulators realized it and done something about this bull yet? [oh wait, they're regulators. Inefficiency tends to be their M.O. these days.]
  
  Will PayPal ever have to pay the piper for its outrageous shenanigans?
  
  As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Jon Renaut (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:33am

Paypal for business is terrible
I had a bad experience with them, too, though luckily they only had $2 of my money. I signed up for a business account, was verified in all of a few minutes, set up the website, then did a test transaction. They instantly locked my account. I tried to get it unlocked, and they told me my business model violated their terms of service.

It sure appeared to me that they set things up to get that first month's payment out of everyone without any sort of verification, but the moment you actually USE the account they would do an actual review. I gave them an overview of the business model from the beginning, but they clearly didn't look at it until I did the test transaction.

To make it even better, they told me the only way to close the account was to unlock it. To unlock it, I would have to change my business model and then they'd reconsider.

Paypal is great for paying people on eBay. Beyond that, stay away.
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- slinkySlim, 5 Sep 2013 @ 12:48pm
  
  Re: Paypal for business is terrible
  "Paypal is great for paying people on eBay. Beyond that, stay away."
  
  No. No, no, no and no. The only thing paypal is great for is a target. If a seller on ebay has been coerced/forced to accept only paypal then you shouldn't be buying. Until the seller learns that they have other options that, most probably, doesn't provide both ebay & paypal with a skim then they should be made to suffer their losses.
  
  PayPal are cunts, plain and simple. Fuck ebay & paypal and the horses they road in on. Actually, save the horses.
  
  They need to be bank or they need to die.
  
  Just turn away. DO IT! Or I'll kick your cat.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:34am

If you ever use PayPal (God help you if you do), make sure your transaction goes through as a Credit Card. Not as a Debit Card!!!

It's possible to do a 'charge back' through your bank with a Credit Card, and force PayPal to return your money. There is no way to get your money back from PayPal if your transaction goes through as a Debit Card!

PayPal defaults all transactions as Debit Card, transactions. You have to look really hard during the PayPal checkout process, to find a blue URL/Hypertext link which will allow you to switch the transaction from a Debit Card, over to a Credit Card.

I highly recommend you do not use PayPal though! It's like playing with fire. Eventually you're going to get burned. Probably sooner than later, as MailPile just found out.
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- Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:47am
  
  Re:
  Good advice, but i'd take it one step farther. DON'T EVER USE A DEBIT CARD. Don't even have one. If they give you one for free, cut it up into tiny tiny pieces, then burn it.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 10:47am

Paypal should rename itself to "payhell", because seriously, this kind of thing have been happening a lot for a long time now.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 11:04am

A third explanation besides the two that have been offered (garden variety inefficient vs. security state enforcer): Paypal is trying to strongarm a potential competitor.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 11:27am

I am confused.
How does PayPal work?

No, I understand how you buy things through them, but if you are accepting payment as a business, how does that work?

Whose money is it that they are holding?

People giving money sure as hell aren't giving it to PayPal to dole out as they see fit - how would this be even remotely legal?

Also, what is their reasoning for even considering the business model of it's customers? Are they going to trot out the 'protect against money laundering' crap, as if there isn't a paper trail a mile long with this stuff?

I have tons of questions, and every comment is just saying, 'paypal sucks' and 'don't use paypal' Good advice, I'm sure, but what the hell is going on?
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Mike Masnick (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 11:34am

Updated...
Added an update to the post. It seems that all the publicity has made PayPal suddenly have a change of heart....
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- Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 12:22pm
  
  Re: Updated...
  And a lovely bit of BS their backtracking is. There are no regulations that justify demanding that the company release a version 1.0 of their software before releasing the money, money that the company would need to develop said version 1.0. Those laws and regulations they cite are centered wholly around reporting with transactions of given amounts, and complying to court orders to freeze accounts. All the rest of their demands about itemized budgets and development goals were purely Paypal fiat.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 3:49pm
  
  Re: Updated...
  I hope MailPile moves all their customer's funds out of PayPal, and into a private bank account before ScamPal decides to freeze the funds again.
  
  Hopefully MailPile learns their lesson after seeing ScamPal's true face.
  
  Never forget that ScamPal is a 'Currency Broker', with their own set of rules. They're not regulated like a bank or credit card company. You are 100% at ScamPal's mercy. They can freeze your funds for as long as they want too.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - MadJo (profile), 6 Sep 2013 @ 4:01am
    
    Re: Re: Updated...
    They are a bank in Europe.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Rekrul, 5 Sep 2013 @ 11:37am

One of these companies should file criminal charges against PayPal for theft, or larceny, or whatever the correct legal term is for stealing thousands of dollars.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 11:46am

A company fixing to develop a secure mail server and method of delivery. One would have to ask who would benefit most from such a service not being developed?

It is well known that the NSA has major headaches with encrypted services. It wasn't long ago two email services shut down over the threat or potential threat of jail time because they wouldn't allow back doors installed. In the case of Lavabit, they went as far as saying that shutting down the business might be tantamount to jail time. That tells you the real target was most likely Snowden's communications. They wanted access for early warning and closing down the business meant he's not using it anymore.

This demonstrates that encryption is a headache they don't want to go through. So I would suspect given this, the US government has put pressure on PayPal to halt, slow down, or impede payment for a method to possibly halt the development or to give enough time to figure a way in.

Paypal has demonstrated before it is complicit with these types of unofficial demands.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 12:13pm

Sorry, but... STOP USING PAYPAL. Should be one of those first lessons of the internet. Sure for some SMALL things here and there, why not?

If you are transferring large amounts of money or basing your business on it YOU HAVE ONLY YOURSELF TO BLAME.

Given their history and ridiculous customer support you are seriously tasking wolves with guarding the hen houses while paying them more money (seriously, their rates aren't even competitive) than someone who is not an asshole wolf that's just going to eat all of your hens... maybe this metaphor is a bit stretched and contorted at this point.
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Eponymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 12:26pm

So, it sounds like...
After MailPile gets things going with their email service maybe their next product should be PayPile! There is obviously a huge demand, after reading many of the comments above, for alternative services to PayPal. Sounds like another industry ripe for disruption!
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- Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 1:16pm
  
  Re: So, it sounds like...
  Definitely, but pulling it off would be no small feat. That sort of money transfer service is going to need to be able to withstand the full extralegal force of the US government. Remember, they've even convinced major credit cards to cut off customers.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 1:35pm
    
    Re: Re: So, it sounds like...
    More significantly, eBay won't allow PayPal competitors to process payments for eBay sellers. You can't compete against PayPal without eBay.
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    - Eponymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 5:08pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: So, it sounds like...
      eBay using only PayPal is a seperate issue though; and while it may be an unfair business practice I doubt anything will come of that. While I get that many people were complaining about it stemming from use of the service resulting from an eBay transaction, that's not the full scope of it's use anymore. As we see in this story people also use it for crowdfunding and another service could equally do the same. So, unless eBay owned the crowdfunding platform, it's somewhat irrelevant. The only argument I can see being valid is the one that says an alternative service won't become successful without the ability to use it on eBay. Though I don't think eBay has that type of clout anymore, but I may be biased on this since I don't use it. Therefore I think with the growth of crowdfunding platforms, and others, alternatives to PayPal can gain a foothold to compete.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2013 @ 2:46pm

Paypal, the reason I stopped using Ebay.
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ECA (profile), 5 Sep 2013 @ 3:03pm

HOLD IT
I hope you understand the PAYPAL SIDE
(dont get me wrong, I TRY NOT to use paypal)
PAYPAL is a middle man with a FAIR TRADE initiative..
REMEMBER who they are..EBAY/PAYPAL..

They want to see the PRODUCT is being delivered.
They want to see the BASIC BUSINESS DATA, for a product.

How many of these PRE-START UPS, have gone rogue and ran off with the money, or FAILED, AFTER THE FACT??

Think about a product..
HOw many of these groups have gotten millions of dollars for a product/project?(this is PROFIT)
THEN Brought a product to the market and had a HIGH price on it?(MORE PROFIT)
Dont tell me this is 2 different things..
Its the designation PARMA CORPS give, when they charge people $100+ per pill, AFTEr its been developed.. That they have to PAY the development costs AFTER the fact..

If yo figure that there are 3 people working on this, and EACh will get $30k EACH for a years work...Thats about $90k of the money. Lets add some hardware like a SERVER SETUP...Add $10,000 for a BASIC server..WHICH IS $100K TOTAL.. IF THEY DO THEIR tAXES PROPERLY THEY GET TO KEEP mopst OF THE DEDICATED WAGES.

paypal WANTS THE cOMPANY INFO..
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- teka, 5 Sep 2013 @ 11:56pm
  
  Re: HOLD IT
  None of those things are functions that the involved parties (people giving the money, mailpile getting the money) wanted. They were not selling email software on Ebay, where there are rules and satisfactions pledges and the like.
  
  Pledgers A through Z+ authorized paypal to take money from their credit/debit/bank and give it to mailpile. Not vet mailpile, not do a cost/benefit analysis, just make the transaction (for which PP takes a percentage/fee somewhere on the back end I am sure)
  
  Doing anything else that is exceeding the requirements of law enforcement in the slightest, is wrong.
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  - ECA (profile), 6 Sep 2013 @ 12:41am
    
    Re: Re: HOLD IT
    Do you know HOW and WHY paypal was Built?
    I do.
    I watched it happen..
    
    An EQUAL exchange of Product/service for MONEY..and BOTH parties must be satisfied..PERIOD.
    
    And thats what gets PEOPLE PISSED, as 1 person can NOT have a good day, complains and the associated OTHER PERSON gets SHUT DOWN.
    
    Odds are you havent read SOME of the nightmare stories that Paypal has gone thru.
    And HOW SOME evil people have TRIED to take advantage.. Paypal solved that..
    You cant stop the GOODS, but you can CONTROL the payment.
    If the goods dont MATCh then payment is not made, or is STOPPED(thats the 30day coverage, to complain)..
    BUT, also that GOODS must be returned..OTHER wise your money WONT be returned EITHER.
    
    Consider that when you DEAL with Paypal..
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Cyber Killer, 5 Sep 2013 @ 9:33pm

Stop using - easy to say
It's not easy to stop using paypal, when most internet shops accept payments only through them. PP has a monopoly over payment services, and while there are other companies to do this (Skrill, google, amazon, etc), it's rare to see any shops use them. Even so called 'direct' cc payments in shops are done via pp.
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- Cowards Anonymous, 6 Sep 2013 @ 12:28pm
  
  Re: Stop using - easy to say
  Bullshit. I've been using the internet since 1993 before PayPal or the Web browser existed, regularly make payments over the internet, and have never once used PayPal to make a purchase. Recognized PayPal as a scam the first time they appeared on the scene and they've never changed. Never used eBay either due to lack of trust, but there are so many other places to buy from that it doesn't matter to me.
  
  There is always another payment option or vendor to do business with on the internet. I think I've only ever not proceeded with a purchase once because the vendor only accepted PayPal, but I either made the purchase elsewhere or bought it later after the vendor added some real payment options to their site.
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Sheogorath (profile), 6 Sep 2013 @ 10:27pm

I'ma going clay pigeon shooting...
and using eBay servers as the clay pigeons (clay pigeons = skeets for the US readers).
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M. Alan Thomas II (profile), 7 Sep 2013 @ 12:55am

Someone keeps confusing "We have reached out to" for "We have responded to." You cannot be reaching out to someone who has already made contact with you directly.
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- Bryan, 7 Sep 2013 @ 10:23am
  
  Re:
  Another annoying example of Orwellianesque dishonesty is the use of *the conversation* when people are referring what should truthfully be called *our smouldering pile of dumbass excuses.*
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hopponit (profile), 8 Sep 2013 @ 9:15pm

paypal
Maybe after all the other stuff that's come out I'm getting a bit cynical but---. This has got me wondering if may be the 'spooks' pulled some strings to prevent a new security effort from someone. Yeah, I know that's a bit far fetched but maybe it isn't?
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