PayPal Continues To Drive People To Bitcoin And Other Solutions As It Starts Cutting Off VPNs & Open Internet Solutions

from the because-of-course-it-is dept

Fri, Feb 5th 2016 6:18pm — Mike Masnick

There's a fairly long history of Paypal being completely obnoxious in shutting down the accounts of basically anyone challenging the status quo in any way. Nearly all of our stories about Paypal follow a similar pattern:

See a pattern yet? So, given all that, it's hardly a surprise to find out that Paypal has cut off a VPN service, arguing that because it might possibly maybe be used for copyright infringement, Paypal won't be a part of it. No, this doesn't make any sense, but as you can see from the list above, it seems pretty clear that if there's even a whiff of concern or challenging legacy businesses and beliefs, Paypal will cut you off. Because it can.

And, yes, there now are many other solutions out there, but Paypal still remains one of the easiest and most popular payment systems, even as many other companies try to take that crown away. Still, increasingly shutting off services that help protect users and enable an open internet seems like a piss poor way for Paypal to thank the open internet that made it possible in the first place. It seems likely that the more Paypal cuts these kinds of services off, the more likely it is that alternative payment systems will be deployed. Paypal may not care. After all, it's been doing this for years, but sooner or later, it's going to realize that it's just been opening up a big opportunity for others.

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Filed Under: money, open internet, payments, vpns
Companies: paypal

41 Comments

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Baked Anon, 5 Feb 2016 @ 6:43pm

Don't forget when they shut down the Something Awful Red Cross donation drive during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
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Anonymous Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2016 @ 6:45pm

Most payment services suck, but not as bad as PayPal
The above are not the only things PayPal has been obnoxious about. They have a long history of taking peoples money for various (what I consider nefarious) reasons. I used them once, to fund my Skype account for a whole $10 (pre Microsoft and I thought the $10 was worth the risk) but never since, and never in the future. If PayPal is the only way to pay, the business looses my business, and several have.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2016 @ 7:09pm

These antics didn't stop Glenn Greenwald from partnering up with owner Pierre Omidyar. Throw's much of his "credibility" right out the window.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2016 @ 7:21pm

Is this only in the USA? Some of their policies only apply in the states and other countries can use them fine.
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Anon E. Mous (profile), 5 Feb 2016 @ 7:26pm

Again Hollywood is pressuring a company to do what it has been unable to do thru their country restrictive licensing agreements.

Hollywood wants to have control and keep it thru the guise of copyright reinforcement when in reality it is all about money derived from the restriction of content.

If Hollywood priced it fairly and stop cumbersome restriction of content with the Geo location restrictions, maybe people wouldn't have the need for VPN's to get around the Geo location restriction to use the services like Nextflix that they paid for.

But alas Hollywood has learned nothing from the Likes of Napster and online streaming services, they still cling to the day when they controlled the distribution, production and venue for where the public could get their content despite their record profits and claims of how without copyright enforcement and geo restriction licensing deals they will lose millions
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Anonymous Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2016 @ 7:33pm

Re:
No, but it is hard to follow their logic as they seems to be all over the place, over time. Take a look at some of these PayPal stories, and go back several pages using the 'older stories' link at the bottom of each page.
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Pixelation, 5 Feb 2016 @ 7:48pm

I had a paypal account...
until they asked for my bank account information to keep it. Fuck you Paypal. Don't need you.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2016 @ 9:25pm

Re: I had a paypal account...
Identical here on that. I simply refused to give my banking info out. Nor am I going to willingly change just because they want it. For around 10 years or so I did business with Paypal and they never needed the info.

When I refused to give up the info they locked the account. It's remained that way for around 4 years now and I have no intention of using them again.
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CharlieBrown, 5 Feb 2016 @ 9:59pm

Government Interference
Remember, PayPal is under scrutiny from the US government (and probably others) to not fund "piracy sites" and Wikileaks (et al) so they have a choice: Loose customers or end up like Megaupload!

Still, they've taken it too far.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2016 @ 10:46pm

ebay and pay pal are dinosaurs, wake up people, don't waste your time or money. PayPal sounds like the NY Times, owned by the USG.
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Mark Wing, 6 Feb 2016 @ 12:03am

Some of these services now take gift cards as payment.
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Chance Ginger, 6 Feb 2016 @ 4:33am

What are other better options?
The subject says it all. Besides Bitcoin what are other better Paypal like options?
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art guerrilla (profile), 6 Feb 2016 @ 5:52am

Re:
not sure 'partnering' is the correct term, it is more of a funder/fundee relationship...
gg and others at the intercept have discussed the subject of editorial independence, etc numerous times...
i still have some qualms about the relationship and potential for abuse, but we live in an age of patronage: working outside The System requires a sugar daddy...
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Feb 2016 @ 6:50am

the real question is who makes the decision to cut a service off? is it a board meeting or is it the whim of some stuck up ass hole who wants to or already belongs to the entertainment industries? after all, they think they are above the law and above every fucker else!! i just hope that their (entertainment industries) latest venture kicks them right in the face!!
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anon, 6 Feb 2016 @ 7:50am

Bitcoin is better?
Bitcoin is better? Better read this https://medium.com/@octskyward/the-resolution-of-the-bitcoin-experiment-dabb30201f7#.def0c7pcy
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Cliff, 6 Feb 2016 @ 8:37am

Re: Netflix, Paypal and restrictions on freedom
Netflix and Paypal have both lost my business. You see, I come from a time and mindset that says if you don't have cash, you can't afford it. I grew up and spent most of my adult years not using these services and I can live the rest of my life without them and there are a lot of us still around. Restrict me and I WILL turn on you. I'm not the only one; I hear that Canadians have been canceling their accounts left and right and it's not going to slow down until you feel it in your back pockets.
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Adam, 6 Feb 2016 @ 9:07am

Canadians Often Agree with Cliff
I haven't used Paypal for so long that I can no longer remember what they did to deserve my drop out. Like several others here, they pissed me off in early days and I never went back. If, as someone said, Paypal is the only payment option offered there's no sale. Haven't bought or sold anything on eBay for years for the same reasons.

It's a story oft repeated. A company invents a really clever way of doing something, think they've got a monopoly, and sometimes take a very long time to discover that they're encouraging competitors.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Feb 2016 @ 10:38am

And eBay still doesn't encrypt connections, on purpose.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Feb 2016 @ 3:58pm

Ebay is another example of an obnoxious company that most are in agreement about, yet ... where is the competition that should haven risen up to fill the void? I'd like to know the answer to that.

I fear paypal will be similar.

When multiple services like netflix and paypal do the same thing, I suspect there is a larger threat / plan / authority behind it. Hollywood works closely with the DOJ and shares the same lawyers ....
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Feb 2016 @ 4:00pm

I've looked at bitcoin and it is NOT easy to set up for the average user. It isn't a solution.
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John David Galt (profile), 6 Feb 2016 @ 7:13pm

What we need is another service like PayPal ...
... but which allows payment for any legal product or service. Anyone know of one?
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tqk (profile), 6 Feb 2016 @ 7:43pm

Re: Re: I had a paypal account...
... they locked the account. It's remained that way ...

I've read hundred of stories saying the same thing. One day, out of the blue, Paypal freaked out and all the contents of legitimate business' accounts were placed in limbo.

Didn't Amazon try at one point to force all payments to go through Paypal until they were forced to back off by too many disgruntled users who refused to use them?

Why they're still in business is a mystery.
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tqk (profile), 6 Feb 2016 @ 7:49pm

Re: What are other better options?
You can buy anonymous preloaded big name credit cards at many stores local to you.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Feb 2016 @ 4:41am

well, you can always ask google:

In-Q-Tel Paypal
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Feb 2016 @ 4:43am

Re: What we need is another service like PayPal ...
legal WHERE? WHEN? and acording to WHOM?
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Feb 2016 @ 4:44am

Re: Re: What we need is another service like PayPal ...
you want to be able to trade INTERNATIONALLY
or not?
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Feb 2016 @ 6:07am

Re:
When you consider that PayPal not only attempts to control what you buy, sell, and do online, literally, but also delivers all transaction information to the federal government - by default, no court-order necessary - then it becomes painfully obvious that the seemingly "independent" payment processor is nothing more than an appendage of the same said government.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Feb 2016 @ 6:15am

Re: Re:
I think in the end, you'll find Glen is more a part of the system than many like to believe, and the only sugar-daddy here is DaddyWarBucks, given Pierre's fondness for the federal government.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Feb 2016 @ 9:18am

Re: Re: What are other better options?
But how do you remain anonymous while shopping online, as the seller needs a name and address for delivery?
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Richard (profile), 7 Feb 2016 @ 12:10pm

Re: What are other better options?
Besides Bitcoin what are other better Paypal like options?

Just use direct transfer from your bank.

There is more choice of banks.

For international payments use transferwise
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tqk (profile), 7 Feb 2016 @ 1:54pm

Re: Re: Re: What are other better options?
The seller needs those and the number on the card you bought with cash. The credit card co. doesn't need your name and address. They just need the card no. to verify it's valid and stores enough money to make it a valid purchase.
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klaus (profile), 7 Feb 2016 @ 11:29pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: What are other better options?
Exactly so. I read ages ago (possibly here) that PayPal voluntarily and routinely passes on financial information, en masse, to US law enforcement. That doesn't sit well with me. I avoid PayPal like the plague.
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klaus (profile), 7 Feb 2016 @ 11:56pm

I did just that... from Palantir's wiki:

"...help the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center build a controversial license plates database for California."

This worries me. A license plate database should be trivial, recording a simple event; what, where and when. So when a company like Palantir gets involved, you can be sure that heaps and heaps of (expensive) data analysis and mining is going to take place. Inference upon inference. Mashed up with other datasets into some big-picture. Pseudo data. In haystacks. And all for no sane reason.
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klaus (profile), 7 Feb 2016 @ 11:59pm

Re:
Reply fail (again Techdirt?) - comment above was in response to Anonymous Coward, Feb 7th, 2016 @ 4:41am, "In-Q-Tel Paypal".
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JBDragon, 8 Feb 2016 @ 12:01pm

Re: I had a paypal account...
You don't have to give them your bank account into! I sure wouldn't give it to them. I use a Credit Card still because you have protection with a Credit Card (Not with a Debit card!). I would never want to give PayPal direct access to my bank account. That's just dumb.

PayPal works fine using your credit card with them because then you have better protection buying on the Internet being able to use Paypay, and not handing out your credit card number to places which is much worse.
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JBDragon, 8 Feb 2016 @ 12:04pm

Re: What are other better options?
Bitcoin is at least easier to use these days. I use Circle or Coinbase on my iPhone and can easily buy some Bitcoins and then pretty easily spend them at other places. In that way it's gotten easier I guess.
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JBDragon, 8 Feb 2016 @ 12:10pm

Re: Bitcoin is better?
Bitcoin works well. I wouldn't invest in it. Or buy a bunch. But for small things, I don't have a problem. I buy what I need and use that. It's a easy enough to do on my iPhone using a App like Circle or Coinbase.

Until ApplePay is supported in far, far more places, or something better then PayPal comes along which I still use to buy things because many places still support it and it's a better option then just handing out my credit card number.

Just make sure you DON'T link your bank account to PayPal. If you already did it. DELETE IT!!! Only use a Credit Card, not a Debit Card because a Credit Card will offer you protection under the law that a Debit card won't!!! You want that between you and your bank account!!!
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JBDragon, 8 Feb 2016 @ 12:11pm

Re:
I haven't sold anything on ebay for quite some time. In general, Craigslist works much better for me.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2016 @ 12:25pm

Remember When
Paypal was the payment service so often used for E-Bay and both companies' services were worth using. Some of you might not be old enough to remember a Paypal or E-Bay that didn't suck.
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