Paypal Situation Resolved--For Now
Dean
It looks like both Daily Pundit and Talk Left have had their accounts restored by PayPal, probably mostly due to the uproar that their actions caused.
I'm not sure what to think of this all. It strikes me that the real problem is that while PayPal may once have been a fairly visionary outfit, they simply don't understand blogs or the blogosphere as yet, and the trouble some of their policies can cause them and perfectly innocent people. Just five years ago a site containing links to beheading videos would likely have been a highly questionable site, but bloggers, the news commenters and political activists anyway, really should be treated differently as they are news and comments sites. What I'd like to see PayPal do is update and clarify their policies. They also, frankly, need some kind of external scrutiny. They are skirting the banking laws, and in part that's a good thing--they wouldn't be able to do what they do if they were subject to all the rules, regulations, and laws involving banks. Yet this incident obviously shows that they are a little too powerful in what they're allowed to do with money they're holding for people.
I have no answers but I expect that PayPal's going to take some serious publicity black eyes if it doesn't come up with some smarter and more fair policies soon, policies that match the realities we're working in today rather than 5 years ago.
Part of the problem is that PayPal was sold to EBay a while ago. EBay is a billion dollar business that simply is not going to take chances based on legal theorizing: they're going to do--damn sharp--what their lawyers tell them to do.
While Daily Pundit and Talk Left may be "innocuous" blogs, there are sites out there that use beheadings to raise funds. Not just greedy people, but jihadist websites.
Rather than dedicate expensive staff to reading through each blog and having to make a subjective opinion on the merit of individual blogs and blog entries, it is far easier to institute a blanket ban on those things that could get them in trouble.
I'm sure that even if the blogosphere volunteered to police the quality of the blogs (have you stopped laughing yet?), the EBay lawyers wouldn't permit it; it still keeps them on the point of the hood.
I strongly suspect that EBay will survive the snit of bloggers. They make their money off of auctions and, with the acquisition of PayPal, the financial transactions involved.
I am also very confident that the FBI, DHS, and many elements of Treasury are living in EBay's counting rooms. The possibility of money-laundering through such a set-up is incredible. But the Feds have yet to complain, so they must be doing something right.
Both eBay and PayPal were "visionary" when they were startups. As they became the monoliths they are today they have caused vast numbers of consumer problems, only one of which has been their ever changing and hypocritical attempt to set "community standards."
I'm glad I finally was motivated to get rid of both. I signed up for eBay circa 1996 and the new startup, PayPal, shortly thereafter. Both have been, at minimum, a nuisance ever since in one way or another. I had 300+ positive "feedbacks" on eBay and no negatives, no history of any issues involving payment via my local bank or credit cards with PayPal. Yet both managed to be a pain in the neck at various times.
Good riddance.
For example, my bank doesn't say "we'll only let you spend your money on things we approve of". (This is NOT to say I'm out there spending tons of money on porn and guns :)