An Internet "Middleman" Takes the Offensive on Offensive Services

PayPal, the Internet payments arm of eBay Inc, has announced a policy of "fining" customers who use its services to pay for gambling, pornography and buying or selling prescription drugs from uncertified sellers of pharmaceuticals. Customers who violate the company's acceptable use policy could have their accounts limited or closed and, in addition, according to statements made by a PayPal spokesperson, it could levy fines of up to $500 and the company could take legal action to recover its costs of enforcement. PayPal stated that its action does not come as a result of pressure from government regulators. It is unclear precisely how PayPal intends to enforce its new policy. However, it is interesting that as a provider of facilitating services over the Internet, it is willing to depart from the more conventional position that as an "innocent middleman" it does not itself provide any of the "blacklisted" services and therefore should have no obligation to limit access to the services. For the news report, see: http://news.com.com/2100-1026_3-5362576.html. Summary by: the Editor