With the evolution of the whole furor over PayPal’s move to pressure e-Book sellers into culling their virtual shelves of erotica books containing what PayPal considers to be offensive material, I have noticed the same simplistic defense appear over and over again.
Let me quote a commenter on Mercy Pilkington’s blog post on the Good E Reader site:
Rob Hurt 13 hours agoSo companies no longer have a choice with whom or how they want to do business? If there were a book about how to rape a two year old (including graphic pictures), should PayPal be forced to accept payment for that, too? It may not be an issue since a book like that would be illegal, but who is PayPal to censor what writers are allowed to imagine?
If people want to write filth, they are welcome to, but what kind of stupid logic says we should force another company to put aside their moral objections and be a part of this? This is so twisted!
I see a lot of these. First, the commenter presents the most hyperbolic case of an imaginary book containing one of the banned subjects. Then he goes on to argue that PayPal has a right to decide what business it doesn’t want to do.
There is a fundamental logic flaw in this argument. PayPal is not a bookseller. They are a microtransaction processor. In essence, they are exactly a bank or a credit card company who facilitates a transfer of funds from the consumer (the book buyer) to the retailer (Smashwords, AllRomance, etc).
In order to understand the subtle but concrete difference, let me offer you a metaphor:
You’ve been shopping in a bookstore. You walk up to the counter with the books you want to purchase. You hand your credit or debit card over to the cashier and she rings up your purchases, and takes your card.
But your transaction is denied. Your card is not accepted.
Why? Because the credit card company or your bank doesn’t like the books you’ve purchased.
If PayPal was in the business of selling books, it would have every right to refuse to stock books it didn’t want to sell. BUT THAT IS NOT THE BUSINESS IT IS IN. It is in the business of monetary transfer. Now, if the item you were purchasing was a lizard on the endangered species list and, therefore, an illegal product, it would have every right to refuse to process the transaction arguing that participating in the sale makes it a party in the illegal transfer of funds (the business it is in) and therefore liable under the law for facilitating a crime .
But these books are NOT illegal. Writing them is legal. Publishing them is legal. Selling them is legal and reading them is legal, too.
So, next time you hear the argument that PayPal has a right to pick and choose what sales it processes, please remember that there is a fundamental flaw in this defense. And for the imaginative among you, consider how much power this puts in the hands of banks and financial institutions if PayPal gets away with this. With more and more purchases being made on the internet, think about just how fundamentally online financial institutions could manipulate the market for their own moral stances, political agendas, or simply to financially benefit product companies owned by the same conglomerate.
If this doesn’t frighten you, it should.
While I despise the close minded moralists who want to control media such as yours, imposing their morality on others, legally, they can’t be compelled to offer content they don’t want. That said, the universe abhors a vacuum. When there is a void created by short-sighted business practices, there is an opportunity for others to expan their business. Competitors of PayPal who are looking to expand their business have an opportunity to make money that Paypal has left on the table. And overtime, their open policies will hopefully draw enough away from Paypal to make them change their policies, or cause their market share to be decreased.
But you’ve made my point for me, Steve. They are NOT offering the content. They are simply processing the financial transaction. We haven’t really grasped what separating the two means, what situations can arise from it.
Hopefully you are right, and some one will step in. But at the same time, I think you need to consider the larger issues implicit in this kind of transactional control, Steve. They are massive.
Our entire society is moving us closer to over reaching control. Civil liberties are being displaced. But I digress and this isn’t the place for my paranoid misgivings. 🙂
That’s not paranoia buddy; that’s a heightened state of awareness
I was thinking about this too. You’re so spot on of course. I had read some other comments like that Rob guys and I was like “that’s not the point.” No one seems to get it though. Paypal just moves money, that’s all. Thats their business.
Its a shame that the internet has been overrun with its presence, because that’s whats put everyone in a bind. And I’m sure there are other companies chomping at the bit to get PP left overs…
But again because of the flawed logic you’ve showcased that can open another can of worms if the cc companies want to play moral police too.
Honestly, in the long run, that is what really worries me.
RG,
The comment that you included from Rob Hurt is a large part of what I find frightening. People don’t really understand what the issues are and they spread their misinformation as they go. If you don’t mind I think I’ll just copy and paste a few of your paragraphs to paste as I go along trying to help.
Over on Literotica, where this was being discussed in a couple of threads, one writer called up his credit card company to ask about this. He asked if it was true that they were clamping down on things like erotica purchases, and the answer he got was “no.” I was skeptical about that claim to start with, and now I’m even more so. I’ve looked for the Terms of Service for any credit card online but can’t seem to find it (probably not searching right, and I’ve often had trouble with such things).
Hi. I also don’t think Credit Card companies are really doing anything. It just makes no sense for them to spend years not clamping down the porno industry but a bunch of fictional stories is what crossed the line. Really??? THAT did it?? I also haven’t found much evidence to suggest that they are. I’ve only found a site that says that CC companies charge a higher percentage to “high risk” businesses such as porn and gambling and it may be truly a case of paypal not wanting to pay the fee.
I think another argument one needs to watch out for are from those who have been raped or molested and thus wish for more censorship because of it. I really don’t know what to say to them and maintain my defense without coming across as a major b*tch. I really do not like to be lumped in with a child molester or rapist simply because of a book I write. So if I write a book with a racist character that means I condone racism too? That is just too much.
Consider me frightened. Jesus – I can’t believe it took me this long to realise the simple truth: PayPal shouldn’t be in this debate.
Great work you’re doing on this censorship issue RG.
I publish FREE ‘erotica’ books on smashwords. But the latest edition of the anthology I edit, Games Perverts Play I have refused to put there as a result of this.
Here it is on our own site, as a FREE PDF: DIRT
http://gamespervertsplay.wordpress.com/books/
I am going to move the other editions over too.
Thanks
QRG
Thank you for taking the time to promote your book on my site.