PayPal cracks down on child porn

Online payment company PayPal is helping fight child pornography by prohibiting e-books that contain it, as well as those with text and obscene images.

 

PayPal spokesman Anuj Nayar detailed in a blog post the new policy that concerning the use of the company's services for the sale of certain erotica content.

 

"First and foremost, we are going to focus this policy only on e-books that contain potentially illegal images, not e-books that are limited to just text. The policy will prohibit use of PayPal for the sale of e-books that contain child pornography, or e-books with text and obscene images of rape, bestiality or incest (as defined by the U.S. legal standard for obscenity: material that appeals to the prurient interest, depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value)," Nayar said.

 

The new policy involved a reversal of sorts from PayPal's initial plan to shut off payment processing to publishers of certain forms of erotic literature.

 

Nayar said the policy will be focused on individual books, not on entire “classes” of books.

 

Instead of demanding that e-book publishers remove all books in a category, PayPal will notify the seller of specific e-books that it believes violates its policy.

 

"We are working with e-book publishers on a process that will provide any affected site operator or author the opportunity to respond to and challenge a notice that an e-book violates the policy," he said.

 

Nayar clarified PayPal has not shut down the PayPal account of any of the e-book publishers involved in this matter.

 

He said PayPal is committed to working with publishers on a "mutually acceptable" process to address potentially offending books on their sites, "so that material with images that violate this policy cannot be purchased using our service."

 

"Our primary interest in this matter has always been to come to a mutually agreeable solution that allows freedom of expression, while still ensuring PayPal is used in ways that fully comply with applicable laws and our policies," he said.

 

'Reversal' of initial plans

 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation welcomed the move, noting this was a reversal of PayPal's initial plans to shut off payment processing to publishers of certain forms of erotic literature.

 

"Free speech in the 21st Century depends on a chain of electronic service providers, and financial services like PayPal play a critical role in the unfettered exchange of information and ideas in the digital world. We are so glad that PayPal has clarified its policy, and won't interfere with lawful access to legal content," said Rainey Reitman, EFF's Activism Director.

 

EFF had joined the National Coalition Against Censorship, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the ACLU of California and other groups in calling on PayPal to support free speech.

 

This was after online publishers and retailers – including Book Strand, Smashwords, and eXessica – were notified that their accounts would be closed unless they stopped selling any erotic books containing descriptions of rape, incest, and bestiality.

 

EFF senior staff attorney Lee Tien added the Internet cannot be a true global forum for expression if private companies that provide communication and payment services operate as "morality police."

 

"The Internet is a global forum where ideas can be freely aired, exchanged, and criticized. We're especially pleased that PayPal will only target specific works and not entire websites," Tien added. — TJD, GMA News