Like many others in this debate, I feel sure that it is a result of pressure from different content suppliers who are trying to protect their business models, but – at least in some cases – this is a bit of a paradox!
First of all, the main “source” is probably Netflix – who may be under pressure from various film studios, not least Disney, but if this is true, then we should not forget that exactly Netflix (together with Apple and Amazon) probably is the greatest disrupting factor for the whole content distribution industry, and I for one cannot imagine that Netflix would not welcome other disrupting businesses (irony) – could you?
Second, none of these services, being it VPN, SmartVPN, DNS or SmartDNS services has EVER been convicted of ANY illegal activities in ANY jurisdictions in the world, so when a company like PayPal claim – and I quote – that: “This policy extends to services that unlawfully facilitate infringement by intentionally enabling access to copyrighted television shows or movies in places where distribution of the content is not authorized by the copyright owners”, I would expect that they are extremely close to get a libel case to answer – I do not run a service like this, but if I did I would not hesitate to sue PayPal, even though it may be a costly and long lasting affair, especially in a US court, but perhaps it is different in a Canadian or European court!
Thirdly – and I think this show the double standards of PayPal – they do not have any issues with e.g. handling payment for tuning kits for cars which make them run faster, in spite of there being speed limits which say that it is illegal to drive faster than e.g. 70 miles per hour. If that is not a case of “services that unlawfully facilitate infringement”, then I do not know what is, and there are many other cases like this that PayPal do not have issues with handling payments for!
Finally, the EU is in the process of banning geo fencing of content available in 28 member states and a further 3 countries within the European Economic Area, which has association agreements with EU, as “Restrictions of passive sale are contrary to the consumers’ freedom of access to goods and services on the DSM, and are not permitted under European law.” Does that mean that PayPal will block all payments to any company or organisation which does not adhere to this once it has been ratified?
EU have actually initiated an antitrust battle with the biggest players in Hollywood, including Disney, NBC, Universal, Paramount Pictures, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros – and even included Sky TV for their policies of limiting content and products to consumers in certain areas of EU!
I wonder if PayPal will stop accepting payments to all of these players and “confiscate” the funds that they may have in a PayPal account if they lose this antitrust battle?
