Smashwords Discover PayPal is Playing its Master Card and Opening a Visa to Censorship
I’ve suspended sale of Farting in Church at Smashwords in response to PayPal’s muscling of the online bookseller to remove books they perceive as glorifying rape, bestiality, incest and pedophilia. This isn’t against Smashwords, who are a fine bookseller, but I can’t do business with these bluenoses. Paypal and credit card companies have earned metric buttloads of my ire. Smashwords and Paypal are still haggling over the details, so the list of erotica to be dropped may be less. In case this is news to you, here’s a decent write-up by Publisher’s Weekly.
In the end, Smashwords will have to concede since losing Paypal would turn them into a mail order business. It’s a sickening situation where the cash register refuses to ring up purchases it finds objectionable. PayPal is claiming that it is they who are being muscled by the credit card companies. I think this claim is false and downright cowardly.
Paypal used to be independent company, co-founded by Peter Thiel, a libertarian who would’ve have cared if incestuous were-squirrel porn was being sold in his store. Paypal had a lucrative partnership with eBay. One day, eBay decided to buy PayPal. Ebay became America’s go to place to sell used video games, appliances and the place to stock your man-cave on the cheap.
Let’s go shopping on Ebay.
And while you’re taking a leak the president’s face…
There’s some things money can’t buy…
We have an item that encourages whizzing on the POTUS, coin of the genocidal realm, a book that depicts insurrection against the government and genocide, and means to get around illegal drug tests. I’m sure some shoppers raised objections on those items eBay told them to hike up their Huggies Pull-Ups and deal. None of these items could be construed as glorifying bad behavior?
Could the title of my ebook make some think I’m encouraging flatulence in places of worship? Are my other follow-up titles in danger? S.B.D’s in Synagogues. Air Biscuits in Ashrams.
For now, I will try to avoid using PayPal. Also, sign the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)’s petition and tell PayPal that censorship is bad for business.
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