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FetLife Announcement

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Re: FetLife Announcement

#31

Post by hackermailman »

rhizome wrote: post #8

This has more front-loaded backstory than a recipe post at Pioneer Woman Cooks, but it sounds like a harbinger for Puritan effects on commerce. Who could be next on the list of these card companies? The cannabis world already has their own troubles, so maybe the ratchet will next tighten on them. That a criteria for canceling an account can be "Illegal or immoral," like those are synonyms, is telling.

There is a lot of escorting on Fetlife, a quick check of the site will reveal plenty of prostitution which is why I didn't apply there for a job when they were once advertising for Rails devOps people with a gigantic salary(for Canada) and I went through the site to check it out. Too risky to end up like Redbook people who got arrested.

Re: FetLife Announcement

#32

Post by timmaah »

andreyf wrote: post #29
kefka wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The the post lies this answer: Why haven't you embraced Bitcoin to get away from the restrictions of the banks / credit card companies? - @Eibon Answer: We used to accept bitcoins through Coinbase. They dropped us a year ago because we are a kinky site. No joke. If a Bitcoin site wants to accept credit cards, then they have to adhere to rules set forth by the credit card companies. Yes, there are other options, and w…

Still don't see why they can't just accept bitcoin. Buying BTC via credit card is trivial via Coinbase (and they won't ban customers), and while they won't get 100%, they're much more likely to get quite a bit more than 0.1% even if BTC is the only payment option.

Do you think their lawyers and staff want to get paid in BTC?

Re: FetLife Announcement

#33

Post by protomyth »

noarchy wrote: post #6
Shank wrote: post #2

If there was ever a use for [insert favorite crypto currency here] gaining adoption, the killer feature is that payments can't be halted or frozen to accounts. It sounds like they got hit by people who were unaware of what FetLife is following due diligence in processing card transactions. As far as I can discern, it's just a social network with a darker focus, which led to an overreaction from a card network.

The linked text mentions that even Coinbase dropped Fetlife, because they (Coinbase) still processes credit card transactions. So it looks like any use of a cryptocurrency has to be completely decoupled from the credit card world.

The interface between me receiving cryptocurrency and me paying bills and food with said cryptocurrency is problematic. I get the feeling we are stuck in a credit card world. I cannot imagine a big payment outfit that gets accepted by merchants to not have credit card companies or deal with merchants without bank accounts.

This is really one of those issues that cuts across party (in the US 2 party system) lines. We've seen the crackdown on gun shops, marijuana merchants, and adult industry companies. I don't think I've heard questions asked my the big media to candidates about their feelings toward these type of laws.

I might not like some of these businesses, but every legal business should be able to get paid. I am not comfortable with a politician's beliefs affecting the banking of a legal business.

Normally, I would like the market to handle this but as the article points out, this is not really a free market. "The banks maintain a shared list that contains all merchant account closings." makes sense from a fraud point of view, but it is a process without appeal. Second, banks have a history of legislation requiring fairness of lending. It is probably time to look at the credit card companies with the same eye.

Re: FetLife Announcement

#34

Post by jes5199 »

madez wrote: post #17
TylerE wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still have to cash out through somebody if you want ActualMoney(tm).

You only need to cash out the amount you can't spend in bitcoins. The more things you can buy in bitcoins, the less powerful politically-controlled money becomes.

are you going to pay employees in bitcoin?

Re: FetLife Announcement

#35

Post by zakk »

Two or three big players in the credit card market can effectively shutdown a business.

Honest question: do we need better enforcement for the First Amendment rights in the current digital era? Shop owners cannot decide who enters in their shop, should digital service providers be allowed to discriminate?

The same happens when someone is banned from Facebook and Twitter: of course there are other options, but he won't be able to reach 95% of the Internet audience.

Edit: maybe should've spoken about a "different, active enforcement" rather than "better enforcement".

Re: FetLife Announcement

#36

Post by Tharkun »

The problem with major Credit Card companies is that they're all American and that the US of A is incredibly moralistic. For the sake of convenience, I'm considering PayPal to be part of the same club of moralistic knobs.

It's virtually impossible to set up any kind of online shop without accepting one or more of PayPal, MasterCard, Visa or AmEx. As soon as you accept money for anything one of these FOUR(!) financial behemoths objects to, you're out of luck. You'll be forced to stop using them, and as soon as you do you'll see your revenue drop dramatically.

And why? All because a couple of old men in suits think that they know what's "acceptable". Nevermind the legalities. PayPal makes it impossible to sell pornography, which is perfectly legal in large parts of the civilized world.

Re: FetLife Announcement

#38

Post by robhu »

andreyf wrote: post #29
kefka wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The the post lies this answer: Why haven't you embraced Bitcoin to get away from the restrictions of the banks / credit card companies? - @Eibon Answer: We used to accept bitcoins through Coinbase. They dropped us a year ago because we are a kinky site. No joke. If a Bitcoin site wants to accept credit cards, then they have to adhere to rules set forth by the credit card companies. Yes, there are other options, and w…

Still don't see why they can't just accept bitcoin. Buying BTC via credit card is trivial via Coinbase (and they won't ban customers), and while they won't get 100%, they're much more likely to get quite a bit more than 0.1% even if BTC is the only payment option.

If it is provable that Coinbase is being used as a means of bypassing VISA et al's restrictions on sites like FetLife, what is stop VISA et al doing the same to Coinbase?

Re: FetLife Announcement

#39

Post by sp332 »

Tharkun wrote: post #36

The problem with major Credit Card companies is that they're all American and that the US of A is incredibly moralistic. For the sake of convenience, I'm considering PayPal to be part of the same club of moralistic knobs. It's virtually impossible to set up any kind of online shop without accepting one or more of PayPal, MasterCard, Visa or AmEx. As soon as you accept money for anything one of these FOUR(!) financial…

It's not just moralistic. Porn sites have crazy high fraud rates that make them very unpalatable from a business perspective.

Re: FetLife Announcement

#40

Post by robhu »

nerfhammer wrote: post #19
Senji wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Step one: Start a political party Step two: Get in power Step three: Make refusing credit transactions to patrons on grounds of "morality" illegal.

> Start a political party > Get in power Almost impossible in a FPTP voting system

Surely it is possible and only requires a majority to support you.
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