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PayPal stops payouts to models on Pornhub

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Re: PayPal stops payouts to models on Pornhub

#291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin isn't criticized for this being an invalid use case, because it's totally valid. It's criticized because it's useless for this use case, people involved in this scene in practice don't care about it to any serious degree beyond it being a talking point, and because anything for legally working around financial deplatforming still needs strong interfacing with the rest of the system as well as compliance with…

> In fact, you can make your own payments platform denominated in USD and that's as useful as BTC for legal activities. So why go through the extra steps? Good call. These pornstars should just create their own payment platform instead of going through all the hassle of using BTC.

Wouldn't that still require some kind of cooperation from banks or credit card companies? If someone knows a way that doesn't require cooperation from these, that would be great.

(I suppose one way would be to set up some sort of "western union" where you could deposit cash and someone at the "bank" would change the number in your account balance accordingly... But maybe there are regulations about this?)

Re: PayPal stops payouts to models on Pornhub

#292

A contributor once wrote on hn about the huge market for a porn friendly payment system. Key feature, must not look suspicious on credit card bill...

That's essentially what the movie Middle Men was about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Men_(film)

Re: PayPal stops payouts to models on Pornhub

#293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest I appreciate PayPal doing this. The more we see prominent cases of deplatforming, the more people are going to take it as a serious problem. One can always hide behind some pr bullshit when it comes to political free speech and so on. But porn it is finally something enough people care about to take it seriously.

It depends if the de-platforming is happening for reasons of social outrage / offense (bad) or commercial reasons (maybe not 'good' but at least 'better'). If it's about this particular industry sub-group having a much-higher-than-normal rate of fraud or returns or buyers remorse or whatever causes more hassle to PayPal's processes than they're worth, then that makes commercial sense.

it's mostly about ill-conceived laws intended to protect vulnerable people, which in fact harm those exact people

Re: PayPal stops payouts to models on Pornhub

#294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4693920 One learns by theory and experiment. Also, I don't flash my credentials to win arguments online. Think of me as an intellectual sparring partner rather than an authority feeding you what to believe and shape the dialectic accordingly.

> I don't flash my credentials to win arguments online I'll interpret that as "I don't have any relevant credentials." Credentials often mean something. I see armchair lawyering all the time on HN, and as a actual attorney I find it both concerning and unsurprising how much ignorance exists of the actual law, enough for me to periodically step in and say something (and reveal my bona fides because I think it's releva…

If you prefer to get into credentialism, I must admit you don't sound like a very trustworthy lawyer, and I find your manner of argumentation surprisingly weak. Furthermore, the photographic camera was invented in the nineteenth century.

Please state your LSAT score before I engage you further.

Re: PayPal stops payouts to models on Pornhub

#295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin isn't criticized for this being an invalid use case, because it's totally valid. It's criticized because it's useless for this use case, people involved in this scene in practice don't care about it to any serious degree beyond it being a talking point, and because anything for legally working around financial deplatforming still needs strong interfacing with the rest of the system as well as compliance with…

I think part of it is a bootstrapping problem. Bitcoin solved an interesting technical problem, so people started using it. Once people started getting interested, companies popped up to sell it, but notably there was a base of users prior to that. By contrast, the barrier to entry for a new system denominated in USD is much higher. People can't really start using it until there's a company around to support it, and…

Taler's demo doesn't even work

Re: PayPal stops payouts to models on Pornhub

#296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had several friends in the adult industry have their checking accounts closed at a several major banks as well. Traditional banking should definitely not be discriminating against fully legal activities.

Can anyone explain how this even happens? Who could possibly threaten a bank over handling financial transactions for sex workers? And what could they possibly threaten the bank with? Even if it's some big business like Chick-fil-A... Presumably they only bank with one bank, and presumably the porn and sex work industry has more money at that bank than Chick-fil-A. How's this actually work? It's not making sense to m…

Amateur porn? User-uploaded X-rated videos? When things go wrong they go wrong fast. Professional studios know how to abide by all the various regulations, many of which change from one state (or even city) to another. Amateurs with webcams in their bedrooms do not. Just look at the "Girls do porn" fiasco to see why someone might not want to do business with an amateur-focused studio.

Re: PayPal stops payouts to models on Pornhub

#297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In fact, you can make your own payments platform denominated in USD and that's as useful as BTC for legal activities. So why go through the extra steps? Good call. These pornstars should just create their own payment platform instead of going through all the hassle of using BTC.

Wouldn't that still require some kind of cooperation from banks or credit card companies? If someone knows a way that doesn't require cooperation from these, that would be great. (I suppose one way would be to set up some sort of "western union" where you could deposit cash and someone at the "bank" would change the number in your account balance accordingly... But maybe there are regulations about this?)

> Wouldn't that still require some kind of cooperation from banks or credit card companies?

Yes. The net practical effect of anti-money-laundering laws is that you cannot transfer money at scale without the government's permission.

Re: PayPal stops payouts to models on Pornhub

#298
post #165
post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wheres the disruptive fintech for these underbanked? Sounds like a gold mine for the right marketing team.

That fintech will get blacklisted by the other, bigger players. Not sure what else can be done to disrupt fintech to that point.

In the worst case, you could set up brick and mortar shops for getting dollar bills in and out.

Re: PayPal stops payouts to models on Pornhub

#299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had several friends in the adult industry have their checking accounts closed at a several major banks as well. Traditional banking should definitely not be discriminating against fully legal activities.

This is the thing I find very disturbing. That an industry as highly regulated and essential to every day life as banking can pick and choose based on management's moral choices.

UBS and other bankers catering to major drug cartel money though... crickets and maybe a small percentage fine.

Re: PayPal stops payouts to models on Pornhub

#300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had several friends in the adult industry have their checking accounts closed at a several major banks as well. Traditional banking should definitely not be discriminating against fully legal activities.

This is the thing I find very disturbing. That an industry as highly regulated and essential to every day life as banking can pick and choose based on management's moral choices.

I doubt it's moral choices and more fraud and dispute levels, ie the cost to service a customer.
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