File hosting sites came under fire from PayPal recently, banning them from their services amid concerns that they were helping fund piracy. Well now PayPal are going after Usenet service providers due to the same concerns.
PayPal has blocked access to their services for several Usenet service providers, and frozen any funds in their accounts. PayPal has, in recent times, changed its policies making it extremely difficult for possible copyright infringing services to avail of their services.
PayPal is already widely known for taking a very aggressive line with BitTorrent and file-sharing sites, but now it seems they are taking an equally hard line with Usenet service providers.
According to Tweakers.net, PayPal cut services to five Usenet resellers on Tuesday, including XSUsenet, EasyUsenet and Usenet4U. Funds have been frozen for 180 days and the providers can no longer accept PayPal payments.
Is it fair that the Usenet services, although there is an element of illegality associated with them and the users that make use of them, are punished just because of their reputation in the piracy world? Maybe not, as very legitimate uses for them exist. But it seems PayPal is laying down the law to help preserve their place in the system, ensuring they are not accused in any way of helping fund piracy.
Source: TorrentFreak