India Suspended From PayPal For "At Least a Few Months" 186
More details have come about about what was behind PayPal's decision to suspend personal payments to any user in India, as we discussed on Sunday. In a blog post today, PayPal revealed that payments to India will remain in suspension for at least a few months. Customers in India will be able to pull rupees out of the service into their bank accounts within a few days. The suspension came about when Indian government regulators raised questions about whether PayPal's service was enabling remittances (transfers of money by foreign workers) to Indian citizens. "The problems may have been triggered by a marketing push that promotes PayPal as a way to send money abroad, a source familiar with the matter said. The campaign — which reads 'As low as $1.50 to send $300 to countries like India' — may have caught the attention of Indian regulators, the source said."
State vs Internet (Score:2, Interesting)
Stopping money flow and financial services innovation is, like Internet censorship,
a symptom of the fundamental conflict between the traditional role the state has expanded
to cover (ie governments) and the transparent, open and global nature of the Internet.
When everyone on the planet can communicate directly and immediately, through
fully automated translators, to any other connected person or to large groups
- why exactly do we need massive percentages (10-50%) of our resources funneled
to maintain the state and state-run defense and services? To preserve the old lines
on maps and control the access to major geographic regions? In almost every single
case, Internet connected people and services will do a better job.
The necessary reasons for countries as they exist today mostly go away when the
Internet fully connects individuals.* Obsolescence is a terrible thing for
bureaucracy, but can be framed as the primary driver of most "issues" governments
have with the Internet.
* physical defense and security being the only notable exception.
Bullshit (Score:4, Interesting)
Isn't this in direct contradiction to something PayPal said a day or two ago? Something akin to "golly gee we're not sure what happened but we're looking into it".
On another note, this applies to private transactions only, not commercial ones. This directly affects any freelancers who aren't operating as a company though, such as Rent-A-Coder, et. al.
Re:Bullshit (Score:2, Interesting)
On another note, this applies to private transactions only, not commercial ones. This directly affects any freelancers who aren't operating as a company though, such as Rent-A-Coder, et. al.
According to TFA it applies to personal payments, not purchase of goods or services, regardless of whether they're operating as a corporation or not.
Oh.. but since it must be sent as a purchase, the recipient must have an account enabled for selling things, and PayPal will of course charge a transaction fee on the transfer.
Re:My conspiracy theory (Score:3, Interesting)
What negative portrayal of India is there here?
Seriously, there's nothing negative at all in any of those links (well I'm sure there is in the comments on the link to another slashdot article, but that article itself isn't) or in the summary.
Re:Paypal is a mess (Score:5, Interesting)
My IP, name, address, phone number, etc. are banned on paypal and any variation thereof and they tried to send a collection agency after me for 2 accounts I had. I told them to fuck off and they can't do jack since I, as a precautionary measure, changed my bank account numbers as soon as they limited my accounts. Just because some buyer decides to do a chargeback on his credit card 120 days after purchase does not mean I am responsible for the money. Paypal is not a bank. I did not borrow from them. I do not owe them anything, and they can't touch my credit. The paypalsucks website is living truth of what they can do to their customers. Some people lost $5K plus, and most are scared into cooperating by the collection agency. I at least didn't lose anything except for the account I opened in 1999 and my ability to use ebay, but they can lose the business. I use craigslist instead now and don't have to pay to put up auctions or pay transfer fees.
Re:State vs Internet (Score:1, Interesting)
I'll be keeping an eye on my PayPal account to see if his partial payment stays around!
Re:Why limit incomming remittance? (Score:1, Interesting)
Exactly. Think of the West a century or so ago. Enforcement of the law (specifically for taxes) is very difficult and most people do end runs around the government. Bribing Income Tax (India's IRS) officers is routine for most businessmen. The situation is improving but is far from ideal.
Re:State vs Internet (Score:4, Interesting)
?
1- PayPal is a poster case of why governments are needed: freezing, canceling, hijacking accounts with no rhyme, reason, nor customer service. Just imagine if banks where free to keep your cash 'coz they no longer like you. I'll use PayPal once it is regulated, meself.
2- In some countries, the government is not only about regional control and protection. Education, Health, Retirement, Social Security... To my unprofessional eyes, governments do not seem to do much worse than the private sector in those domains, on average. I'd rather study, be sick, retire or be on the dole in France than in the US.
3- Countries exist because it is easier to feel close to people with the same language and culture.
Have you traveled at all ? Not as a tourist, but staying for moth than a month in a different country, working with locals ?
Re:State vs Internet (Score:5, Interesting)
Only an idiot would consider an economy with almost 7% growth [finmin.nic.in] in a global downturn to be a lumbering, stagnant market.
Apparently, neither do you.
Re:State vs Internet (Score:2, Interesting)
The white man emasculates you
because you assume he will emasculate you.
The black man steals from you
because you assume he will steal from you.
The brown man slows you
because you assume he will slow you.
The yellow man trumps you
because you assume he will trump you.
We kill others
because we assume they will kill us.
We lie to others
because we assume they will lie to us.
We horde from others
because we assume they will horde from us.
We help others...
Self-fulfilling stereotypes can only be stopped at the source: You.
Re:State vs Internet (Score:3, Interesting)
Canada's banks did well too.
Yeah, and for exact same reasons - strict government regulations on how much and who they can credit.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)