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PayPal Dumped Cloud Company After It Refused To Monitor Customers' Files (fortune.com)

German Dropbox rival Seafile claims PayPal dropped it as a customer after it refused to comply with the payment services company's demand to spy on its users' data. In a blog post, the company informed its customers that they can no longer pay for the service using PayPal -- the only payment method that Seafile currently relies on. CEO Silja Jackson told Fortune, "We're looking into alternative payment services, but currently we're running a cloud service and not getting paid." Founded in 2009, Seafile has over 250,000 users, many in universities. The service offers an open-source file-synchronization system that organizations can install on their own servers -- for a fee, if they want enterprise features -- and last October the firm decided to also start offering a paid version that's hosted on Seafile's German servers, for individuals and small businesses.

73 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. So... by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Informative

    Nothing of substance has changed at PayPal since the old days. Check.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      True, but I just assume my cloud storage is being monitored.

    2. Re:So... by NatasRevol · · Score: 3, Informative
      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    3. Re:So... by greenfruitsalad · · Score: 1

      but this is a good thing. paypal gets bad publicity, seafile gets exposure (and new customers). the more public this gets, the better.

    4. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      EUDP laws in Germany prohibit any activity such as that running out of datacenters hosting German citizen information. If the company is legit, there was no way it could comply with PayPal under those restrictions imposed by the EUDP.

    5. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      I did not, in all likelihood, read the article.

      Indeed. Seafile is an illegal file sharing site run out of China. They may call themselves a "cloud company", but that is really stretching the definition. Paypal is not asking for any user-specific data, but just anonymized aggregate statistics about file types and traffic. Of course, if Seafile did that, they would 100% match the profile of illegal file sharing (because that is what they are), so they refuse and pretend to be a victim standing up for principles. Paypal was going to cut them off, no matter what, so at least this way they garner some free publicity. Whatever.

      What?

      Seafile is a German company that sells licenses to software that lets you run a Private Cloud (file synching/sharing server).

      It's like DropBox you run yourself.

      Yes, Seafile does offer a hosted version, where you run your private cloud on their servers, but they do not encourage or make easy the sharing of illegal files, any more so than any other file syncing platform (again, the obvious comparison is DropBox).

      Do you think DropBox is an illegal file sharing service?

    6. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Are you out of your mind? Seafile offers an open-source self-hosted cloud platform, optional closed source enterprise features and, in addition, cloud-hosting à la dropbox. I've never seen it used for piracy (and believe me I'd know if it was). And what has it being run out of China to do with anything?

    7. Re:So... by tattood · · Score: 1

      Do you think DropBox is an illegal file sharing service?

      Dropbox or any other cloud-based storage do not market themselves as an illegal file sharing service, but that doesn't mean they can't be used for that. You can quite easily make a shared dropbox/box/seafile folder only accesible to people with the link, and share the link with whoever you like.

      --
      WTB [sig], PST!!!
    8. Re:So... by hackertourist · · Score: 4, Informative

      Paypal is not asking for any user-specific data, but just anonymized aggregate statistics about file types and traffic.

      As if that's an acceptable demand. The information Paypal gathers should not go beyond the transaction itself.

    9. Re:So... by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      I did not, in all likelihood, read the article.

      Indeed. Seafile is an illegal file sharing site run out of China.

      Seafile GmbH

      That's a German company, run out of Germany, which is evident even from a light skimming of TFS. Paypal has no need of knowing anything about the hosting side of things.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    10. Re:So... by PCM2 · · Score: 3, Funny

      now that Slashdot is a kook blog

      You say that as if something has changed.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    11. Re:So... by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Informative

      Seafile is an illegal file sharing site run out of China

      Whoever marked this drivel informative needs their modpoints suspended.

    12. Re:So... by PCM2 · · Score: 1

      There IS a german company selling the product. AND there is a chinese company developing and selling the software in Asia. And it really doesn't matter. If I buy software to host my own files I don't want anyone snooping in.

      This issue is about the German company's hosted cloud service, not the product that you can buy and install yourself.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    13. Re:So... by Trashcan+Romeo · · Score: 2

      mega.co.nz doesn't market itself as an illegal file sharing service either But... you know...

    14. Re:So... by kelarius · · Score: 1

      Maybe you should read TFA before making statements like this. PayPal thought that this service was facilitating illegal file sharing, similar to MegaUpload, and that violates PayPal's ToS. Seafile is a pretty small company, since they don't have alot of people using the service that can vouch for it, if they can't provide evidence that the service ISN'T being used for illegal file sharing, I can't necessarily blame PayPal for cutting them off. To be clear, I don't blame Seafile for taking the stance they have, I would have done the same thing. I just understand why PayPal did what they did, and if or when enough Seafile users start publicly complaining, PayPal may very well reverse their position.

      --
      Personally I'd rather have my idiots at home glued to the TV than out doing idiotic things
    15. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It is always amazing that idiots like you always need to let the world know their ignorance an incompetence. I mean seriously are you really this dump and stupid?

      Next time try to read and comprehend

      https://seafile.de/

      Next time you try RTFA:

      Seafile was founded in 2009 by students at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and has in the last couple years gained enough traction in Germany to form a subsidiary there.

    16. Re:So... by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Do you think DropBox is an illegal file sharing service?

      Dropbox or any other cloud-based storage do not market themselves as an illegal file sharing service, but that doesn't mean they can't be used for that. You can quite easily make a shared dropbox/box/seafile folder only accesible to people with the link, and share the link with whoever you like.

      DropBox also has a nasty habit of deleting your account if you're sharing your files a bit TOO publicly.

      People love to share their files via Dropbox - it's very fast, no ads, etc. But they are quick to delete and disable accounts using it share copyrighted files far and wide, which is why people don't use it for that.

      Mega is another favorite - again, no ads, no waiting, fast, etc. But other than a couple of cases, people haven't lost their accounts for sharing.

    17. Re:So... by jenningsthecat · · Score: 1

      ...PayPal thought that this service was facilitating illegal file sharing, similar to MegaUpload, and that violates PayPal's ToS... I just understand why PayPal did what they did...

      I understand that PayPal did what they did because they're hypocritical shits with hypocritical ToS, and they shouldn't be given even a hair's width of slack when they pull stunts like this. They regularly steal money from their clients, and the last time I checked that was illegal. I know PayPal enjoys the power and immunity that seem to apply so universally to banksters, but that's no excuse for them to also be such assholes about holding others to a standard which they clearly refuse to apply to themselves.

      --
      'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
    18. Re:So... by Troed · · Score: 1

      I run my own Seafile instance, on encrypted disks. All communication between my clients and the server is encrypted. All the storage is encrypted.

      Why?

      Because I also assume, in a post-Snowden world, that all my communication is monitored.

    19. Re:So... by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but when you refuse to takedown items after being notified of infringing content, you should kind of expect to be prosecuted under the local laws.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    20. Re:So... by peawormsworth · · Score: 1

      Seafile is an illegal file sharing site run out of China. They may call themselves a "cloud company", but that is really stretching the definition.

      ..and you know this without access to their data?

      I dislike the general idea that if someone cannot look at someone else's private property than it must be criminal.

    21. Re:So... by allo · · Score: 1

      So, did you read the sentence?

    22. Re:So... by allo · · Score: 1

      > helping college students illegally swap music and movies
      Citation needed.

      They created an opensource dropbox clone. That's what they did and they did way better than owncloud.
      Hosted service as business model is the reasonable option to fund that.

    23. Re:So... by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Paypal has no need of knowing anything about the hosting side of things.

      PAtpal don't need to know that. Their overseers (in the whip-cracking sense) at the NSA and MPAA do, however need to know that. Likely, the State Department and or international commerce branches of government will also be interested to know if there is something worth stealing in there. Obviously, someone in German needs to set up a work-alike for Paypal, but which kow-tows to the EU TLAs, not to the American TLAs.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  2. Financial Fascism by The+Last+Gunslinger · · Score: 2

    All the strong-arm authoritarianism, none of the democratic illusions of choice!

  3. Hawking radiation by epine · · Score: 4, Informative

    Paypal officially fell into a black hole as viewed from my frame of reference a year ago.

    PayPal Will Be Able To Robo-Text/Call Users With No Opt-out Starting July 1

    Most of the changes unexciting, but one provision has consumer rights groups up in arms: PayPal is granting itself the ability to use automated systems to call and text users. These robocalls could happen for something as serious as debt collection or as frivolous as advertisements. What's more, the company grants the same rights to its affiliates. Activists are questioning the legality of these changes.

    All this shit they still do at this point amounts to Hawking radiation.

    1. Re:Hawking radiation by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Illegal in Canada under CASL. Can't wait for them to start doing it to me so I can sue them.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
  4. And nothing of value was lost by OverlordQ · · Score: 5, Funny

    If your sole payment method was PayPal, I'm not sure I trust you with my data.

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    1. Re:And nothing of value was lost by mlts · · Score: 1

      I have used them as a credit card merchant ("Paypal Here" scanner), and I've had decent luck with them over the years. I have read horror stories left and right, but maybe I'm just lucky, but I wind up using them quite often for paying on commissions.

      Next to BitCoin, they are definitely one of the easiest ways to get cash to someone.

    2. Re:And nothing of value was lost by Britz · · Score: 1

      The software is open source. The client offers client side encryption. Thus you don't have to trust them at all. You can simply turn on encryption and check the source if said encryption is secure enough for your needs.

    3. Re:And nothing of value was lost by wvmarle · · Score: 1

      Funny or not: can you suggest a viable alternative? I'm personally very interested as well.

      I'm running a small local tour company (not in the USA, by the way) and a few years ago I built a system to allow people to book tickets to my tours through my web site. Payment options are local bank transfer and PayPal/credit card. Many people here don't have a PayPal account but most do have a credit card, so I get many payments by credit card. It works fine, fees are at about 4.5% (so 3% for the credit card company and 1.5% for PayPal - which imho is fair enough), and those bookings are then processed fully automatically. That's great, I'm quite happy with it as it goes.

      Now when I started this, I've been looking for alternatives to PayPal, and found none. A few credit card processors for high volume (10-100 times my turnover) and still fees that were much higher than PayPal's. Getting a direct credit card merchant account with a bank (and dealing with all the security of credit card numbers - no thanks! No credit card details on my systems, please!). That's about it. I see many many other companies using PayPal as their credit card processor, and it appears to be PayPal or DIY, where the DIY option is for the big guys only that can afford the liability and have the capacity to deal with highly sensitive information like credit card details.

      So, seriously. Is there a valid competitor to PayPal? Reasonable fees (under 5% of the transaction amount, no monthly fee), willing to handle small amounts and no minimum monthly turnover, being able to integrate with your web site (only the checkout part is done on PayPal using their web API, after which customer is sent back to my site), and easy transfer of funds received to local bank accounts all over (most parts of) the world? Having one that's located within the EU would be icing on the cake.

  5. Can you say privacy shield? by bill.pev · · Score: 1

    I thought Safe Harbor was overturned by the EU specifically to prevent this type of abuse.. and now we have Privacy Shield coming [specifics tbd] to which I would think Paypal must also adhere. They clearly intend no such adherence.

    1. Re:Can you say privacy shield? by MoFoQ · · Score: 1

      Of course, seafile guys will need $ to litigate (unless they can get a state sponsor) If only they would diversify their payment options. bitcoin, their own via stripe/square, google wallet, etc. shoot, square even has their money sending service: cash(dot)me Or perhaps Swedish Klarna which appears to also service Germany.

    2. Re:Can you say privacy shield? by allo · · Score: 1

      privacy shield does not mean anything. It's like "usa says they won't do evil, but they reserved the right to do so". That's why the eu activists want to stop it (and keep at the current "data should not leave safe countries" policy, which is just covered by the normal laws regarding privacy in the eu).

    3. Re:Can you say privacy shield? by allo · · Score: 1

      now they will.

  6. Others by The+Raven · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Makes me wonder what other cloud storage providers didn't say no.

    --
    "I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
    1. Re:Others by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      I think it would be easier to just give them Arabic names.

  7. "We're looking into alternative payment services" by bmk67 · · Score: 2

    Issues with Paypal's policies aside, this is what can happen when you don't diversify your payment processing. If your one vendor dumps you, you're boned.

    It's forgivable during the startup phase, but c'mon, you've been around since 2009 and have a claimed 250K users.

  8. Old News by jklovanc · · Score: 4, Informative

    Paypal has been doing this for a long time.

  9. Re: Europe by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    Please clarify - which candidate? I can't tell which of six you're referring to.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  10. Re:bitcoin solves exactly this problem by wardrich86 · · Score: 1

    I could see this as a potentially good thing. It's down a bit now, but that may be allowing more people to use the service and spreading its use (more people accepting it means more places it can be spent).

  11. Awefuly clickbatey summary by Malenx · · Score: 5, Informative

    I initially thought the summary meant PayPal wanted access to the customer data, but the story told me they just wanted analytics showing the file sharing website was attempting to combat copyright infringement.

    I still side with seafile, but that's not nearly as douchey as I interpreted the summary.

    1. Re:Awefuly clickbatey summary by mlts · · Score: 1

      I wonder what the "analytics" mean. Would this be a scan of all the user data and handing over names, sizes, and file hashes of files, names of files uploaded/downloaded, or something less intrusive?

    2. Re:Awefuly clickbatey summary by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      The reason for this is that they keep getting pulled into copyright lawsuits directed at other companies for contributing by allowing payments (apparently it has become the payment company's job to police the sites that use their services now). It's CYA.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    3. Re:Awefuly clickbatey summary by mlts · · Score: 1

      That puts Seafile in quite a bind. If they do a "file foo" on everything uploaded and hand that over, that can get them in some legal hot water, or at best, net them bad press. If they don't, they lose PayPal.

      Looks like they made the best decision they could. As for Bitcoins, someone would make a mint if they could make an easy to use processing service, on the level of Square or PayPal. BitCoin is still a unsteady currency, but as a means to move real money to it, make the transaction, then move out of it quickly, it is usable.

  12. Really.... by OfficeLackey · · Score: 1

    ...people still use PayPal?!? Who knew? Or cared? Them and Ebay, they're like the rummage sell of the Internet. (...Caveat emptor)

    1. Re:Really.... by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 1

      You probably use PayPal even when you don't know you are using it. PayPal isn't just about peer to peer transactions. They also offer businesses credit card clearing services through PayFlow. Customers don't need a PayPal account to use it, and they don't even know they are using PayPal. They're a lot bigger than you think.

  13. Paypal has been doing this for a while now.. by slew · · Score: 1
  14. Whoever pulls strings at PayPal by no-body · · Score: 1

    - needs a shrink or detox, probably busloads of people all over the planet!

    Ever heard of
    "Hypercapitalism and Digitization,
    the total exploitation of humans...."

    Milking and classifying every human for profit.

    Acxiom - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    PayPal's philosophy is big part of that religion..

  15. Is file-sharing wrong? by mi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Seafile is an illegal file sharing site run out of China.

    Wow... So, file-sharing is wrong and "out of China" is an aggravating circumstance.

    And I read it on Slashdot, where people used to scream and fight anything suggesting that. And where referring to "out of $country" used to be a sign of "racism"...

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    1. Re:Is file-sharing wrong? by Binestar · · Score: 2

      I like how you completely ignored the "Illegal" part of the sentence and focused on the other parts. It's a really good debate strategy, you should teach it to people to help them win online flame wars.

      --
      Do you Gentoo!?
    2. Re:Is file-sharing wrong? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      So, file-sharing is wrong

      Some file-sharing is illegal. Whether it is "wrong" or not is subjective.

    3. Re:Is file-sharing wrong? by mi · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I like how you completely ignored the "Illegal" part

      The original poster, quite obviously, expressed personal disapproval of the activity. Whether the activity is, in fact, illegal (and in which country), does not matter — whether it is wrong, is what's important.

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    4. Re:Is file-sharing wrong? by ultranova · · Score: 1

      I like how you completely ignored the "Illegal" part of the sentence and focused on the other parts.

      In the context of copyright law, "illegal activity" means "activity someone with money doesn't like". Fear can be forced through draconian punishments but respect must be earned, and an utterly corrupt institute simply isn't worth any.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    5. Re:Is file-sharing wrong? by dywolf · · Score: 1

      if you cant see the difference between "Mexicans are rapists" and "an illegal file sharing site originating in china" then there is no hope for you.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  16. I've been modded down for saying Paypal is evil by frovingslosh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wow, Paypal might not have changed much, but maybe Slashdot is starting to change. I've been modded down in the past for suggesting that Paypal and the electronic bay of thieves were evil, apparently by people who like to use them and don't want to consider the moral implications. Now it comes out that Paypal, a private company, is trying to get access to files that I store on a German server (obviously I don't really, since I absolutely will never use Paypal), based on nothing more than the account was paid for through Paypal.

    I'm shocked! Shocked that Slashdot users might finally be waking up to some of the abuses of this company!

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    1. Re:I've been modded down for saying Paypal is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Funny you should mention that. Back in the day (this is at least 13 years ago now) I lost mod privs because I would mod up posts like yours that pointed out what piece of shit scum Paypal was. The same thing happened to people who dared show support for climate skepticism, or anybody seeking to expose the evil of the scientology cult.

      The mod system here is too centrally controlled and deeply flawed. Always has been and probably always will be.

    2. Re:I've been modded down for saying Paypal is evil by frovingslosh · · Score: 1

      How interesting. I'm 3 for 3 on your list and I lost mod privileges too. Never understood why before.

      --
      I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
  17. Re:"We're looking into alternative payment service by Darinbob · · Score: 1

    PayPal is a bad idea even for a simplistic personal transaction. But what "organization" uses PayPal of all things? It's absurd. If they can't handle a credit card transaction then they shouldn't be an online business. I can just see someone from IT shouting over the top of the cubicle, "Hey, anyone have the PayPal password so I can renew our cloud?"

  18. But everybody's doing it... by evolutionary · · Score: 1

    Recently so many people are taking spying/data collection to a whole new level including the dreaded MS. And the government benefits so they won't add policies to control them themselves unless there is a big public stink.It's unfortunate that Snowden's effort didn't get more public reaction. It's nice to see some companies trying to do the right thing. Be nice to use them to keep others in the industry honest. what about GoogleWallet or Authorize.net?

    --
    "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
  19. And then the crying starts by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    Government Left Hand: You damned well better make sure you are not knowingly an illegal file sharing service!

    Government Right Hand: You damned well better not be spying on your customers' stuff!

    What porn is it when someone takes it from both ends simultaneously?

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  20. Wrong tag, what is the matter with Slashdot?? by Britz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why was this voted "informative"? This comment is meant sarcastic, if you only read the article.

    Seafile offers software that allows you to operate a private service akin to Dropbox. They are open source, so they have source packages as well as precompiled versions of their server and client for download. Their business model consists of offering a version of their software with additional features that costs money. They also offer paid support.

    The German company by a similar name (Seafile GmbH in Germany vs. Seafile Ltd. out of China) started offering space on Seafile servers operated by themselves last year.

    Spying on their users is not only impractical, since the client offers encryption, but also illegal in Germany, where the servers are located.

    Like Dopbox, Google Drive and similar services, Seafile offers file sharing via a web link, of course, which makes illegal file sharing possible, but also pretty dumb, since German law has legal options to force Seafile to divulge the identity (only paying customers, remember?) of someone providing a link to a file on the server space they rented, if the file contents are illegal in some way.

    So why the "Informative" tag on something so entirely misleading?

  21. Re: Europe by rickb928 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    'Ferocity'.

    You clearly define that differently than I do.

    Hillary defines 'them' mostly as Bernie does. Two for one there. The who should be obvious by now, but for clarification, I am one of 'them'.

    Johnson seems to define 'them' as other politicians and their lackeys. He may be a poet in hiding. He seems sincere, but don't they all?

    Cruz defined 'them' as Democrats and their sponsors, I think. He neglected the leadership of his own party, largely to his detriment.

    Trump of course changes his definition to fit the occasion. This is either pandering or opportunism, with a healthy dose of carnival barker thrown in. The rest should be paying attention to his tactics. Hillary would have to change very little to be like Trump. Bernie, well, tougher. Johnson is not playing the same game, so he isn't losing, he's just irrelevant. For now. Nothing is certain yet.

    The rest of the Republican elves could not distinguish themselves, and no longer get my words beyond dismissal.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  22. EBay by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

    Wait, is this the same PayPal that is owned by EBay, the company that has for years refused to do anything about the selling of copyright infringing software through their site, instead offering an "official" complaint system which is just completely ignored, and continues to do nothing about it to this day? Are they afraid of a little competition?

    --
    Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
  23. *Cough* Bitcoin *Cough* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The time has come.

  24. Some racism more equal than others? by mi · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Is "run from a country with a track record of flagrant disregard of international copyright law

    By that logic, pointing out, that welcoming refugees from countries with a comparably flagrant disregard for women's rights may not be smart, is Ok too.

    And yet, Donald Trump, who suggested a freeze of such immigrations, was widely denounced as just that — a racist everywhere, Slashdot included... But bashing the entire China is Ok?

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    1. Re:Some racism more equal than others? by Threni · · Score: 1

      When people talk of a country doing something, it's usually directed at the people running it. In this instance, it wouldn't be the whole of china which would be running a company or service.

      America is by far the world's leading terrorist state; has been for decades, and they're responsible for most of the violence that happens around the world. But that's despite - not because - of the American people, who are kept in the dark about what is being done in their name; they're often the first to complain about it, when they're made aware of it, that is - news is carefully managed so that if it's covered at all it's spun to present it in a positive light.

      As for Trump; well, he is a straight-up...well, not racist, as it's not racist to discriminate againt Muslims, what with them not being a racial group, but there's morally no difference between esposing bigoted views against groups such as blacks, Muslims, Jews etc. He's just another populist arsehole politician. Republican, democrat, independent, republican. Whatever it takes, as long as he keeps his name (and his absurd hair) in the papers.

  25. I looked around a little bit by John.Banister · · Score: 1

    And, it looks like alternatives might be SofortÃoeberweisung or Giropay, but they apparently don't interact with Deutsche Bank, which seems the only German bank allowing retail USA customers. However, Deutsche Postbank owns BHF (USA) Holdings Inc. since 2001. Perhaps they could use this to provide some retail customers access to these payment services. It's a sure bet that Paypal could use some competition.

  26. Re:"We're looking into alternative payment service by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 1

    PayPal is much more than just peer-to-peer transactions. They offer businesses a credit card processing service called PayFlow, which is used by many large tech companies to collect customer payments. It's really not that unusual for merchants to have only one credit card processor.

  27. Why not SEPA? (for Europe) by MacroRodent · · Score: 1

    As a German company, it should be very easy for them to handle payments by all European customers as standard SEPA bank transfers. The commission should be lower, and the money arrives the next day at the latest.

  28. USA laws != German laws by Alain+Williams · · Score: 1

    “In our role as a global payments provider we must look at the full details of a service’s operations and compliance, including how the company addresses the laws and regulations related to the sharing or dissemination of illegal content as well as the policies of PayPal’s processing banks and card networks,” it said.

    My emphasis. Paypal do not say who's laws they are enforcing, I suspect that they are talking about the laws of the USA; they are not interested that their (Paypal's) customers might have to obey different laws. Paypal might even be obliged to demand that their customer obey laws of the USA regardless of which jurisdiction their customer is subject to. For all we know Paypal might have received a NSL (National Security Letter) as the FBI/NSA/... is interested in some of Seafile's customers -- we will never know.

  29. Re:Is anything of value lost? by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

    I have never given PP my bank info. I only use them for making payments, and the charges are made against a CC.

  30. Idiot AC by frovingslosh · · Score: 1

    Idiot AC. From the info posted on the website Paypal not only wanted the files monitored (a violation of EU laws) but also demanded a list of file types that the user was saving on the system. What the hell does Paypal need to know if I'm saving pictures in .JPG or .RAW format for? What bad thing is ging to happen if Paypak decides that I'm saving files of the "wrong type"?

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.