ONTARIO, CANADA — First they came for the porn sites. Then they came for the kinky leather goods sites. Then it was any site that concerned sexuality. Now it’s time for the nudists. Who is the latest “they?” Why, PayPal, of course. According to an article on the National Association for Nude Recreation, Northwest Region, website, adults who enjoy experiencing life with minimal clothing will find it more difficult to engage in certain kinds of online commerce, regardless of whether or not they have pockets at the time of attempted purchase.
Specifically at issue are payments for the Federation of Canadian Naturists’ (FCN) Going Natural magazine, which had been processed by PayPal for the past four years without incident.
Paul, the article’s author, reports that “PayPal has abruptly cancelled service” to the magazine’s publisher and has refused to provide an explanation beyond what is contained in “generic e-mails from faceless and implacable customer-service personnel.
Although publishers have been unable to ascertain how the magazine violates the payment processor’s acceptable use policy, Paul indicates that company correspondence describes the magazine as “pornographic, and sells sexually oriented goods or services involving minors” or in other ways designed to “facilitate meetings for sexually oriented activities.”
Apparently when PayPal representatives were deeming the naturist magazine pornographic, they neglected to learn more about the skyclad lifestyle. As Paul points out, enthusiasts are part of a more than 100-year-old social movement “unrelated to sexual activity.”
If misery loves company, the FCN can count itself among friends, given that Paul observes in his article that other naturist organizations have been rejected by PayPal. Many websites that cater to non-traditional sexuality and body-centered lifestyle communities in Canada and the United States have found themselves on the wrong end of the PayPal near monopoly on internet commerce. Its marriage with eBay has created even greater hardships for those attempting to exchange goods and compensation online.
Judy Williams, the government affairs director for the Federation of Canadian Naturists doesn’t mince words when she’s quoted by Paul as saying that “PayPal’s decision about Going Natural and its claims about the FCS are unfounded embellishments born of ignorance.”
With more than 153 million accounts worldwide, organizations such as the FCN are increasingly uncertain about how to engage in legal commerce via the internet. Williams believes that the payment processor “has responsibility to avoid making arbitrary and narrow judgments, as well as issuing wildly untrue and offensive statements about clients.”
Unsurprisingly, the FCN is considering a class action suit; something PayPal is not unfamiliar with, having paid out more than $9 million in 2004. Toward that end, the Federation of Canadian Naturists encourages any organization which believes it may have been denied service by PayPal due to political, social, or religious views to contact it.
