PayPal's Censorship Issue: Where are the Letters to eBay & Amazon?

PayPal missed out on a great press opportunity by neglecting to send eBay (its parent), Amazon, and Books-A-Million the same letter of demands it sent to Smashwords. I'm guessing PayPal doesn't have the cajones and deep-enough pockets. Besides, Amazon could crush PayPal like a grape. So, instead of getting beaten to pulp, PayPal bullies the smaller players?

I targeted eBay, Amazon, and Books-A-Million because it appeared they aren't downstream recipients of book and ebook metadata from other sources. I'm certain there are others, but these provide a good enough sample of the marketplace for titles containing legal fiction that PayPal finds objectionable.

Here's the scoop (as of 08 March 2012):

Amazon had 17,240 titles that had objectionable / forbidden text in their listing. Of these, 9,325 were works of fiction.

eBay had 1,621 titles with objectionable text in their listings. Of these, 276 are listed as fiction.

Books-A-Million had 1,393, with 164 were fiction.

Smashwords' numbers were minor, and BookStrand and eXcessica had already caved to PayPal's demands, as they didn't have any listings containing the objectionable words.

It's all in the data below. I'd be glad to provide the Excel spreadsheet to warranted parties. Just let me know.

	eBay				Amazon				Books-A-Million				Smashwords				BookStrand.com				eXcessica
		Books, as Percent				Books, as Percent				Books, as Percent				Books, as Percent				Books, as Percent				Books, as Percent
Objectionable	Total Books	of Listings	Fiction		Total Books	of Listings	Fiction		Total Books	of Listings	Fiction		Total Books	of Listings	Fiction		Total Books	of Listings	Fiction		Total Books	of Listings	Fiction
or Banned	Listed Using	Containing	and		Listed Using	Containing	and		Listed Using	Containing	and		Listed Using	Containing	and		Listed Using	Containing	and		Listed Using	Containing	and
Keyword	Keyword	Keyword	Literature	Non-Fiction	Keyword	Keyword	Literature	Non-Fiction	Keyword	Keyword	Literature	Non-Fiction	Keyword	Keyword	Literature	Non-Fiction	Keyword	Keyword	Literature	Non-Fiction	Keyword	Keyword	Literature	Non-Fiction
bestiality	9	13%	1	8	132	65%	45	87	5	83%	0	5	23	100%	Unknown	Unknown	0	N/A	0	0	0	N/A	0	0
incest	363	83%	34	329	3,275	86%	1,676	1,599	246	98%	31	215	>10	100%	Unknown	Unknown	0	N/A	0	0	0	N/A	0	0
rape	1,163	49%	128	817	7,140	55%	1,775	5,365	1,034	97%	115	919	>10	100%	Unknown	Unknown	0	N/A	0	0	2	100%	2	0
pedophile	13	19%	6	7	464	72%	98	366	28	100%	5	23	37	100%	Unknown	Unknown	0	N/A	0	0	0	N/A	0	0
BDSM	73	6%	57	16	6,229	62%	5,731	498	85	99%	13	72	>10	100%	Unknown	Unknown	847	100%	847	0	86	100%	86	0
TOTALS	1,621	38%	226	1,177	17,240	62%	9,325	7,915	1,393	97%	164	1,265	>60	100%	Unknown	Unknown	847	100%	847	0	88	100%	88	0

PayPal's Censorship: It Gets Uglier

Did you know that eBay promotes a members-only site entitled, "The Novel Network?" It's a direct competitor of Smashwords. In exchange for a $49 "lifetime" access fee, members are allowed to download over 3 million titles in any quantity they want at any time, for supposedly no extra charge. How does this tie to the PayPal-censorship issue?
The connection: eBay bought a company a year or so ago that received venture capital from Alta Partners. "The Novel Network" is, according to Hoovers.com, owned by Alta Partners.

So, here's my interpretation of the PayPal v. Smashwords mess, which is nothing more than a new twist on an ageless predatory competitive practice.
As Amazon/Kindle's Preferred program appears designed to restrict competition, this eBay/PayPal venture is quite similar in outcomes.

As I said, "The Novel Network" is a direct competitor of Smashwords. eBay provides a link to "The Novel Network," as a sponsor feature. However, instead of including the direct link of http://www.thenovelnetwork.com/ , it's listed as www.burubookr.web99.eu/ . Seems peculiar ...

Another point: It's against card-association rules for PayPal, as a transaction processor, to reject transactions from a merchant, in this instance, unless the merchant has been classified as "high risk." So, if PayPal can provide proof to the card associations (Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, et al.) that Smashwords is non-compliant regarding banned content, then if PayPal were to push the case and win, the result can effectively change Smashwords' network classification to "high risk"; effectively cutting off Smashwords from access to the networks and its card-carrying customers. The end result - Smashwords would be limited to closed networks, checks, and cash payment methods. With its global presence, such a consequence would likely ruin Smashwords. Crippling Smashwords opens the door for "The Novel Network" to entice and assimilate Smashwords' authors, readers, and titles.

Then, get a load of "The Novel Network's" disclaimer! It absolves itself of any blame related to content (imagine that!). Here's a direct quote from the relevant portion of its Terms, Conditions, and Legal Matters:

"THE SITE, AND THE CONTENTS THEREIN, ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE DISCLAIMED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, QUIET ENJOYMENT, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DAMAGE OR LOSS CAUSED BY ERRORS OF THE SITE, CONTENT ON THE SITE OR THE INTERNET. The Novel Network DOES NOT EXERCISE CONTROL OVER ANY THIRD PARTIES THAT PROVIDE CONTENT TO THE SITE AND THEREFORE PROVIDES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES REGARDING SAME." (http://thenovelnetwork.com/legal.html)

So, "The Novel Network" sidesteps the matter, taking no ownership in the event banned content may appear on its site? eBay and PayPal endorse this position?  Well, if so, the solution for Smashwords is quite simple: Just add a sentence in its disclaimer that is identical to the one within "The Novel Network."

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