It’s OK. You Can Use Paypal Again.

Smashwords wrote today to say that the pressure is off from Paypal. They (and presumably other book sellers) will be allowed to sell any legal books without fear of Paypal services being withdrawn. Apparently, all it took was for tens of thousands of people to protest about it to make Paypal talk to the credit card companies. The credit card companies then saw reason (or wanted to avoid the focus of all this outrage turning on them) and withdrew their demands that Paypal censor books.

For those who believed Smashwords, or Paypal, were the bad guys in this, I present a quote from Mark Coker’s letter to all Smashwords authors. It looks as if it just needed someone along the line to make a stand and say this is not acceptable. And, as all the corporations in the chain gave way, it was down to the authors themselves to kick up a fuss and demand something better from the financial institutions. Here’s the extract from Mark’s letter:

I would like to thank our friends at PayPal. They worked with us in good faith as they promised, engaged us in dialogue, made the effort to understand Smashwords and our mission, went to bat for our authors with the credit card companies and banks, and showed the courage to revise their policies.

This is a big, bold move by PayPal. It represents a watershed decision that protects the rights of writers to write, publish and distribute legal fiction. It also protects the rights of readers to purchase and enjoy all fiction in the privacy of their own imagination. It clarifies and rationalizes the role of financial services providers and pulls them out of the business of censoring legal fiction.

Following implementation of their new policies, PayPal will have the most liberal, pro-First-Amendment policies of the major payment processors. Will Google Checkout and Checkout by Amazon be next now that the credit card companies have clarified their positions, and have essentially given payment providers the permission to adopt more enlightened policies?