Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
Wait. Smashwords is allowed to refuse to do business according to its own set of standards, but PayPal isn't?
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Smashwords previously set very minimal standards, mostly dealing with illegal material such as underage sex. And Smashwords is the retailer. It does get to decide what it sells. Paypal and the CC companies are mostly monopolistic money processors and as long as what their customers sell is legal they should keep their noses out of it. You might not like strip clubs, for example, but do you think the phone company and power company should be able to refuse to provide services on moral grounds?
Do you want corporations deciding what is morally acceptable for you to read?
Think of it this way. I have a legal product I want to sell. There are numerous customers who want to purchase it. Smashwords is willing to sell it to them. Then along comes a banker in a country halfway around the world wagging his finger and saying "No, no! That's icky! I refuse to allow this material to be sold!" Now if there is some other, less prudish banker you just switch, but what if there isn't any? Then the banker takes charge of what legal material can and cannot be sold throughout the world.
Has the banking industry ever done anything that leads you to believe they should be entrusted with that kind of power and responsibility?