Aussie Reserve Bank Eyeing eBay's PayPal Policy

Bulldust writes "Regular readers will recollect the recent story that eBay is forcing Australian users over to PayPal or COD as the only forms of payment in June 2008: eBay Australia Makes PayPal Mandatory. It now appears that the Australian Reserve Bank will consider throwing its weight behind users, should the eBay policy be deemed to breach trade practice and competition laws."

Ooops

I am guessing eBat/PayPal forgot there are regulatory bodies they should consult before doing such things.

Re:Ooops

I am guessing eBat/PayPal forgot there are regulatory bodies they should consult before doing such things.

No, Ebay and PayPal like to paint themselves as being in a position where they benefit from the regulations they find convenient, and they're exempt from the ones they find inconvenient.

PayPal regularly says they're not a bank and not subject to the rules on banking, and EBay routinely says "we're just a facilitator".

They seem to actually conduct their business as if they are exempt from such forms of regulation. This could be the first time someone has corrected them and pointed out that they aren't the ones that choose which regulations apply.

Cheers

Re:Ooops

in australia we have a legal principle: If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, eats like a duck, weighs roughly the same as a duck and most australians who've seen it all consider it to be a duck, its most likely duck and probably laws about ducks apply, even if said duck says its a fucking goose.

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in australia we have a legal principle: If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, eats like a duck, weighs roughly the same as a duck and most australians who've seen it all consider it to be a duck, its most likely duck and probably laws about ducks app

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Sure, why not? "Oh fer the luvva mike"/"Oh fer cripes sake"/"Oh fer cryin' out loud" is an actual legal defense in the state of Wisconsin.

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Sure, why not? "Oh fer the luvva mike"/"Oh fer cripes sake"/"Oh fer cryin' out loud" is an actual legal defense in the state of Wisconsin.

Oh, you can't believe how much I want that to be true. That would be just too funny.

I honestly have no idea if you're

Very small rocks?

I hear that in Britain, if it weighs roughly the same as a duck, it's most likely a witch.

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I'd hate to see how the Aussies handle a platypus [discovery.com]. :(

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in australia we have a legal principle: If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, eats like a duck, weighs roughly the same as a duck and most australians who've seen it all consider it to be a duck, its most likely duck and probably laws about ducks apply, even if said duck says its a fucking goose.

But does it also have to weigh the same as a witch?

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I am guessing eBat/PayPal forgot there are regulatory bodies they should consult before doing such things.

They forgot nothing at all. They actually submitted notice to the ACCC specifically asking for permission to be excluded from regulations that would stop this sort of thing, as it's "more secure" for the end user, and thus ultimately in the end users be

why all the greed

Why do so many people/companies insist on squeezing every last dime possible out of people. What's wrong with being content with a reasonable profit? I own my own business, have all sorts of toys, and pay my bills. I do so just fine by charging reasonab

Re:why all the greed

"What's wrong with being content with a reasonable profit?"

The culture and economic system demand the greed, remember Ebay is public company owned by shareholders, whose sole purpose is growth of profits.

As for people. People want power, when people say they want to be "rich", it's not that they want to just be rich (10 million or so) they want as much wealth as possible. Being 'rich' is relative to the richest, what they mean is "I want to be among the richest".

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something like 1% of males are psychopathic, and about 90% of those end up in positions of power in large corporations, where most of the traits in psychopathy are looked for in top executives ... and yet people wonder why our corporations are all greedy i

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Do you have evidence for those statistics? They seem rather unbelievable. I'd believe that 1% of people are nuts--I've met a few. But to say that 90% end up in positions of power? You have to be good at what you do to end up having power.

And you say that p

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Publicly-traded companies have to do what's in the shareholders' best interest - and most people own stock to make a profit and no other reason.

Lesson: If you want to keep your company focused on helping people, doing things right, and making a reasonabl

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Or, you know, we could revise the law so that a public company's legal responsibility is to make profit, and not to make the most profit.

so the wheel turns again...

nothing to see really. its just your classic instance of internet suicide. goes something like this:

1. new website offers cool technology
2. people browse over, see it, like it, use it
3. it becomes a "defacto" standard and charges more money
4. because there is perceived to be a market, and people are frustrated with the charges from the original an alternative website is launched
5. as alternative website gains more custom it becomes a more viable alternative, more people hear about it, more people leave original site
6. the tipping point when the hassle of changing to the alternative is less then the annoyance of the charges charged by current website begins to slid in favor of the alternative
7. the original collapses like a flan in a cupboard and people move en masse to the alternative
8. realizing what an ass hat it has been the original makes desperate offers and price cuts to regain favor, hoping it has not pissed off its clientèle too much.
9. the alternative service decides that now it is the "defacto" standard, it can raise prices.. ...

hell we've all seen it again, and again.

any bets on what the alternative will be?

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What is it about cupboards that causes flan to collapse?

google

Isn't is about time that google put out a auction site and linked it into the search. EBay needs a real competitor.

This has implications for ebay in the US

In March ebay very quietly started requiring paypal as a payment option for certain categories for items listed on ebay.com. Computers, for one. I discovered this when I tried listed some Unix system admin books I no longer need, as I do not have and do now want a paypal account. I complained to ebay about it, and they sent me their boilerplate propaganda about "makeing ebay a safer place for buyers". In June, paypal will be required for all new ebay sellers, and for all currrent sellers with under 100 feedback, in the US.

What they refuse to acknowledge is that paypal offers no protection to sellers. Stolen credit cards and reversed-charges are still a potential for any transaction done via paypal. Until ebay gives me as a seller the option to wait 35 business days to ship an items paid for via paypal, there is no seller protection.

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From papal's chargeback FAQ:

"Although a chargeback may appear similar to a PayPal claim, itâ(TM)s actually a process that is granted to a cardholder by their credit card company and initiated outside of PayPal. In a dispute over a chargeback, the d

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All these stories coming from Austrailia makes me wonder: Who is more communist? Austrailia, or Russia?

Ummmm ... seriously? Why are the Aussies communist for regulating a practice which limits consumer choice and which allows a company to force payment op

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Hey. We've had 12 years of Howard, almost. Imagine if you have another 4 years of Bush ahead of you. The US would be screwed too.

That said, AUSTRALIA is not in the least bit communist. We are, however, voting strongly for more worker and consumer rights th

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Hey. We've had 12 years of Howard, almost. Imagine if you have another 4 years of Bush ahead of you. The US would be screwed too.

How's Rudd working out, now you've had him a bit? While he seemed to be a really big improvement over Howard at first (of cou

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Rudd is still having his "honeymoon period" in government. This has been extended by the ineptness of the Opposition and some toadying on behalf of the media. He has said a lot about what his government will do and has not made a complete fool of himself o