IP: AMEX just says 'no' to porn sites

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> X-Sender: mom () mail netmom com
> Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 19:07:16 -0400
> To: farber () central cis upenn edu (David Farber)
> From: Jean Armour Polly <mom () netmom com>
> Subject:  AMEX just says 'no' to porn sites
>
> http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/zd/20000526/tc/amex_just_says_no_to_porn_ 
> sites_1.html
>
> Friday May 26 06:15 PM EDT
>
>  AMEX just says 'no' to porn sites
>
>  By Margaret Kane, ZDNet News
>
>  You're our of luck if you want to use American Express plastic on an 
> adult Web site.
>
>  Don't worry if you've left cyberhome without your American Express card 
> when you head to that adult Web site.
>
>  Since May 1, American Express has been rolling out a new policy: It will 
> no longer cover transactions from adult Web sites. American Express 
> spokeswoman Joanne Fisher said the credit card company has just begun the 
> process of notifying their merchant clients of the decision.
>
> "The decision was ... based on about a year's worth of work we've done 
> with this industry," Fisher said. "There was an unacceptably high level of 
> customer disputes. We worked with the industry, but the challenges 
> remained, and we just decided it was no longer profitable or practical to 
> work with this industry."
>
>  'Some of the Web masters are really upset. They feel they're going to 
> lose a significant amount of money'|Tom Fisher, CCBill Tom Fisher, 
> general manager for credit card processing firm CCBill, said he had 
> received a notice from AMEX earlier this week notifying them of the new policy.
>
> He said American Express accounts for a small percentage of his business, 
> but "certainly any loss of business has an impact on any of the Internet 
> companies. "I understand some of the Web masters are really upset. They 
> feel they're going to lose a significant amount of money," he said.
>
>  Disputed charges
>
> Disputed charges are common both online and offline, but some have argued 
> that they occur more frequently with adult Web sites.
>
>  For instance, a parent may dispute a charge rung up by a teen who was 
> not supposed to have access to the card. Other problems occur when the 
> user who actually went to the site is faced with, and embarrassed by, his 
> or her bill.
>
>  Fisher said his company has not noticed any excessive problems with 
> adult sites, however.
>
> "American Express has chosen to deal with the industry in total rather 
> than on an individual basis," he said. Officials for Visa and MasterCard 
> could not reached for comment.
>
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