MasterCard and Visa Start Banning VPN Providers

[24FWgGC 6]

With the recent news of Visa/Mastercard starting to ban payments to VPN services, have you thought of additional methods of payment such as accepting international money orders by mail?

 

It really concerns me when Snowden suggests that properly implemented encryption remains a viable option to prevent government spying, and a couple of weeks later they start to block payment methods for such services.

[budweiser 2]

I was reading the news today and saw this. Damn it. Do they ever stop????

 

Mastercard and Visa Start Banning VPN Providers

 

EDIT: May I suggest the AirVPN team to accept money in envelopes in the near future? This and bitcoins.

[air-vpn-user 2]

AirVPN, has Visa/Mastercard contacted you on this issue?  Will they be preventing you from accepting Visa/Mastercard in the future?

[ihatespys 0]

Wow paypal blocking VPN now major credit card companies soon wont be a way to get it unless you want to do the bitcoin method which I am not to fond of.

[dd79 15]

Bitcoin, perhaps?

[Staff 10695]

Hello,

 

at the moment of this writing we have no information at all about the issue and we have not been warned about any problem. Supported payment processors remain the same, without any variation.

 

Accepting cash in mail would pose serious, practical operational problems, and perhaps legal problems as well.

 

We are anyway working to add more and more payment methods.

 

Kind regards

[bandalsquit 0]

article relating to credit card companies etc trying to block VPN is found on torrentfreak,

in practice this is a statement that would spell the end to any and all personal privacy.

i have only started using these services and don't know how it appears on my statement but they already know where i spend my money.

will end with cameras in our homes and guards paid for by corporate america on the ends of my street.

[JamesDean 10]

"...including prepaid cards."

 

It would be great if some research could be done on how to use a pre-paid card for US users. Every pre-paid card I looked at, had restrictions when paying someone outside the US. Maybe a list of pre-paid cards that work, and where to get them with cash?

 

Speaking of cash, a competitor accepts it, maybe Air can too? (Yes, we run a risk of loss, but it's acceptable to me).

 

I currently use Bitcoin, and it is best...but as far as longevity...

 

Info on Money Order listed above...yes please :-)

[retiredpilot 6]

Bitcoins are way easier than cash.  It only takes a few minutes to translate $$$$$ into Bitcoins and then send them.  I can buy them anonymously at dozens of places around here without hassles.  My .02

[NaDre 161]

...

I currently use Bitcoin, and it is best...but as far as longevity...

...

 

I am curious whether the folks who are "using bitcoin" are actually running a full bitcoind client (e.g. the original Bitcoin client or Armory). And whether thay are running it over Tor (since a Bitcoin client participates in a P2P network which could be monitored just like bit torrent swarms) as I believe I saw recommended somewhere in this forum.

 

I got all of this stuff working a few weeks ago just to see how it all works. I cranked up Armory this morning after a month or so of disuse, and after two hours it has still not synchronized the transaction chain, and its prediction of how much longer this will take keeps growing (and has never been for as long as it has already been running).

 

I think expecting "ordinary folks" to do this may be a bit unrealistic.

 

But if it is not done like this, then you are trusting some agent to use bitcoins on your behalf. So we are right back to having to trust. And then one has to focus on how to put $ into the account at the agent. For me to do this in cash (any other method requires me to let the agent know precisely who I am and even send a scan of my ID and a bill), the only option I could find was to deposit the cash to a bank account in the agents's name (they have an account at several major banks where I live, although at least one bank banned them), and ensure the dollars and cents (last three digits of the amount) matched the last three digits of my account at the agent. But the penny has been abolished here, and soon will not be accepted as legal tender!

 

Again, I think expecting ordinary folks to do all of this may be a bit unrealistic.

 

I would be reluctant to make a one time purchase of a lot of bitcoins for future use, given the volotility of the bitcoin. It seems that the financial industry has discovered it. I believe that some agents may already be holding "bitcoins" in the names of clients that they have not actually obtained yet. This reflects the fact that the bitcoin was designed to be a commodity (not a "currency") with a rate of growth in supply similar to gold. Basically what economists would call currencies (based on the Bitcoin standard, rather than the gold standard) are developing? Several different currencies.

 

All of this makes me a bit dubious about the longevity of bitcoins too.

[budweiser 2]

I am traveling to Italy sometimes this year (first time, yay). If any Sysadmins or Staff members want some good old German beer, please inform! My present for you for the great service

 

Back on topic:

The story has been picked up by the Register also. I am still not sure why Sweden...

[hashtag 151]

I don't live in the US but from what I have read it is no longer possible to use US prepaid cards to pay foreign processors or to buy subscription based services.

[hashtag 151]

This issue appears to be with Payson's bank rather than MasterCard or Visa, but it is a warning about what is possible in future.

Buying Bitcoins online and anonymizing them with a service like Blockchain's Send Shared is very easy. That being said, anonymizing Bitcoin for a VPN you connect to directly makes little sense.

[retiredpilot 6]

NaDre,

 

I say why not use Bitcoins in a separate anonymous way?  Just take cash and change it into Bitcoins at numerous facilities around.  You walk in and do the transaction anonymously.  Having created a one time wallet at a place like blockchain or others before walking in to make the transaction.  Then when the cash is now bitcoins pay your Sub here and don't ever use that specific wallet again - ever!!

 

Its only a bit more work but you don't have to worry about mixing or hiding tracks since its a one time wallet.  Can be done in seconds and is only as anonymous as the internet connection you use to navigate the process.

[NaDre 161]

...

change it into Bitcoins at numerous facilities around.

...

As I explained, where I live there definitely are not "numerous facilities around". The only options to deposit cash involve deposits to accounts at banks using the method of controlling the last three digits of the amount you deposit to identify your account. There are only two exchanges in my Country in the list provided on the Bitcoin wiki. And they both use this as the way to make cash deposits. And banks here appear to be finding excuses to close the accounts these exchanges open for this purpose.

 

It appears that there are a few places around me where I can buy a Paysafe card though. Does anyone know of a reliable place to buy bitcoins with a Paysafe card?

 

By the way, in the end Armory crashed just as it announced that it had completed scanning the transaction history. I suppose I could try downloading the entire blockchain again, which took all night the first time.

 

EDIT:

 

I was able to get Armory working again by replacing the version I had with the 64-bit version, which was not available before. Now the 32-bit version is no longer available, because of problems introduced after new Windows updates. See:

 

https://bitcoinarmory.com/troubleshooting-armory/

 

Also, if you are interested in trying to run bitcoin over Tor (in order to gain some anonymity), this forum thread may be helpful:

 

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=53031.0

 

Note  that the feeling expressed there is that downloading the entire blockchain over tor is an abuse of the tor network. And note that without incoming connections the performance of bitcoin may be affected (and you are being a leech).

[mbczero 0]

Visa and MasterCard have denied issuing the restriction, the original article has been amended as follows:

 

"Update July 4: Visa Europe told us that it “has not been involved in this matter in any way, and has not made any such stipulations to Payson or to any other organisation.” We specifically asked whether VPNs and other anonymizing services are in any way prohibited by Visa, but the company didn’t confirm nor deny. Visa believes that the issue was raised by Payson’s acquiring bank, which acts as an intermediary between payment processors and card associations such as Visa and MasterCard.

Update July 8: MasterCard also denies that they are responsible for Payson’s decision to stop accepting VPN services. “Contrary to earlier reports, MasterCard has not been involved in this matter in any way. We have not placed any restrictions on Payson.” MasterCard’s Senior VP of External Communications, Andrew Bowins, told TorrentFreak. The company agreed to offer more insight into their policies which we will address in an upcoming article."

 

I'm personally not freaked out about it, if I have to spend a bitcoin for a year, its not that hard to do just one time to ensure that we can maintain our privacy online.