Paypal on Steroids

Paypal has been placing temporary and permanent account limitations on “steroid information websites” who Paypal determines are in violation of their Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). “Account limitations” is a euphemistic way of saying that you no longer have access to your money in Paypal.

The Paypal service may not be used for activities that, among other things, are related to the sales of:

(a) narcotics, steroids, certain controlled substances or other products that present a risk to consumer safety, (b) drug paraphernalia, (c) items that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity…

What activities are “related” to such sales? Obviously, prohibited activities include anything that may “violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation.” So, clearly transactions related to sales of anabolic steroids are not only against the law but also in violation of Paypal’s AUP.

So far, so good. How about ebooks and presumably books with anabolic steroid information? What if your website doesn’t sell such ebooks, but has a link to a third party website that sells an ebook? Yes, websites with links to EliteFitness.com were recently asked to remove such links in emails from Paypal:

Remove the link to https://www.elitefitness.com from your links page

In addition, if you receive affiliate payments in your Paypal account from EliteFitness.com, you also risk temporary and permanent limitations on your paypal account:

Please note that your use of PayPal in a way that facilitates steroid sales by receiving affiliate commissions to websites that offer violating products or for any other violation of our Acceptable Use Policy in the future may result in a permanent account limitation.

Paypal has gone down the slippery slope and determined that the following ebook is a “violating product” that “facilitates steroid sales”:

https://www.elitefitness.com/amember/order.php?price_group=-108

Certainly, the information in a book or ebook doesn’t “facilitate steroid sales” any more that a Google search for “buy steroids” or “buy anabolic steroids“!