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ScummVM Developers Barred From Using PayPal 130

Posted by Hemos from the stupid-moves dept.
lskovlund writes "The ScummVM developers have received notice that their use of PayPal for donations is in violation of PayPal's AUP. According to a forum post, the AUP bans 'Game enhancers (which enable the play of import software and/or back up versions of software).'"
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ScummVM Developers Barred From Using PayPal More

ScummVM Developers Barred From Using PayPal

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  • Stick google adsense in the HTML.

    • Re:Quick (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Ruff_ilb ( 769396 ) on Monday September 04, 2006 @09:43AM (#16037697) Homepage
      More true than you'd know, actually. Using the google suite of checkout (which, afaik, can be used for donations) and adsense can completely replace HTML for these people. Heck, they're even getting more bang for the donation buck if they use the google service.

      PayPal needs to realize that they're no longer the only service avaiable - instead of instituting a boycott based on their personal morality, they're simply driving people to a competing service.

      I would think that this also opens up an entirely new can of worms - although I'm sure that paypal has the right to do whatever the hell they want short of taking all your cash, if they keep making moves like this, THEY may end up liable for what their service is used for. They can't really have it both ways - either they're a common, undescriminating service, or they're suddenly accountable for everyone.
      • Hey google is good, ive made my first dollar since July. But i think i can check $25 minimum.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by ehrichweiss ( 706417 )
        "although I'm sure that paypal has the right to do whatever the hell they want short of taking all your cash"

        Actually, Paypal can take all your cash too [paypalsucks.com]. I was going to use them for my[shameless plug] locals-only dating site [centralkydating.com] but upon seeing how freakin' limiting they are and how quickly/easily they can deem a site to be "adult content" no matter how G-rated it actually is, I went with other options, especially since I was considering branching out into more adult-oriented content eventually. Google wasn't

      • although I'm sure that paypal has the right to do whatever the hell they want short of taking all your cash
        From what I've heard, they can do that, too. Which is why I refuse to use them.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Raenex ( 947668 )
          although I'm sure that paypal has the right to do whatever the hell they want short of taking all your cash
          From what I've heard, they can do that, too. Which is why I refuse to use them.

          So, what payment provider do you use that doesn't reserve the right to put a hold on your account due to fraud?

      • <blockquote>
        I would think that this also opens up an entirely new can of worms - although I'm sure that paypal has the right to do whatever the hell they want short of taking all your cash, if they keep making moves like this, THEY may end up liable for what their service is used for. They can't really have it both ways - either they're a common, undescriminating service, or they're suddenly accountable for everyone.
        </Blockquote>

        Actually there are a lot of people claiming they do just that (take
      • You really put your finger on that one. You are exactly right. I don't think PayPal had much liability in this case. The writer(s) of the software didn't need paypal to create their software, and Paypal is a service that benefits the consumer (for convenience) and themselves (they take a few percent). Anybody else probably would have hung in there, and terminated the situation if any real trouble started. As a professional software engineer, I have always had some troubled feelings about reverse engineerin

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Yer Mom ( 78107 )

        Using the google suite of checkout (which, afaik, can be used for donations) and adsense can completely replace HTML for these people. Heck, they're even getting more bang for the donation buck if they use the google service.

        ...as long as the project's in the US. And everyone who wants to donate's in the US, too.

        Now, once Google gets this rolled out over a load more countries, it might be useful. But currently, if someone only accepts Google as a method of paying for something, I can't pay because I'm not

  • "Backup copies" (Score:4, Informative)

    by unfunk ( 804468 ) on Monday September 04, 2006 @08:50AM (#16037471) Journal
    well, ScummVM certainly doesn't allow me to play my "backup version" of Day of the Tentacle - the copy protection quiz is there in full effect :(

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by F-3582 ( 996772 )
      Exactly. And importing games was never an issue for a PC. PayPal's "game enhancers" definition cries for objection...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Drantin ( 569921 ) *
      interesting... my legit talkie version doesn't have a copy protection quiz... could be because it came packaged with a graphics card... (picked up from a garage sale w/o the card...)
      • The cdrom version didn't have the copy protection. Only the floppy one.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Drantin ( 569921 ) *
          Just noticed that going through the scummvm forum actually...
        • I thought some LucasArts CD-ROM games did have those copy protection quizzes. I believe Sam and Max had it. However, in their "Game Collection" packaging (several games in one big box) copy protection was removed. It may have been because they didn't give manuals in those collections (thus no way to answer the quiz).
          • Ditto Monkey Island & MI2, still presented the copy protection, but any answer gets you through. I still regret ever parting with my Amiga and copy of Zool, it came with a code-wheel for copy protection. But you try telling kids of today that...

    • Re:"Backup copies" (Score:5, Informative)

      by fuzzix ( 700457 ) <flippy@example.com> on Monday September 04, 2006 @09:51AM (#16037745) Journal
      well, ScummVM certainly doesn't allow me to play my "backup version" of Day of the Tentacle - the copy protection quiz is there in full effect :(

      ScummVM is also distributed with Broken Sword I & II these days. It must be the easiest way to run these games on modern Windows systems. Games such as Beneath a Steel Sky and Flight of the Amazon Queen have been released as freeware specifically to show off the capabilities of ScummVM and rekindle interest in these classic point-and-click adventures.

      I'd consider that "official endorsment" from the original creators of these games. It's not like the situation with Nintendo, who have spoken out against emulation as bad and evil and wrong and causes cancer - I assume this is the attitude which gave rise to Paypal's policy. ScummVM is a useful project with industry acceptance and the backing of the companies whose software it enables. It might behoove the original authors of the games to petition Paypal about their policy in this case - I've bought several LucasArts games to play on ScummVM and I reckon others have done the same. If ScummVM didn't exist it might not be so easy to run these games on my platform of choice and I wouldn't have bothered.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Tacvek ( 948259 )
        Technically paypal is misreading their policy.

        They ban game enhancement devices that "enable the play of import software and/or back up versions of software". Obviously that is only a problem if those could not be trivially done without the software. I'm fairly sure it was possible to play backup copies without ScummVM, so ScummVM is not enabling the users.

        It also does not qualify as a game enhancement device because it is a game component, not an enhancement device. It is a replacment for a shipped com

    • Try leaving the answer blank. ScummVM disables copy protection for SOME games I think (it might only be one or two non-LucasArts ones where the game devs gave the OK, I forget).
      • I tried Goblins on an older version of ScummVM and it had copy protection. In later versions it was gone. Either I did something by accident or they disabled it.

  • So switch to another service (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Colin Smith ( 2679 ) on Monday September 04, 2006 @08:53AM (#16037482)
    Nochex, worldpay or whatever.
    • Actually I heard that they're starting to accept cash in the post........ please send your donations to.......

      *inserts own address*

      Thanks guys!
    • Too many people (myself included) will be hesitant to establish an account with a lesser-known or unknown service. It would work for the wonderful folks who are determined to make the donation, but those fine developers will still see a drop in donation income compared to using the PayPal button.

      It's frightening to consider that one currency services company has enough influence to make or break someone who depends on e-pay income. Perhaps eGold would be a viable alternative; it doesn't have the user base t

  • Why ?? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 04, 2006 @08:53AM (#16037483)
    This is like VISA or mastercard all of a sudden decide that you can no longer by porn with their cards ?? make very little bussiness sense to me.

    • Re:Why ?? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Pieroxy ( 222434 ) on Monday September 04, 2006 @09:04AM (#16037530) Homepage
      Then again, Paypal has never made any business sense anyways...
      • Well, perhaps the real issue here is that the developers should consider changing their product name from ScamVM to something more neutral. It's almost like naming your product Ponzi2U or Rape4Free or WareZ-R-Us.
      • Then again, Paypal has never made any business sense anyways...

        Yeah, that 50% year-over-year revenue growth thing is crazy. Just what are they thinking?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Pieroxy ( 222434 )
          Their growth barely shows they're in the right spot. It shows nothing over their wasting of the precious ressource they are running on. Online payment is a gold bar. They have the incredible talent to make it silver. Hopefully it's a big bar.
        • Well part of they operate apears to be to lock down outgoing $$ from acounts (but usually allowing incoming$$) for almost any reason and collecting the interest for many months or longer and sometimes the $$ itself.
          I'm not claiming this from personal experience mind you, just repeating the gestalt from having read a few of the anti- paypal sites such as paypalsucks.
          It's possible all these sites are bogus as are the couple of news articles I've seen.
          And definate

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by jbdigriz ( 8030 )
      The local ILEC's business office here used to prominently display warnings about 900 numbers, and the kind ladies there will still sometimes thoughtfully install toll-blocking without your even asking. :-) Still, those comfy new air-conditioned offices were paid for in no small measure by phone and webcam, er, "sex".

      This is basic suitology, though, folks. Suits do not, contrary to popular belief, actually give a rat's ass about money, as long as their job is not affected. They are whipped dogs to begin with

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by dwandy ( 907337 )
      close ... amex [wired.com] decided that you can't buy on-line pr0n with your card...
      • That's probably just another reason why Visa dwarfs AMEX's annual sales volume. IIRC, 70% of bankcard transactions in the US are Visa, 15% are MasterCard, and 5% are AMEX. Can't find a reference offhand, but I'm pretty sure that's about right.
    • Business sense only applies to companies that have to compete. Once you have a monopoly, you can do all sorts of things that should drive consumers away, but can't because they have nowhere else to go.

  • News? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BarryNorton ( 778694 ) on Monday September 04, 2006 @08:56AM (#16037495)
    That PayPal enforce some arbitrary set of rules and close accounts is not news (not for several years). That they didn't confiscate the funds for once (?) maybe is...

  • I'm sure there is something clever (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...about alienating technolically savvy people, but for the life of me I can't think what it would be. I think the tipping point is not far off where Ebay is no longer relevent, and when it goes down so will PayPal.

  • I've about had it with PayPal (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MarkusQ ( 450076 ) on Monday September 04, 2006 @09:00AM (#16037513) Journal

    I've about had it with PayPal. They want to have it both ways--they want to be the blameless intermediary who can not be held responsible for what their customers do (in essence, a bank), yet they want to meddle in every transaction, and pass judgment on issues that are none of their business just because they hold the money.

    With a credit card company, at least they have the argument that--until you pay them back--it's their money on the line.

    Note that no laws are being broken, and so far as I can see no one even complained. This is as bad as a bank deciding that they didn't want to cash valid checks for some people because "we don't like your kind around here."

    --MarkusQ

    • Re:I've about had it with PayPal (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Jeff DeMaagd ( 2015 ) on Monday September 04, 2006 @09:21AM (#16037594) Homepage Journal
      With a credit card company, at least they have the argument that--until you pay them back--it's their money on the line.

      Sorry, I really don't believe credit card companies don't work that way. They just take the money. The impressions one might get on the "Internet" gives the impression that credit card companies are these angels and PayPal are demons, but the only difference is that CC companies are regulated, otherwise they would be worse than Paypal.

      If you are a merchant and there is a dispute, they can and will effectively remove money from your checking account and then they might be nice enough tell you they did it afterwards. It doesn't matter to them if you shipped a big item after you got an authorization, they can revoke the authorization anyway, even if you had the best intentions. This happened to my parents. Thankfully the buyer was honest and said that the transaction was legitimate, so they got their money.

      Also, if they authorize a transaction and it turns out to be fraudulent on the part of the buyer where the merchant acts in good faith to verify the card. The credit card companies will still just take the money from the merchant. If you don't have the money, they can just sue you. I had a friend who basically had the CC companies basically sue him out of business because of one large transaction that went bad.
      • I made a mistake.

        Sorry, I really don't believe credit card companies don't work that way.

        Should be:

        Sorry, I really don't believe credit card companies work that way.

      • Agreed (Score:5, Insightful)

        by MarkusQ ( 450076 ) on Monday September 04, 2006 @10:11AM (#16037849) Journal
        but the only difference is that CC companies are regulated, otherwise they would be worse than Paypal.

        Agreed. Thus my point about them wanting to have it both ways. I used to have friends who worked for PayPal, and have a tenancy towards "let the market deal with it" solutions, but there comes a point where you're engaging in fraudulent practices and should be reined in.

        Either they aren't a bank, in which case they shouldn't be allowed to do banking, or they are, and they should have to play be the same rules as regular backs. Which, among other things, can't decide not to honor payments just because they don't like you.

        --MarkusQ

        P.S. I'm no fan of credit card companies either. Or loan sharks, or venture capitalists.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by MartinB ( 51897 )

        the only difference is that CC companies are regulated

        In the UK, PayPal *are* regulated [paypal.com]. The Financial Services Authority [fsa.gov.uk] takes a dim view of electronic money institutions operating outwith their regulatory purview.

        If it walks like a duck, the FSA (rightly) wants to regulate it like a duck.

      • Also, if they authorize a transaction and it turns out to be fraudulent on the part of the buyer where the merchant acts in good faith to verify the card. The credit card companies will still just take the money from the merchant.

        The real problem here is that the "good faith verification", which the credit card companies encourage everybody to use, is a load of crap that accomplishes nothing. The courts rightly observe that it doesn't prove a damn thing and therefore, with no actual evidence of a transactio

    • Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking paypals on this motherfucking 'net!

      We're about to open some fucking adsense accounts! All praises to the google!

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by King_TJ ( 85913 )
      Personally, I think it reduces the credibility and trustworthiness of any service that claims to provide "alternatives to cash", yet places restrictions on who funds can be transferred to or from. Imagine if your phone company took it upon themselves to block incoming or outgoing phone calls to certain phone numbers based on information they obtained about the owners of the lines! Would you still stay with that phone service?

      I became aware of yet another evil little thing about PayPal recently. I used to

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Raenex ( 947668 )
        Ah, so that explains why I couldn't become verified with Paypal via Netbank. Glad you posted.
      • This is because PayPal can't just grab funds from one of your charge cards, or else you could just reverse the charges.)

        So you cannot reject an transaction that pulled money from your bank account? I am not used to those strange checkings and savings account stuff, but this surprises me. Here in germany, you can object to any "Lastschrift" within 6 weeks, leading to a rollback of the transaction.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by King_TJ ( 85913 )
          I'm not an expert on the subject or anything... but I believe the usual procedure here in the U.S. is, anyone can pull money from a checking account if they have the bank's routing number and your account number. If you wish to protest a withdrawl, you can do so by filling out formal paperwork at one of your bank branches, claiming the transaction was fraudulent or the result of a clerical error.

          Then the bank will do an investigation, and *may* undo the transaction, depending on their findings.

          I'm guessin
    • This is as bad as a bank deciding that they didn't want to cash valid checks for some people because "we don't like your kind around here."

      It's more like a bank closing someone's check account and confiscating all the money they have in there. When Paypal suspend an account, they basically sieze all the money within and most of the time you never get it back.

  • who cares? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    They're scumm anyway.

  • Other stuff that's against the AUP (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tomhudson ( 43916 ) <barbara@hudson.barbara-hudson@com> on Monday September 04, 2006 @09:03AM (#16037520) Journal

    If feeBay wants to be consistent (ha - fat chance), they would have to ban a lot more stuff:

    "Game enhancers (which enable the play of import software and/or back up versions of software).'"

    They'd have to ban the sale of all new and used laptops, desktops, and game consoles - people use these all the time to play backups.

    BTW, "the play of import software" - so imported software is a no-no, but domestic software is okay?

    • BTW, "the play of import software" - so imported software is a no-no, but domestic software is okay?

      Regional lockouts in video game consoles are made specifically to enforce 17 USC 602 [bitlaw.com] and foreign counterparts, which claims that importation of a copy of a work without permission of the copyright owner is infringement despite the first sale limitation (17 USC 109 [bitlaw.com] and foreign counterparts) that applies domestically.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by F-3582 ( 996772 )
        I've never seen a PC with region lockouts, yet. There might be some japanese hentai games that will only work on a japanese Windows, but everything else should work fine on any PC.
        • I think he's refereing specificallly to console games. Most game consoles (like DVD players) are region locked. Notable exceptions include the Gameboy DS, and the PS3 (apparently).

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Haeleth ( 414428 )
          There might be some japanese hentai games that will only work on a japanese Windows, but everything else should work fine on any PC.

          Ancient DOS games, perhaps. But Western Windows has been able to run all Japanese Windows software for years. Win2k+ with the system codepage ("language for non-Unicode applications" in XP) set to Japanese is indistinguishable from Japanese Windows from a software point of view.
        • i have a Creative dvd drive with a regional lockout. There is software to reflash the drive though.
      • All the more reason why all computers, etc., should then be banned by fee-Bay. They all allow for the playing of imported software.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ajs318 ( 655362 )
        Region lockout of DVD movies is explicitly against European and British competition laws. All DVD players sold On The Continent should be region 0 / region 255 at time of purchase. Most brand-name DVD players sold in the UK are de-regionalisable using the remote control but are set to Region 2 at time of purchase. "No brand" DVD players sold in the UK are usually region 0 / region 255 at time of purchase and many can also play DivX movies.

        Region lockout of console games probably breaks exactly the same

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Haeleth ( 414428 )
        Regional lockouts in video game consoles are made specifically to enforce 17 USC 602 and foreign counterparts

        Huh, maybe you're reading a different 17 USC 602 than the one I'm reading, which specifically states that it does not apply to "importation, for the private use of the importer and not for distribution, by any person".

        Regional lockouts in video game consoles thus manage to restrict explicitly legal activities, without significantly hampering the illegal activities they're supposedly targeting. Sound

        • Huh, maybe you're reading a different 17 USC 602 than the one I'm reading, which specifically states that it does not apply to "importation, for the private use of the importer and not for distribution, by any person".

          True, but the ban does manage to keep import games off of video game retailers' shelves, and it means that video game stores that sell import games to U.S. residents pursuant to 602(a)(2) have to ship each individual package from the country of origin, not import in bulk and ship domesticall

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by mwvdlee ( 775178 )
      ...like the blatent illegal copies of my commercial software. The pages explicitely mention my companies name, product and version included in their blurbs. I've followed the standard eBay instructions, mailing (via their complaint form) the ID's of the ads and registering with their VeRO program. And they didn't even bother to contact me! I have done these steps a number of times in the past and never have they contacted me, even though I included an unfiltered e-mail address.

      Currently I'm having (complete

      • "As far as I know, they're both the same company and they both don't care about doing honest business at all."

        Ebay bought paypal years ago, so you are right. Regulators in quite a few states are very unhappy with paypal and ebay, and have, under the threat of regulating their operations if they don't cooperate, entered into "voluntary consent agreements". You might want to check with your local attorney general's office - they probably have someone who is working the ebay/paypal file.

        Hope this helps.

    • Don't be cocky. You know what they mean when they say that.
      • "What they meant" is only relevant if you're a psychic. I can only go by what is written down. A judge would also tend to rule that a specific writing is more relevant than some vague "what we really meant." Ask SCO, who's latest "what we really mean" got bumped by the judge.
    • What ebay needs to ban is those dipshits in hong kong who list an item at a very low price - then they have medium priced shipping, so you think "wow, it's not one of those expensive shipping scams!" then you look even further into the fine print and hidden down the bottom is a tiny peice of information "mandatory insurance, 25$ US" for example.

      ARGH - total bullshit and it's actually costing EBAY money in fees!
  • Can Google Checkout be used as a "tip jar" the same way that some people use PayPal?

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by larry bagina ( 561269 )
      Google checkout has a fee structure similar to normal credit card processors. It's designed for c2b, not c2c. They do allow donations for 501c3 tax exempt organizations. It's not designed for sending a couple bucks to a guy living in his parents basement.
  • Joysticks and keyboards, after all, do let you play import games and enhance the game experience. So do monitors.

  • Perhaps.. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by malkavian ( 9512 ) on Monday September 04, 2006 @09:16AM (#16037579)
    Pay Pay haven't thought things through clearly. From the article, they broke the AUP by having donations for software that can "run software on systems other than it was purchased for".
    Well, I bought a few games ages ago to run on my PC. Guess what. I'm running them on my PC still. ScummVM just means the games carry on working despite me upgrading the OS a little.
    So, Pay Pal would like to prevent people making my upgrade path more comfortable and simple? For shame!

  • Choosing PayPal is a fault (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 04, 2006 @09:18AM (#16037585)
    PayPal is not a bank. They can practically freeze your account (and money) indefinitely and no regulation can stop them from doing so.

    Just go to http://www.paypalsucks.com/ [paypalsucks.com] and see how often they've done that in the past.

    I really wish Sourceforge (which is also owned by OSTG like Slashdot) would stop supporting PayPal and choose a more reliable service to handle project donations

    Don't trust your money to PayPal. All regulations that keep regular banks from just stealing from you do not apply for PayPal.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by b0s0z0ku ( 752509 )
      PayPal is not a bank.

      I thought PayPal *was* legally a bank.

      -b.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Dragonslicer ( 991472 )
        Nope, which is why they can freeze your account and keep all your money for any (or no) reason at any time. If Paypal were registered as a bank, they'd have to follow all the regulations, which might cut into their profits.
    • Someone should start an SF project for that, and then people could donate to it to support it and... oh wait... doh.
  • While it is their right to deny anyone for any reason, this stuff is stupid and only drives away business. Same goes for Ebay with the stuff they 'ban' from auction.
    • This is the problems with a monopoly.

      Shitty behaviour does NOT drive away business, if there's no meaningful competition. If no one else offers the same level of support and comparable market penetration to paypal, then they can be as offensive and dirty as they want without losing any business.

      That's why anti-trust laws don't prevent monopolies, but restrict their behaviour.

  • Email to support (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Dear xxxxx,

    Thank you for contacting PayPal.

    We are sorry you are disappointed.

    Sincerely,
    PayPal, Acceptable Use Policy Department
    PayPal, an eBay Company

    Original Message Follows:

    http://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?p=12891 [scummvm.org]
    http://games.slashdot.org/games/06/09/04/1227227.s html [slashdot.org]

    that just sucks, I will never ever use paypal again, unless you take
    that back!

  • Funny that... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Craig Maloney ( 1104 ) * on Monday September 04, 2006 @10:06AM (#16037820) Homepage
    It also allows one to play regular, licensed copies of the games as well.

    The horror!
  • I mean what the FUCK business of theirs is it if money goes to support homebrew software or emulation?

    That shit is LEGAL! LEGAL GODDAMNIT! Those people don't distribute roms.

    When you're a fucking monopoly on internet transactions, you don't fucking abuse your power. You do what the law requires you to do AND THAT's IT! God forbid they should spend their energies making sure honest sellers don't get screwed by people who hacked accounts.

    Goddamned cocksuckers.

  • So when are they going to cut off donations for the DosBox project? (http://dosbox.sf.net) Or ZSNES? (http://www.zsnes.com/index.php?page=donate) Or even Wine? (http://www.winehq.com/site/contributing#wpf) Come on, folks, this is ridiculous.

  • obscure reference (Score:5, Funny)

    by adolfojp ( 730818 ) on Monday September 04, 2006 @12:00PM (#16038537)
    Dear PayPal

    Oh yeah! You fight like a cow!

    Love
    Your friends at ScummVM

  • Very Few Options (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Kagato ( 116051 ) on Monday September 04, 2006 @12:32PM (#16038705)
    I feel bad for the guys. The problem they are going to run into is that PayPal, for all that is evil about them, does one this really well. Running donation payment processing.

    While they can look for alternitive payment systems, they will run into the issue that Donation systems have extremely high fraud rates. Why? Because donations have very little anti-fraud proceedures. So they are a megnet for people who want to test stolen credit card numbers out on. Most merchant solutions will shut you down if you hit 1-2% fraud against all your transaction rate. Since PayPal was both an aquiring bank, and payment processor, they were able to side step a lot of that. As well as set up a lot of anti-fraud stuff that kicked in before the merchant even noticed.
  • which enable the play of import software and/or back up versions of software
    wouldn't this also affect virtualisation software? many copy protections detect virtual cd-drives by looking through the running processes, but if you run the games in virtual PCs, then such copy protections can't look at the processes that run on the real PC - only at those running on the virtual one, which wouldn't contain a virtual cd-drive software...
  • Paypal likes to hide their phone number, give them a call and tell them what you think of this situation. I've personally used SCUMMVM to play Sam and Max, it would have been very hard without it. Others have said that some games oficially come with SCUMMVM these days.

    From the paypalsucks.com [paypalsucks.com] FAQ:

    Be very careful about using numbers posted in forums on the net (and this includes ours.)

    • Their toll free number is (888) 221-1161 - personally verified by experience of the admin of this site.
    • Their NEW regular t
  • What I find so interesting about the "game enhancer" thing, is that this could imply *anyone* that sells any modern game consoles, including properly-regioned, unmodified consoles. Almost every modern console has software built into them that can directly affect a user's gaming experience (such as age rating restrictions, parental controls, etc...). Doesn't this qualify as "enhancement"?

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