In our October 2, 2014 post, Profit, Not Ideology, Motivates Cyberlockers that Facilitate Copyright Infringement, we noted that a Digital Citizens Alliance study found that 29 out of the 30 cyberlockers it reviewed accepted payment using a MasterCard or Visa credit card. We urged those payment processors to follow the example of PayPal, which has worked aggressively to deny such piracy-facilitating sites the use of its service.
Today, the current Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy, added his influential voice to those pressing for further MasterCard and Visa action. He sent letters to the CEOs of those businesses asking them to swiftly review the complaints against those cyberlockers and to ensure that payment processing services offered to those sites, or any others dedicated to infringing activity, cease.”
Senator Leahy also made the important point that not only do the payment processors “unwittingly contribute” to cyberlockers’ profitability, they also “lend[ ] the sites a harmful imprimatur of legitimacy” by allowing their logos to appear on the sites. He continued, “A consumer wondering whether a site is offering lawful access to copyrighted content may easily trust the cyberlocker’s legitimacy if world-respected payment processors service the site.”