PayPal: The legal status of C2C payment systems

Computer Law and Security Report

Volumn 20, Issue 4, 2004, Pages 293-299

  González, Andrés Guadamuz ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COMPUTER CRIME; CRYPTOGRAPHY; INTERNET; LAWS AND LEGISLATION; ONLINE SYSTEMS; TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES; WEBSITES;

DIRECTIVES; ONLINE PAYMENT SYSTEMS; PAYPAL;

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE;

EID: 84979828578     PISSN: 02673649     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0267-3649(04)00051-2     Document Type: Article

References (41)

1. For more e-commerce figures, see: http://cyberatlas.internet.com/
2. Evidenced by the implementation of regulation of this method, such as the Directive 2000/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 September 2000 on the taking up, pursuit of and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions. O.J.E.C. L275/39, 27/10/2002.
3. For more of these methods, see: Sorkin, D. E. “Payment Methods for Consumer-to-Consumer Online Transactions”, 35 Akron Law Review 1, 2001.
4. http://www.amazon.com/marketplace
5. Cohen, A. The Perfect Store: Inside eBay , Boston: Little, Brown & Co; 2002, pp.229-230.
6. Sapsford, J. “PayPal Sees Torrid Growth with Money-Sending Service”, The Wall Street Journal , February 16, 2000. @: http://www.paypal.com/html/wsj3.html
7. Sorkin, op cit; pp.11-12.
8. For more on their fees, see: http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/fees-outside
9. Thiel, P; cited by Sapsford, op. cit.
10. Grossman, W. “Online payment systems: Easy money?” The Independent , September 9, 2002. @: http://news.independent.co.uk/digital/features/story.jsp?story=331757
11. For more financial reports from eBay, see: http://www.shareholder.com/ebay/releases-earnings.cfm
12. See Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce), OJ L 178/1, Section 4.
13. Craig Comb, et-al. v. PayPal, Inc. Cases No. C-02-1227 and C-02-2777 JF (N.D. Cal., August 30, 2002).
14. For more on this subject, see: Lawson, R.G. Exclusion clauses and unfair contract terms , 6th edition, London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2000.
15. For more on the application of s.75 of the CCA, see: Ellinger, E. P; Lomnicka, E. and Hooley, R. Modern Banking Law , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 532-536.
16. This is in accordance to ss. 11 and 12 of the CCA.
17. Charge cards are cards that are not entitled to the same regime as credit cards as they are not considered credit in the legal sense because the user is supposed to clear the account almost immediately (such as Diners Club or American Express). See Ellinger, Lomnicka and Hooley, op cit.
18. For more on this programme, see: http://www.paypal.com/
19. Directive 2000/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of Europe of 20 March 2000 relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions, OJ L 126/1, 2000, Art. 1; implemented in the UK by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (RAO), SI 2001-544.
20. Directive 94/19/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of Europe of 16 May 1994 on deposit-guarantee schemes, OJ L 135, 1994, Art. 1.1.
21. ROA, s.5(1).
22. PayPal user agreement, para 2.1.
23. Grossman, op cit.
24. Wolverton, T. “PayPal not a bank”, CNet News, March 12, 2002. @: http://news.com.com/2100-1017-858264.html?tag=bplst
25. Bureau of National Affairs. “Electronic Payments: Paypal Funds Eligible for Pass-Through Insurance from FDIC as Deposits by Agent”, BNA Newsletter, Vol 7 No. 12, March 20, 2002, p.254.
26. Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), ss.33-39.
27. FSMA, s.19.
28. Ellinger, Lomnicka and Hooley, op cit; Ch. 2.
29. PayPal Europe, N. Naraine, “PayPal Readies European Subsidiary”, Internet News , January 5, 2004. @: http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3295181
30. Directive 2000/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 September 2000 on the taking up, pursuit of and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions. O.J.E.C. L275/39, 27/10/2002, Art.1.3(b).
31. R. Kavanagh, “PayPal launch European service”, ITVibe , February 11, 2004. @: http://itvibe.com/default.aspx?NewsID=1270 . It is rather ironic that the author of this small news item calls PayPal an “electronic bank”.
32. EMI Directive, Art.1.3(b).
33. PayPal Europe User Agreement, s.2.
34. EMI Directive, para (5).
35. A smart-card is “a plastic rectangle containing an electronic chip, and holding a certain amount of readable data.” See: Newman, S. “Introduction: Smart Cards”, Smart Cards, S. Newman editor (ECLIP II, IST Project Report 1999), p.3.
36. HM Treasury, Implementation of the Electronic Money Directive : A consultation document , op cit.
37. Ibid. Here they say that “The Treasury believes the Directive's definition includes both e-money schemes in which value is stored on a card that is used by the bearer to make purchases, and account-based e-money schemes where value is stored in an electronic account that the user can access remotely.”
38. Financial Services Authority. Guidance on the scope of the regulated activity of issuing e-money (2004), Appendix 3.3.20. @: http://www.fsa.gov.uk/handbook/BL3AUTHpp/AUTH/Appendix_3.pdf
39. Ibid.
40. Credit token is defined in s.14 of the CCA as any card, check, voucher, coupon, stamp, form, booklet or other document that is given to an individual, who will be able to purchase goods and services when shown to the issuer or to an authorised third party.
41. Commission of the European Community, Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament concerning a New Legal Framework for Payments in the Internal Market , COM(2003) 718 final, 2/12/2003.