2012-10-26 Forbes.com - Generic Viagra Industry Is Pro-Choice In Payments

[Stephen Gornick]

By Jon Matonis:

Payment intervention is defined as the use of the payment mechanism to detect or prevent certain transactions that are deemed to be politically incorrect or against a particular jurisdiction’s law. The latest target is online pharmaceuticals and their affiliates providing medications such as generic or unlicensed Viagra, Nexium, or Lipitor, all of which are illegal for Americans to have mailed into the United States.
[...]
Access to safe and affordable pharmaceuticals should be a natural right for all Americans and denying it would be unacceptable, unethical, and a threat to the public health. A strong case can be made that uninsured, low-income patients obtaining affordable medications is a morally legitimate activity. “Does legality establish morality?” asks economist Walter E. Williams, who answers, “Legality alone cannot be the talisman of moral people.”
[...]
In June 2011, Visa (and Mastercard similarly) made a series of changes to their operating regulations and explicitly classified pharmaceutical-related merchant category codes as “high-risk” along with gambling and various kinds of direct marketing services.
[...]
Consumers will be driven to more liberated alternatives such as the privacy-oriented and cash-like bitcoin. They certainly don’t want VISA, Mastercard, PayPal and the rest of the gang telling them what is and is not an acceptable purchase. Interestingly, the study cited bitcoin among creative alternatives when Visa processing becomes abruptly disabled:
"Indeed, while we witnessed some programs (notably in the OEM software space) attempt to continue their businesses using alternative payment mechanisms including PayPal and, most recently, Bitcoin, by all accounts this has not been successful."
[...]
Used properly, bitcoin can have the privacy attributes of paper cash and bitcoin doesn’t make morality judgements about what you choose to do with your money. It is a natural fit for the online pharmaceutical industry.
[...]
Somebody has to say it. Big Pharma is a racket and Americans are being duped by the government and the powerful drug manufacturers
[...]
the five individuals authoring the study seem to tacitly recommend the ‘payments network’ as the delegated enforcement arm of the justice system and sanctioned brand holders.

 - http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmatonis/2012/10/26/generic-viagra-industry-is-pro-choice-in-payments

[Stephen Gornick]

Here's the thread for an online pharmacy (based out of India, call the Swiss Pharmacy) which accepts Bitcoin and ships most anywhere:

First international online pharmacy accepting Bitcoin!
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83234.0

and their announcement that they accept Bitcoin:

Bitcoin introduced as a new payment option at The Swiss Pharmacy
 - http://theswisspharmacy.blogspot.com/2012/06/bitcoin-introduced-as-new-payment.html

[iain]

An interesting article. Jon Matonis discusses payment processors' attack on merchants who step outside the sandbox of transaction types the processors consider legitimate. He points out something also pointed out by Peter Šurda at the recent London Bitcoin conference: all this effort at control only increases the overall awkwardness to merchants of using these traditional payment channels, and can be expected to accelerate the adoption of methods to route around them, such as Bitcoin.

(Peter was talking about AML/KYC efforts increasing the transaction costs of using the banking system, not "transaction type monitoring" efforts doing the same to the payment processor network, but the punchline is the same in both cases: the comparative advantage of Bitcoin is improved.)

[kiba]

Freedom allows scammers to peddle their wares, but freedom also allows legit types to peddle their wares too.

The vast majority of bitcoin transactions is going to be positive, so I believe the cost of freedom is justified.

[n8rwJeTt8TrrLKPa55eU]

I've long held the opinion that Bitcoin is not just financial insurance, it is a form of health insurance.

Odds are high that at some point late in our lives, some of us will need access to medicines/organs/procedures deemed either untested, illegal, or with limited supply.  And so Bitcoins will be needed for speedy procurement.  Silk Road is the recreational tip of what will probably become a much larger black market in health goods & services.

[kiba]

I've long held the opinion that Bitcoin is not just financial insurance, it is a form of health insurance.

Odds are high that at some point late in our lives, some of us will need access to medicines/organs/procedures deemed either untested, illegal, or with limited supply.  And so Bitcoins will be needed for speedy procurement.  Silk Road is the recreational tip of what will probably become a much larger black market in health goods & services.

And they will be like:

THE RICH IS USING BLACK MARKET SERVICES while the poor are stuck using crappy health service provided by the government.

[Realpra]

Interesting.. does the Silk Road sell medicine yet?

What a turn around if you could say Bitcoin saves lives and is not just for cocaine!

I shall be using that selling point in the future.

[lonelyminer (Peter Šurda)]

(Peter was talking about AML/KYC efforts increasing the transaction costs of using the banking system, not "transaction type monitoring" efforts doing the same to the payment processor network, but the punchline is the same in both cases: the comparative advantage of Bitcoin is improved.)

You're right Iain. With the payment processors and banks, it's not really clear where the effect of the law ends and the cartel begins.