** Continued From: VISA Regulations - Lay Pervert's View

My kid won’t get off our desktop PC. It wouldn’t matter if the kid stopped using the computer because I need the damned machine for the net. The net’s not working right now. I keep dialing in and it keeps disconnecting me. That’s right. I confess. I’m on dial up For shame.

I am trying to write a follow-up article about this whole Visa/IPSP to-do. As Murphy’s law would have it, just when I get all fired up to bang out some serious text on real adult net news my connection craps out on me. Turns out after I call my ISP’s tech support, I find out they’ve disabled the dial up number that’s local to my area. I am doubly livid because I find this out after office hours and because I pay for my service by the year.

My ISP claims they sent an email to me warning of the change and they did about four months ago. The email mentioned they were switching networks and "some users may experience difficulty logging on" but nowhere did it say they would drop my area code altogether. I am pissed but I’m not pissed enough to shell out sixty bucks a month for frigging broadband. I will suck it up, pay for a new ISP and finish this damned article.

Okay. I’m back. I got a new web connection so I’m relieved I can still do my work. I am in limbo waiting to find out if I shall ever get my full year of service from my old ISP. I feel upset that this trouble and expense came out of the blue. I hate that I did nothing to make this happen. I’m betting that a whole bunch of adult webmasters are feeling the same way right about now about the new regulations Visa mandated to third-party processors.

I explained in part one of this series what thoughts, questions and impressions went through my mind when I read the October 2, 2002 official statement from the "Big Three" third-party processors. I promised you a little more research on the taciturn effects this news might have on the adult Internet industry.

The first thing that is being discussed is the difference between VISA USA and VISA International. So far these new regulations have only been decreed by VISA USA. Third-party processors who have relationships with the acquiring banks that comprise VISA International are claiming the new rules only affect processors who deal with VISA USA. This matters a great deal to webmasters outside the US because the new rules involve establishment of a US presence by the clients of VISA USA processors.

Then again, the processors who work with VISA International themselves state they do not know if the same rules will be implemented by VISA in the future.

At the moment, it’s feasible for a webmaster to become a client of a processor that deals with VISA International but the rub comes back to the new VISA USA rules. The USA rules state that a Sponsored Merchant (processor client) cannot have a presence in both the US and another country. If VISA International implements the same rules in the future, their clients will then have to pay the $750.00 initial/$375.00 annual fee.

So many things about this country-specific rule are confusing. Will VISA have an appeal policy for Sponsored Merchants who wish to relocate to another country? Will US webmasters who use the VISA International processors be fucked if that IPSP (Internet Payment Service Provider) switches the regulations after the fact?

If you want to stick with your US IPSP you’ll have to provide a U.S. Based Corporate Tax ID Number or U.S. Social Security Number to prove your US presence says IPSP, CCBill. To be more exact after November 15, VISA USA IPSPs will only process VISA transactions for Sponsored Merchants that filled out the forms and paid the fee.

According to CCBill’s Answers to FAQ’s: IPSP – Visa Compliancy page, you can still use them for processing without signing up for VISA Sponsored Merchant status. You’ll still be able to process MasterCard, Discover and JCB transactions as well as online check transactions. Then again, there was that demand that Sponsored Merchants completely remove all MasterCard logos from their webpages along with a deadline of October 15. VISA is MasterCard. What’s up with that? I’m still researching that one.

Then there’s the real kicker. The new IPSP rules seem to state that there’s a one-strike-and-you’re-out policy from VISA for a Sponsored Merchant. The FAQ from CCBILL posts this:

"In addition, once a "High Risk" merchant account is created, its owner and its operating URL’s are on VISA’s monitoring. If that same "High Risk" account is closed there after, the account’s owner and/or its operating URL’s will no longer be afforded the future opportunity to register within the umbrella of an IPSP portfolio."

How will this fly with a 1-% chargeback ceiling for US transactions and a 2.5% for International ones? Can this be appealed? I still don’t know if VISA will average total chargebacks if you use more than one US IPSP. The "Big Three" IPSPs alluded in their original statement that a Sponsored Merchant could be a client of only two IPSPs total. I don’t see this addressed on CCBill’s FAQ page.

According to CCBill, the sign-up forms and registration information for it’s existing clients will be emailed this week. I shall log on to the web connection I so abruptly had to change and look for answers on these new questions I have. I am thankful I can afford another ISP connection. Even though I lost the old one due to circumstances beyond my control, at least there’s hope and the Internet and porn. Swim smooth froggies. We’re not out of the pool yet.