“Fighting Faith” Among Erotica Fiction Books Affected by Furor over PayPal Acceptable Use Policy

March 15, 2012 - PRLog -- Brandie Buckwine has recently had several books removed from the ebook publishers she had formerly used. Fighting Faith, an erotica fiction book was removed from BookStrand because of its dubious consent scenes. In fact, BookStrand removed all titles from that publisher.  Several of Buckwine's other titles were removed from both All Romance Ebooks and Smashwords.

The reason for the recent uproar in the erotica publishing industry has been due to the influence and demands of PayPal. PayPal had demanded that certain types of erotica fiction be de-published from ebook sites in order for those publishers to maintain PayPal access.

This payment processing company is a virtual monopoly on the Internet. Without the convenient and safe payment method offered by PayPal, erotica fiction authors would have an extremely hard time selling their books online. What is more, readers would find it nearly impossible to buy them.  

At first, it was rumored that PayPal was simply caving to pressure by credit card companies who did not want to be associated with this material. That story has since been called into question. Brandie Buckwine has become involved with the group BannedWriters.com. A blogger with that group, Madeline Morris, wrote Visa for an explanation.

Visa replied with a clear statement denying any involvement in the censorship. They also stated their position that it would not take action against lawful materials. Thus, the credit card company does not take a position in agreement with banning books.

PayPal’s recent ultimatum to ebook publishers mentioned books involving themes of rape, bestiality and incest. In each of these instances, the books referred to are written as pure fiction. Many of the banned books were only marginally related to these themes, involving subjects such as fantasy shape-shifters considered as bestiality and pseudo-incest put under the umbrella of incest.

PayPal is now showing a willingness to negotiate. PayPal spokesman Anuj Nayar states that PayPal is going to focus on ebooks that contain illegal images, rather than on basic fictional text. Nayar also states that PayPal uses the Miller Three-Prong Test for Obscenity outlined by the U.S. legal system as a guide to determine whether the books should be considered legal material.

What is more, PayPal has decided to work with individual publishers and authors to identify materials that would be considered obscene according to these U.S. legal standards.  The company is now going to give authors and publishers a chance to respond and argue in favor of their books before they are pulled from PayPal.

At this time, Brandie Buckwine’s new Fighting Faith is still available at All Romance Ebooks. However, BookStrand has removed all independent authors and new publishers. Smashwords and Exessia Publishing were also affected by the PayPal furor. Erotica authors around the country hope that the new PayPal statements will reverse many of these decisions.

The problem of censorship may never be solved completely, but PayPal is in a position right now to make a real difference for freedom of expression. With their new attitude towards their Acceptable Use Policy, PayPal has already begun to show more understanding. Authors like Brandie Buckwine hope to see a friendlier environment for their erotica fiction in the near future.

About Brandie Buckwine:
   
Brandie Buckwine is an erotica fiction writer. The author began reading and writing at a very young age. She had ample time to devote to her creative interests during the time she spent traveling the world with her parents during those early years.

As an adult, Brandie has written several erotica novels and novellas. They include Fighting Faith, The First Year, The Boathouse, The Long Arm of the Law, and Crazy Emma. Brandie now lives in the central USA, and raises her three children as a single mother.

Brandie Buckwine  
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