PayPal Bans TorGuard for Providing Services to BitTorrent Users

PayPal has banned TorGuard, a proxy and VPN services provider, because the company advertises its products to Internet users who want to hide their identities while downloading files from BitTorrent sites.

The official notification sent by PayPal to TorGuard didn’t contain many details, TorrentFreak reports.

“When we reviewed your account, we noticed that your activity violates some of the agreements you have with us. Because of this, we’ve limited your accounts and can no longer offer our services to you. You’ll still be able to log in to view your transaction history, but you won’t be able to send or receive money,” read the message from the payment processor.

However, after TorGuard’s owner contacted the firm’s representatives, he was told that “PayPal doesn’t allow the promotion of torrent trackers.”

PayPal’s decision comes after rights holders urged online payment firms to stop providing services for companies that help individuals who want to download copyrighted content.

For TorGuard the main problem is that it has a lot of money frozen in its PayPal account.

“We can’t even issue refunds unless the buyer disputes the charge. Most of our clients have been very patient since almost everyone has been wronged by PayPal at some time or another,” TorGuard’s owner explained.

“We still accept all forms of credit card, Google checkout and couple of other secure wallet services. It’s ironic to use PayPal when buying a VPN/proxy anyway, they have a proven track record exploiting user’s financial info,” he added.

From now on, the company will accept payments via Bitcoin, Prepaid VISA cards, OKPAY and other similar services.

In the meantime, TorGuard doesn’t seem to be discouraged by PayPal’s decision. They’ve launched a new portable OpenVPN client for Windows, the Mac and Linux variants being scheduled to become available in the upcoming period.