Howdy all, The EFA, among others, have for many years exhorted Australians to use a VPN for all internet traffic. This week I have closed a support ticket with one overseas service provider, who refused to take an order from me. More precisely, their position was that their “financial partner” refused me service (validating my credit card), they could not accept an order without that, and they were not willing to argue thye case with their financial partner. The reason given (I was not told who the “financial partner” is, nor how to contact them for support) was eventually summarised with: The policy of our payment partner is like this due to fraud problem. Many fraudulent payment come from user of VPN. I am no longer interested in pursuing that particular provider. But I am interested in the implications for Australian internet users. * Credit card fraud and VPN use How much truth is there to the claim that a connection over VPN is prone to fraudulent credit card use? I can't see how that affects the ability to defraud the credit card system of an online ship. * Discrimination against VPN use How should we be responding? My support ticket appealed to the fact this effectively discriminates against those who use a VPN for their safety; that appeal did not even get a specific response, so I don't know to what extent the provider was moved by that. -- \ “To punish me for my contempt of authority, Fate has made me an | `\ authority myself.” —Albert Einstein, 1930-09-18 | _o__) | Ben Finney