Hypnotic Prejudicial Nonsense

19 Comments

Comment by Melissa J. Roth on June 10, 2008 at 6:35am

This is absolute BS. Porn is ok but hypnosis isn't? I just cancelled my Master Card account and wrote a letter as to why. I cancelled my Costco account last year for similar reasons. They have gotten into the credit card processing business and since I was a business member they solicited me to switch to them. They were offering great rates. But, when I jumped through all the hoops they denied my application because I was a HYPNOTIST and Costco has a corporate policy that specifically excludes hypnotists. They reassured me I could still buy from them however. So, I cut up my card and sent it back to them with a letter of explanation. Since I had just paid my annual dues the month before I asked for a refund-which of course never came.

Comment by Brian David Phillips on June 10, 2008 at 6:44am

In this case, it's not that hypnosis is bad but porn is okay . . . it's that porn is okay ask long as it's not hypnosis porn (or other porn that is considered nonconsensual . . . yes, even consensual hypnosis erotica is evidently "really" nonconsensual in their corporate eyes). I did NOT know about the Costco policy. Wow. That makes a whole lot of non sense . . . nonsense, that is.

Comment by David Fontenot on June 10, 2008 at 7:38am

Wow Melissia.. I didn't realize that costco excluded us. You might want to mention that SAM's club has no similar exclusion. I was with then before I found a better rate.
Locally I've had a problem with my area's premiere upscale publication. It caters to the area's affluent golf and raquet communities. The publisher will not accept my advertisement because I'm doing the devils work, and as a good Christian, he cannot take my money... I checked my watch, and it's still the 21st century..
BTW..Thanks for the invitation to your Birmingham meeting, You're only a couple of hours away, I do an occasional gig in your neighborhood. I can't make tonight's meeting but keep me posted on your schedule , and I'd love to attend.

Comment by Scott Lee on June 10, 2008 at 4:01pm

Intuit has a merchant account service. I checked on their policy and hypnotists are not on any business exclusion list. Their processing is very flexible. You can either use a pos machine or their software product called Quick Books, which is an accounting package to help keep your books straight. You can find out about their service here. http://www.quickbooksmerchantservice.com/services/services.php

I believe that Clips For Sale made a business decision not to carry hypnosis related content. MasterCard does not care what you sell as long as you deliver your product as described and take care not to expose their card holders to fraud or identity theft. P0rn is one of the industries that has the highest charge back ratio. (people buying, then disputing the charges)

If anyone has questions about Credit Card processing I have extensive knowledge of how it works and will be happy to share.

Comment by Brian David Phillips on June 10, 2008 at 4:33pm

Scott, it's not just Clips4Sale. Pete was told that the Clips4Sale move was made because of the Master Card policy. Also, CCBill has just sent out notices to their customers for erotic hypnosis sites that they will no longer process adult content with erotic hypnosis (they will continue to handle other adult content as that is their bread and butter). CCBill are saying that they had to make the policy because of the Master Card policy and rather than continue with other credit cards for those clients they have also adopted the Master Card policy. The CCBill and Clips4Sale decisions, based upon the Master Card decision, are likely to trickle over into other options and providers. The policy is specific to the "erotic hypnosis" content producers while much of the other erotic content is still fine. This is a specific prejudice against hypnosis as an assumption of uninformed nonconsent (the fauxhypno hardcore porn sites like Hypnotrick are probably not helping with that impression).

Comment by Hypnogoddess Dreamsender on June 11, 2008 at 5:21am

I haven't seen any sign of trickle as yet; and a deep search of
MasterCard Global, both user and merchant sites has not
revealed a single reference to this policy change.

AlertPay, an online payment processor out of Canada, has not
informed either users nor merchants that EH is now verboten;
where did you get the CCBill info, Brian?

Also if MC is behind this, and they do not disallow ALL hypnosis,
not just erotic, they are bucking hard for a class action suit, I think.

Comment by Brian David Phillips on June 11, 2008 at 6:30am

Keep in mind we are talking about video sites, not audio erotic hypnosis - as far as I know. The Clips 4 Sale info comes from Pete's posts on his list. One of the CCBill info sources is at http://hypnofocus.com/?p=220 (he's evidently also posted more on his blog). Online policies may not have it because 1. it's not public and/or 2. it's just happening now. We're talking in the last few days that folks have been notified.

Comment by Lee Darrow on June 11, 2008 at 7:59am

Has anyone bothered to contact MasterCard Services about this, directly to fact-check this claim by these subscribers of theirs who are claiming this exclusion? As I understand the agreement with MasterCard, ANY misrepresentation of MasterCard's Provider Agreement is grounds for termination of account by the party that misrepresents their program.

Therefore, if Clips4Sale is misrepresenting MasterCard's agreement and dumping clients using a fictitious claim that MasterCard has initiated a ban against hypnotists, then Clips4Sale could, as I understand the retailer agreement, lose THEIR ability to process MasterCard orders because of their misrepresentation.

Someone just MIGHT want to call MasterCard and find out for certain about this.

Lee "fact-check outrageous claims" Darrow, C.H.

Comment by Hypnogoddess Dreamsender on June 11, 2008 at 9:50am

I know...I got the same letter from C4S and they gave us absolutely no lead time.
This was last Friday and when the letter was sent the videos were already disabled.
I'll have a look at hypnofocus...it's been a while since I checked it.

Comment by Lord Hypno (Jason Speaks) on June 19, 2008 at 7:23pm

I also got a letter and so far all my E-mails have gone unanswered. Pete so far as i know is the only one to be in contact with them here's what he said

(Quote) from: PetefromPetesGirls on Today at 08:59:06 AM
When the honcho at clips4sale told me that "they" are really on the warpath against hypnosis content right now, I wasn't sure as to whom he was referring.
"The government?" I asked.
"No," was the reply, "MasterCard." (End quote)

From the rules on mastercards website even My small Non Erotic G rated stuff is illegal. alll because i use hypnosis to give the person the illusion that time stops or that they are a mannequin and then i move or pose them.

and the way the mastercard rules read many thing's could be illegal.
here are the rules

Mastercard

5.9.7 Illegal or Brand-damaging Transactions
A Merchant must not submit for payment into interchange, and an Acquirer
must not accept from a Merchant for submission into interchange, any
Transaction that is illegal, or in the sole discretion of the Corporation, may
damage the goodwill of the Corporation or reflect negatively on the Marks.
The Corporation considers any of the following activities to be in violation of
this Rule:

1. The sale or offer of sale of a product or service other than in full
compliance with law then applicable to the Acquirer, Issuer, Merchant,
Cardholder, Cards, or the Corporation.

2. The sale of a product or service, including an image, which is patently
offensive and lacks serious artistic value (such as, by way of example and
not limitation, images of nonconsensual sexual behavior, sexual
exploitation of a minor, nonconsensual mutilation of a person or body
part, and bestiality), or any other material that the Corporation deems
unacceptable to sell in connection with a Mark.
An Acquirer that has been notified of a Merchant’s noncompliance with this
Rule and that fails promptly to cause the noncompliant practice to cease, or
that has been notified multiple times regarding violations of this Rule, is
subject, at the Acquirer’s expense, and in addition to any other noncompliance
assessment or other discipline, or both, to any one or more of the following:
1. A RAMP Level 3 review as described in the Security Rules and Procedures
manual
2. An audit at the sole expense of the Acquirer by a third party selected by
the Corporation, of the Acquirer’s acquiring practices
The Corporation may list a Merchant which the Corporation determines is
noncompliant with this Rule on the MATCH system. (See Chapter 11 of the
Security Rules and Procedures manual.)

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