Cinco de Mayo

As the King of Spain was imprisoned and Joseph I was an usurper, that May 5 sparked independence movements thoughout Spain's colonies in Latin America. Since PayPal only works in certain countries, Ebay's policy limits participation to the countries that PayPal supports. Napoleon Bonaparte's brother was then crowned King Joseph I. Ebay's new policy states that accepting a non-PayPal online payment system could result in the user's account being banned. May 5, 1808 also marks the date on which Spain's Bourbon dynasty, specifically King Charles IV, was dethroned by the Napoleonic army. EBay specifically prohibits E-gold, a PayPal competitor with high fraud history. The largest Cinco De Mayo celebration in the United States takes place in Denver's Civic Center area with an annual attendance of 450,000-500,000 [1]. Questions of illegality and antitrust have been raised over this new rule, mostly by merchants who believe they shouldn't have to pay for a legitmate service and abused the personal account status on PayPal.

Although honored today as a national holiday in Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is more of a regional celebration, particularly in the state of Puebla where the famous battle took place. EBay lists Bidpay.com as the only alternative, but that company's demise predates this policy. Patrick's Day, with holiday-themed parties marked by the consumption of Mexican food, tequila and Mexican beer. This is due to the wide numbers of fraudulant online payment methods. And today non-Mexican Americans also participate in the celebrations, much in the same manner that the non-Irish observe St. [8] Beginning in January 2006, eBay now prohibits any online payment system other than Paypal, as stated here[9]. For many Mexican-American communities Cinco de Mayo is an important way to proudly honor Mexican heritage, overshadowing Mexico's Independence Day in popularity. In August 2005 eBay required that sellers who accept PayPal not refuse credit card payments, which result in transaction fees.

Over the years this holiday has grown outside university circles and its activist roots, and has been absorbed by the mainstream culture in the Southwest United States and beyond. This has brought criticism from people from within these countries.[7]. Incidently, Cinco de Mayo's greatest hero, General Zaragoza, was born in Texas. PayPal does not allow people from certain countries to use its services, and in some occasions where it does, it only allows the participants to send and not receive. Hence, Cinco de Mayo became the de facto alternative for these hispanic commemorations, and still is today. PayPal's Seller Protection policies do not cover intangible goods or goods that are "not as described". However the simple truth is that this day was just too early in the school year for college students to organize effective rallies and celebrations. [4] [5] [6].

El Dieciséis de Septiembre would have seemed like the obvious choice. It's unclear whether simply waiting for PayPal to reach a decision in regards to the account would have resulted in PayPal allowing the money to eventually reach the Red Cross. Inspired by activists nationwide, members of the MEChA student organization in California sought to find a day of celebration that highlighted their largely Mexican ancestry. Kyanka originally agreed to this, but after learning of the United Way's prior legal troubles, he asked PayPal to refund all the donations. The rise in Cinco de Mayo's popularity in the United States can be attributed to the Chicano student movement of the late 1960s. Kyanka asked PayPal to transfer the funds to the Red Cross; PayPal said they couldn't do this, but could give the money to United Way (a rival charity collecting for the same cause, that had an undisclosed agreement with PayPal). Also on 5 May 1901, Ignacio Bravo telegraphed the news of the end of the Caste War of Yucatan with the Mexican victory against the self-proclaimed state of Chan Santa Cruz. To re-activate the account, PayPal demanded "proof of delivery", even though no products were being sold.

That distinction is reserved for el Dieciséis de septiembre ("September 16"), which is celebrated at all offices belonging to the executive branch of government, from the president down to the municipal governments, on the night of September 15 through to the early morning hours of September 16 with a re-enactment of the Grito de Dolores; the formal call for an end to Spanish rule in 1810. After receiving over $30,000 USD in donations in 9 hours, PayPal locked-down the account. Contrary to popular belief in the United States, Cinco de Mayo does not mark Mexican independence day. In September 2005, PayPal suspended an account (opened by Something Awful owner Richard Kyanka) used to collect donations for the American Red Cross to help Hurricane Katrina victims. The Mexican people then reelected Juárez as president. PayPal denies any wrongdoing. military began supplying Mexicans with weapons and ammunition, and by 1867, the rebels finally defeated the French and deposed their puppet Emperor. The settlement requires that PayPal change its business practices (including changing its dispute resolution procedures to make them EFTA-compliant), as well as making a $9.25 million USD payment to members of the class.

Once the American Civil War was over, the U.S. An informal settlement was reached in November 2003, and a formal settlement was signed on June 11, 2004. Mexican rebels opposed to his rule resisted, seeking the aid of the United States. The two lawsuits were merged into one class action lawsuit (In re PayPal litigation). Maximilian's rule was short-lived. Most of the allegations concerned PayPal's dispute resolution procedures. Archduke Maximillian became Emperor of Mexico. In March 2002, two PayPal account holders separately sued the company for alleged violations of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) and California law.

By 1864, they succeeded in defeating the Mexican army and occupying Mexico City. PayPal's account access limitations prevent the movement of funds until discrepencies, or terms of the limitation, are resolved. The French Emperor, upon learning of the failed invasion, immediately dispatched another force, this time numbering 30,000 soldiers. Banks and financial institutions provide chargeback rights for a specified period of time that varies by the institution. Zaragoza won the battle but lost the war. This policy appears to protect PayPal from financial loss in the event of chargebacks or disputes. The invasion was stopped and crushed. According to the PayPal user agreement, users agree to give PayPal the power to limit access to funds in the account for 180 days.

With the dragoons removed from the main attack, the Mexicans routed the remaining French soldiers with a combination of their tenacity, inhospitable terrain, and a stampede of cattle set off by local peasants. Controversial aspects of PayPal include the terms of its User Agreement; particularly, for limiting account access and user access to funds. However, Zaragoza's small and nimble cavalry units were able to prevent French dragoons from taking the field and overwhelming the Mexican infantry. Because it considers itself to be an 'electronic money transmitter', user rights and safeguards vary. The battle between the French and Mexican armies occurred on May 5 when Zaragoza's ill-equipped militia of 4,500 men encountered the better armed French force. PayPal is not subject to regular banking regulations. Along their march, the French already encountered stiff resistance before Zaragoza struck out to intercept the invaders. As long as seller provides confirmation of delivery available online, they are protected from chargebacks and fraudulent item-not-recieved claims.

Confident of a quick victory, 6,500 French soldiers marched on Mexico City to seize the capital before the Mexicans could muster a viable defense. PayPal also protects sellers by offering the Seller Protection Policy. The Confederacy even considered taking advantage of Mexico's problems to annex large portions of northern territory into the Confederacy, an idea that was very popular with high ranking military officials, but was ultimately rejected by Jefferson Davis. If the buyer used a credit card, they are ensured a refund via chargeback. This was possible because federal authority was difficult to enforce in the northern part of the country, and the lawless region fell largely under the direct rule of governors who were also regional strongmen. If this doesn't happen, PayPal will try to take the money back from the seller and refund the buyer. Although they failed to enter into negotiations with the Mexican federal government, they did obtain the support of several northern Mexican state and territorial governors, including permission to use their territories as logistical bases for the Confederacy. Buyers are ensured that they recieve the item they buy as it is described.

The Confederacy had sent numerous diplomatic missions south of the border, seeking international recognition. PayPal's business model involves providing safety to buyers and merchants/sellers. Apart from Lincoln's stated disdain for the French intervention, there were other more pragmatic reasons to aid Mexico, stemming directly from the Civil War itself. PayPal's European subsidiary PayPal (Europe) is licensed as an electronic money institution and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority. Although Abraham Lincoln roundly condemned Napoleon's imperialist ambitions in a neighboring country, he was unable to provide ground forces to assist Mexico as the United States was embroiled in the American Civil War at the time; however, he did provide other notable military assistance, including two elements believed to have been key to eventual Mexican victory:. Like Western Union, PayPal is considered a money transmitter in many states in the United States and is licensed as such where required. Emperor Napoleon III wanted to secure French dominance in the former Spanish colony, including installing one of his relatives, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, as ruler of Mexico. Therefore it is not required to abide by the legislation that governs banks.

The democratically elected government of President Benito Juárez made agreements with the British and the Spanish, who promptly recalled their armies, but the French stayed, thus beginning the period of the French intervention in Mexico. Due to the manner in which it operates, PayPal is not considered a bank. Under the pretext of forcing payment for Mexico's outstanding and crippling debt, Britain, Spain and France sent troops to Mexico. PayPal also operates a large customer-service center in La Vista, Nebraska, just outside Omaha. It commemorates the victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza over the French expeditionary forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. PayPal operates locally in 13 markets, including: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and China. El Cinco de Mayo ("The Fifth of May" in Spanish) is a national celebration in Mexico. Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling and Japanese Yen.

This also helped ensure the defeat of numerically superior French forces during the guerrilla campaigns that eventually drove Napoleon's forces out. PayPal supports payments in U.S. Second, Lincoln also supplied vital logistics, guns, and artillery, including many arms that were at the time the world's most technologically advanced, such as repeating rifles. Every second PayPal processes an average of $823 in total payment volume. First, the President sent a large contingent of US warships to blockade the port of Veracruz, thus preventing thousands of French reinforcements from consolidating the victories they had already achieved, and preventing more cities from capitulating as had the capital, in what might have been the single most important strategic factor in ensuring ultimate Mexican victory. As of the end of Q2 2005, PayPal operates in 57 countries (including China) and it manages over 86.6 million accounts. In January of 2005 PayPal announced plans to pursue the Merchant Services opportunity, the online payments business 'off of eBay'.

In 2004, the total value of transactions through the PayPal system was $18.9 billion, up 55% year over year. BidPay itself ceased payment operations on the 31st December 2005 but the site remains to carry out any remaining customer service issues . PayPal's only substantially similar competitor is now BidPay, after Citibank's c2it service closed in late 2003 and Yahoo!'s PayDirect service closed in late 2004. eBay has phased out its BillPoint service in favor of retaining the PayPal brand.

(See GAMEY) PayPal had previously been the payment method of choice by over fifty percent of eBay users, and the service competed with eBay's subsidiary BillPoint. In October 2002 PayPal was acquired by eBay. [2] [3]. This paved the way for the company to eventually reconcile with its former rival, eBay.

Yet the company was able to turn the corner and become the first dot-com to IPO after the September 11 attacks — an accomplishment that ironically backfired when PayPal's new high profile status helped prompt a slew of class action lawsuits and regulatory probes, including one by NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. And worst of all, eBay launched a payments service named Billpoint to compete with PayPal. Foreign Mafia rings found ways to steal millions from the young company. Though growing rapidly, PayPal was losing $10 million a month and was fraught with internal turmoil that led to three CEO changes in its first year of operations.

[1]. This name was acquired by PayPal in early 2000, when x.com merged with PayPal. As of Jan 2006, this URL still resolves to the PayPal home page. Unknown to many people is the fact that PayPal is one of the few Internet companies which has a single letter domain name, (http://www.x.com) in use.

Coupled with aggressive marketing campaigns offering $10 (and later $5) for new users to sign up, the firm grew at a meteoric rate of 7–10 percent per day between January and March 2000. The PDA software was later discarded in favor of a web-based system that became popular with eBay's millions of buyers and sellers. In its initial incarnation, PayPal was a service for users to send money via PDAs, with actor James Doohan, Star Trek's "Scotty," as its spokesman. Most of the early engineers hailed from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, recruited by Max Levchin.

On the business side, many of its initial recruits were alumni of The Stanford Review, which was also founded by Peter Thiel. One of its first premises was the 165 University Avenue office in Palo Alto, California, home of a number of other noted Silicon Valley startups. PayPal was founded in December 1998 by Peter Thiel and Max Levchin. .

Corporate headquarters are in San Jose, California; it is now an eBay company. PayPal also performs payment processing for e-commerce vendors, auction sites, and other corporate users, for which they charge a fee. PayPal is an Internet business which allows the transfer of money between email users and merchants, avoiding traditional paper methods such as checks/cheques and money orders. PayPal Acquires Verisign's Payment Gateway.

PayPal Releases Direct Payment API.