Washington Post and WebMoney - war or peace?

[img_assist|nid=8178|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=75|height=100]This week the whole world of electronic commerce was excited and agitated with a report of the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography, prepared by credit card issuers and Internet service providers, especially since it was mentioning such giants of e-commerce market as PayPal and WebMoney. The representatives of these companies didn’t show any reaction.

However, we think that our dear readers will be interested in the following article published by Mark Herpel, editor of DGCmagazine.

Brian Kreps wrote a article for the Washington Post online yesterday. In a round-about-way his article unfairly attempts to 'demonize' Webmoney Transfer by directly linking the multi billion dollar a year company to illegal online child pornography. The article wrongly depicts Webmoney as a system that was recently created to service users wishing to circumvent US law. This is not true and nothing could be further from the truth. Webmoney was created almost a decade ago to serve the local Russian market.
It is important to understand the global nature of Internet Digital Currency.
You can't force the Internet world outside of the United States to comply with the Patriot Act.
Other financial systems in far off nations were not built around social security numbers and credit ratings.
Many entire foreign populations don't use credit cards.
More people around the globe have cell phones than have bank accounts.

The biggest outrage with the Washington Post story in taking a 'US only' view of digital money, is the vast ignorance shown by those who attempt regulate and report such matters. Webmoney Transfer is a non bank online payment solution for Internet users. It is very popular, amazingly convenient and it was created for people who don't have access to conventional banking or a credit card.

The basic Webmoney account is called an 'Alias' account. It does not require ID or address verification and it never has. For almost a decade, Webmoney users have operated 'Alias' accounts. They are not new.

It is a safe & simple digital money account which anyone can open and instantly use. It was developed for the market in and around Russia which is sometimes a region where conventional banking is scarce and plastic does not work. Webmoney Transfer, also works well for that same user group all around the world.

The Webmoney 'Alias' account does NOT require identification documents and users have never needed a credit card, bank account or Patriot Act approval to operate this handy account.

This account structure or profile is how the digital money world works outside the United States, read on and learn.....it's a rapidly expanding universe and the Washington Post won't be able to marry child pornography to every future successful online system.

Is Webmoney A Tool Of The Devil As Washington Would Have You Think?

Webmoney is a practical solution to Internet commerce.
Around the globe there are over 35,000 funding locations, where anyone can add money to their Webmoney account. That is...walk in with cash, load your online account, no credit needed.
In and around Russia there are 150,000+ ATMs and kiosks, about half of which are maintained by a person, where anyone can walk up with cash and instantly load their Webmoney Account. Most of them are ATM type machine and cash feeds right into.
They have cash to digital funding partners around the globe including CashU, paysafecard and UKash. Consequently, all over Europe, UK and the Middle East verified Webmoney account holders can fund their online accounts with cash through one of these licensed and regulated payment 'partners'
Webmoney Transfer is a fine solution for non US users. This payment system was not created in the United States, is it not Patriot Act compliant & it does not require a credit card to operate. God bless the Russians for this global e-commerce solution.

This is a digital cash type system as are dozens of other similar non-US online payment solutions. It was created to fill a need and operate outside the United States.

No US regulators are going to get away with trying to tell the entire Internet world, "You must comply with how we want things done in the US." Global regulation does NOT occur that way.

Webmoney was born in Russia and created for the average Russian person almost a decade ago. It is a very popular and successful system and much loved around the world. The Washington Post, and the Enquirer can publish all the stories they want claiming Webmoney was created to service crooks and child porn users, but the facts tell us a different story. While I often enjoy Mr. Kreb's writing and have for years now, this article is slanted to offer a very ignorant 'US Only' view of the digital money world.

Webmoney DID NOT spring up last month in order to better service child porn networks as the Washington Post would have you think.

We have all heard the line, "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me." Well...in the past two years the press has been very successful in fusing e-gold to child porn but shame on the Washington Post for trying to do the same with Webmoney.

Webmoney Transfer is considered by the industry to be the most convenient and easy to use non-bank online payment system in the world today.

Neither US regulators, Congress nor the press have a clear understanding of exactly what digital currency is.....they see a new technology and they automatically compare it to PayPal, a credit card processor.

Here is a newsflash for all you Washington types, the entire round Internet finance world does not fit into PayPal's square hole and you can't force it in.

The last photo I saw on the Webmoney site was Dmitriy Medvedev, the newly elected Russian president, at the Russian Internet Forum RIF-2008 in April, visiting with Peter Darakhvelidze, Director of Webmoney Corporate Affairs.

That photo and the long successful operating history of Webmoney Transfer doesn't seem to reflect the same attitude as the Washington Post's article.

Value transfer systems are becoming more and more like cash and Washington will not find solutions to the issues if they don't even understand the problem. Trying to persuade the world, digital money is evil, by using the local press is taking a blindfolded attempt at regulating a global industry.

Brian, just for the record, Dr. Douglas Jackson from e-gold was one of the original members of the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography, it was not just formed by credit card issuers.