Using a credit card for online pornography
Using a credit card for access to an Internet pornography site is perfectly legal as long as the content available for viewing is also legal. Still, Internet porn sites regularly use electronic money services, some of which are more professional than others, to accept their credit cards, rather than accepting payments directly. Some of these electronic money services make it extremely difficult to cancel membership at Internet porn sites, while other more secure payment systems (such as CCBill or Epoch) make it relatively fast and easy. Here is some information consumers should know before using a credit or debit card to purchase access to an Internet pornography site.
Beware the “Free Trial”
Some Internet pornography sites offer a free or inexpensive trial period, which usually lasts a few days. To take advantage of this offer, consumers must enter their credit card information. In the terms of service fine print the company states that upon the termination of the free (or inexpensive) trial period, the credit or debit card will be charged a monthly subscription fee. The monthly subscription fee is usually much higher than any fee paid for the trial period. To avoid paying the monthly subscription fee you must cancel your membership before the trial period expires. If the consumer forgets or cannot cancel the subscription within the free trial period, he will be charged heftily for the following month and any months that follow until the customer cancels his subscription.
Remember Your Contract Agreements
The consumer should always be aware that he is entering into a contract when purchasing access to an Internet porn site. That contract may provide for “recurring” monthly, quarterly or annual subscription charges. Unless the consumer cancels his subscription, his credit card or debit card will be repeatedly charged, regardless of whether he continues to access the Internet porn site.
Work Hard to Cancel Your Subscription
Canceling a subscription to an Internet porn site can prove difficult. Most Internet porn sites require the consumer to cancel his subscription at the electronic money service’s site rather than at the porn site itself. The porn site may offer insufficient information about how to cancel a subscription, which may frustrate a user into neglecting to cancel the subscription. Some frustrated customers ultimately cancel their credit or debit cards just to keep from being repeatedly charged.
“One company required user names and passwords and account numbers to cancel. I didn’t take down any of this information or save my emails when I signed up, so after a few months of trying to cancel my subscription, I finally just gave up and canceled my credit card,” says ‘John,’ an Internet porn consumer.
John is not alone. That’s why it’s important for any prospective consumer to adequately review the terms of service contract before purchasing access to an Internet pornography site. Specifically, the consumer should educate himself on (1) whether a subscription requires a one-time fee or a recurring fee; (2) how often and how much a subscriber will be charged; and (3) what needs to be done to cancel a subscription.
