Something to think about...
Why is VISA going to charge ALL merchants? If they are worried about excessive chargebacks, should they just collect URL data, and only charge penalties or ban the sites that are excessive?
To say that VISA is doing this to recoop their losses over the past decade in the porn industry, would be ludicris. It is another way that VISA thinks they can make money, but, I think they will find out that when MC starts getting their business... they may change their tune.
Now, I understand why they are doing this, however, to recoop losses from charge backs via charging webmasters is off base. For 1, considering that the supposed "Offender" or paysite that has excessive chargebacks has been in the industry for a long time... I would almost bet that they have a specificly detailed Terms of Service section, that would provide the surfer with all of the information that they could ever want to know about how they are going to be charged... just to back themselves up in court (if it should come to that).
If a site has a well written terms of service stating all charges and durations that apply, and the surfer still feels "tricked" into signing up and disputes the charge... These charges should be put on the illiterate surfer, not the site/webmaster.
In any case, I agree w/ Grandma (in an earlier post)... I think it is just another way for Big Brother to get their hands further into our wallets, and control the industry.
Also, another point I wanted to make is this.... Surfers are not trust worthy. They will charge back almost anything, especially porn. Wife sees CC statement, and confronts Hubby with "What the hell is BUTTFUCK PLAZA doing on the credit card?"... Hubby says, "I don't know hon... It must be a mistake." and then the call to the CC company is made to dispute the charge. Once the charge has been disputed, hubby gets his personal card out, to go back to BUTTFUCKPLAZA.COM, as he knows that his bill for that card goes to the office, and not his home. Now he's set. He can jerk to all the ass slamming that he wants.
There are MANY situations that result in the unscrupulous surfer's decision to charge back. I don't believe that the sites should be fully accountable for this. However, I think VISA is looking for a punching bag, and they can't very well go after their customers, so they go after the merchants (Who are well established, and are worried about keeping a good credit rating, and keeping their businesses afloat).
But, what does it matter anyways?
The sun is going to explode in 6 years.
So, let's all put away our pornboxes, and have one big orgy.
