Virtual Private Network (VPN) service iPredator was launched in 2009 as a response from The Pirate Bay to the IPRED anti-piracy legislation in Sweden, as a way for people to continue torrenting anonymously (Bulletin, 27-Mar-09). Charging €5 a month, it signed up 113k people in its first month. Four years later, though, it’s experiencing some problems processing payments from its users. iPredator founder Peter Sunde (yes, *that* Peter Sunde) says PayPal is now refusing to accept payments for the service, and has frozen its funds for up to 180 days. This, weeks after iPredator’s credit-card processor Payson also withdrew its services. “It’s not a coincidence that we are banned from Payson, and then PayPal a few weeks after,” Sunde tells TorrentFreak. “One processor we talked with, to replace Payson, told us that we were on a blacklist of services that are prohibited to accept credit cards.” 2013 is an awkward time for payment providers to be taking action against VPNs, though: publicity around the US government’s PRISM program and state-backed surveillance is driving a new wave of interest in VPNs for reasons other than piracy.
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In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…