大量中国跨境电商PayPal账户被冻结

The US online payment company, PayPal, has frozen the accounts of hundreds of Chinese sellers, accusing them of selling fake goods. Now, some of the accused sellers are trying to fight back, at what they say is an unfair situation.

Mr. Ou started his on-line business in 2010, selling clothes and shoes. In September last year, he was contacted by a buyer from the US, who asked to pay for goods using PayPal.

Days later, Mr. Ou found that his PayPal account, containing 200-thousand yuan, around 33-thousand US dollars, had been frozen. At the same time, he received a summons from Illinois State court in the US, accusing him of possibly violating the intellectual property rights of an American brand.

134 on-line sellers facing a similar situation have now formed an online group, hoping to fight back. PayPal has frozen a total of 11 million yuan from their PayPal accounts. They've been told that PayPal will clear the money if they don't respond to the lawsuits in time.

But responding to a foreign lawsuit costs money. Attorneys in the US charge 4 to 5 hundred dollars an hour and lawsuits can sometimes last for up to 6 months.

Most Chinese sellers see it as a zero-sum game: if they win, their PayPal money may end up in an attorney's pocket; if they lose, they lose their PayPal money and pay attorney charges.

PayPal says it's merely upholding its duty to protect trademark owners, and the rights of buyers who purchase counterfeit products. The company says that if the sellers don't respond to the lawsuit, the frozen money will be transferred to the brand owner.

The US government has been keen to crack down on intellectual property theft, in its recent dealings with China. PayPal has now raised the stakes, Mr Ou and others like him are unfortunate to be in the firing line, at the wrong time.