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This is basically regulatory capture for the fraudsters. Fraudsters will have forums full of ID fraud services to fix their KYC problem. Big platforms won't bli

This is basically regulatory capture for the fraudsters. Fraudsters will have forums full of ID fraud services to fix their KYC problem. Big platforms won't blink at the costs involved with verification. Fraudsters will simply rinse and repeat when their scheme collapses. Normal business people will have yet another headache. Corner cases will exist where users are condemned to unending bureaucratic limbo. A human support person, if they exist at all, will repeat a meaningless mantra, "I'm sorry sir, we've been unable to verify your identity with the documents provided. This is a compliance requirement as per the online platform safety act of 2026" All the while, scammers will be churning out new KYC'd accounts. The process will have nothing to do with safety, as the platform will only care about complying with the new regulation. Don't forget that Amazon still earns fees from each sale. Large platforms will enjoy the compliance requirements as an additional barrier to entry for competitors. Not to mention the inevitable day when all of that personal data is released. Breeches exposed for all to see. Another headache the fraudsters won't have. The regulars of the ID fraud forum will probably enjoy it. I could start my own VC fund if I had $1 for every post on HN claiming, "It is so simple and easy! We can fix this with more government!" It is never so simple when you are dealing with humans and incentives. Human societies are not codebases you can just patch to eliminate bugs.

Nursie 3y ago
If big platforms like amazon find themselves liable if they cannot connect seller activity to real human beings and real businesses, they will have an incentive to fix their systems to stop those spammers churning out KYC'd accounts. The platform will care about costs to itself. One of the advantages these large platforms enjoy over smaller ones is their ability to pass the buck on consumer law, to their benefit and to the scammers. By making it the platform's liability, always, this could start to change. If the companies that think of themselves as large 'platforms' end up erecting barriers to legitimate business in the process, then that becomes their problem and is likely to result in more competition in the market from companies who act as actual stores themselves. It's not 'so simple' but a liability change, and an end to exempting retailers like amazon from their retailer responsibilities could start to rebalance things.

Nursie 3y ago

If big platforms like amazon find themselves liable if they cannot connect seller activity to real human beings and real businesses, they will have an incentive to fix their systems to stop those spammers churning out KYC'd accounts. The platform will care about costs to itself. One of the advantages these large platforms enjoy over smaller ones is their ability to pass the buck on consumer law, to their benefit and to the scammers. By making it the platform's liability, always, this could start to change. If the companies that think of themselves as large 'platforms' end up erecting barriers to legitimate business in the process, then that becomes their problem and is likely to result in more competition in the market from companies who act as actual stores themselves. It's not 'so simple' but a liability change, and an end to exempting retailers like amazon from their retailer responsibilities could start to rebalance things.