After immigration law and now Arizona will faces boycott calls

PHOENIX Civil rights leaders are urging organizations to cancel their conventions in Arizona. Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks are encountering protesters on the road. And the AriZona iced tea company wants everyone to know that its drinks are made in New York.Arizona is facing a backlash over its new law cracking on illegal immigrants, with opponents pushing for a tourism boycott like the one that was used to punish the state 20 years ago over its refusal to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with a holiday.”The goal is to as quickly as possible bring to a shocking stop the economy of Arizona,” former state Sen. Alfredo Gutierrez said Friday as a coalition called Boycott Arizona announced its formation.

The outcry has grown steadily in the week since Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed the nation’s toughest law against illegal immigration. The measure makes it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally, and directs local police to question people about their immigration status and demand to see their documents if there is reason to suspect they are illegal.Many in Arizona support the law amid growing anger over the federal government’s failure to secure the border. The state has become a major gateway for drug smuggling and human trafficking from Mexico.

Critics say the law will lead to racial profiling and other abuses, and they are giving Arizona a public relations beating over the issue.Groups have called on people not to fly Tempe-based US Airways, rent trucks from Phoenix-based U-Haul or go to Suns and Diamondbacks games. A New York congressman and others are urging major league baseball to move the 2011 All Star Game out of Phoenix.

The Major League Baseball players’ union opposes the new law, issuing a statement Friday expressing concern it could have a negative impact on hundreds of ballplayers and their families. The union will consider taking “additional steps” if the law goes into effect this summer.The cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles have talked of cutting off deals with the state and its businesses.Phoenix is vying for the 2012 Republican National Convention, and at least one mayor has called on political leaders to choose a different city.

About 40 immigrant rights activists gathered outside Wrigley Field in Chicago on Thursday, chanting, “Boycott Arizona” as the Diamondbacks opened a series against the Cubs. A small plane pulling a banner criticizing the law circled the stadium.Civil rights leaders from the Rev. Al Sharpton to Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa have pushed for a boycott.Turning the tables on the state, the Mexican government warned citizens to use extreme caution when visiting Arizona.With all things Arizona now under attack, the AriZona Beverage Co. evidently feared business would suffer. The iced tea company tweeted: “AriZona is and always has been a NY based company! (BORN IN BKLYN ’92)”

Fifteen million people visit Arizona each year for vacations, conventions and sporting events such as the Fiesta Bowl, pro golf tournaments and baseball spring training. The state tourism office estimated that conventions and other travel and tourist spending in Arizona brought in $18.5 billion in 2008.Some companies said the call for a boycott has had no noticeable effect, although Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said he has heard of six events being canceled. One of the groups to pull out is the American Immigration Lawyers Association, which canceled a fall conference to be held at a Scottsdale resort.

“We knew that the governor had this bill sitting on her desk,” spokesman George Tzamaras said. “Literally, minutes after she signed it the board of governors convened a conference call, and by an almost unanimous vote the association decided to pull that meeting.”The prospect of a boycott unnerves Arizona tourism officials.”We’re worried about keeping every convention and meeting here in Phoenix. It’s an economic driver here in the state; it provides hundreds of thousands of jobs and a good economic boost to the state,” said Doug MacKenzie, spokesman for the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau.MacKenzie said he has heard of five or six event cancellations, adding, “I think it’s misguided to bring the tourism industry into the crosshairs of this political issue.”

In 1990, Arizona voters’ rejection of a King holiday set off a cascade of cancellations of conventions and other events. The NFL pulled the 1993 Super Bowl from the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. The NBA told the Phoenix Suns not to bother putting in a bid for the All-Star game.By the time voters finally passed a holiday bill two years later, estimates of lost convention business in the Phoenix area alone topped $190 million.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who surprised many by reversing course and supporting the new immigration law, said the latest furor and the King dustup are completely different.”One was about honoring a civil rights hero who a majority of Americans held in extremely high esteem,” he said. “The other is about an issue of national security and the security of our citizens, where we have broken borders and are literally overwhelmed with both human smuggling and drugs.”

The governor’s spokesman, Paul Senseman, said boycotts are a foolish response when opponents can mount a legal challenge or try to repeal the law in a referendum.”A boycott is not only the least effective but the most discriminatory and harmful method to utilize when there are other methods in our democratic process that are readily available,” he said.(AP)

5.0 earthquake struck northern California's Napa region on Friday

WASHINGTON, April 30 A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck northern California’s Napa region on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.The quake hit 7 miles/11 km northeast of Napa at a depth of 3 miles (5 km). The temblor could not be felt in San Francisco, a witness said.(Reuters)

Mexico condemns Anti-Immigration Law

Mexico has warned its citizens to visit Arizona, responding to one anti-immigration legislation that cause anger strict in Mexico and throughout America. The law, signed in January Brewr, U.S. state governors, the southern part of it, from Republicans, allows police to inspect and arrest anyone who they suspect may be illegal immigrants, although they are not suspected of criminal acts.

Action caused resentment on both sides of the border, with MPs California, on Tuesday called for economic boycott against Arizona and one Mexican airline warned it may cancel more flights to the southern U.S. states that. Mexico’s foreign ministry suggested its citizens carry identity documents and to respect the laws of Arizona, warned that an adverse political situation for the migrant community and all visitors of Mexico.

“With this legislation is estimated to every citizen can be disrupted and examined for reasons that are not important at all times,” the statement said. President Felipe Calderon criticized the law as racial discrimination and said the government would use all means available to defend its citizens.

He said the law threatens the relationship of friendship, business, tourism and culture between Mexico and Arizona. Many Mexican migrants and the opposition party called for a boycott of businesses on the southern U.S. states, while the businessmen concerned about the negative reaction.

“Without doubt it will have an impact on traffic and the pelacong between Mexico and the state’s (Arizona),” Leader said Andres Conesa Aeroméxico airline told reporters at a tourism conference in Acupulco, Tuesday. “Aeroméxico’ve closed the routes between the cities of Mexico City and Guadalajara and Phoenix in Arizona in recent months,” he said.

In Sonora, the Mexican state bordering Arizona government symbolically membatalan one annual meeting with officials of Arizona, said its Internet pages, but said that trying to maintain good relations. North of the border, the legislation sparked a wave of criticism, including from U.S. President Barack Obama, and create legal and political fights while the Democratic party would consider filing a change in the law immigration wide.

Members of Congress in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Tuesday called for a boycott, including tightening up contracts with companies in Arizona and encourage private companies to reduce business with the state.

U.S. Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano says U.S. justice officials very worried about the law and the Justice Department is considering whether the law meets constitutional requirements. Mexico, which have a 3.200km long border with the United States, estimated to have approximately 12 million citizens in the U.S., half of them do not have documents or illegal. Arizona estimates in its territory there are 460 000 illegal immigrants, mostly from Latin America.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano talk about the "Calls to boycott Arizona grow over new immigration law "

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that she had “deep concerns” with the law and said it could siphon resources needed to target criminals. U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder said he was considering “the possibility of a court challenge.”

“I think that that law is an unfortunate one,” Holder said. “It is, I fear, subject to potential abuse. And I’m very concerned about the wedge that it could draw between communities that law enforcement is supposed to serve and those of us in law enforcement.”The law makes it a state crime to be in Arizona illegally and requires police to check suspects for immigration paperwork. The legislation also bars people from soliciting work or hiring day laborers off the street.Gov. Jan Brewer cast the law in terms of public safety, saying, “We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels.” Brewer said she would order the state police training agency to formulate guidelines for law enforcement officers.

But critics said the law will result in racial profiling and discrimination.Calls for boycotts spread throughout California this week after the bill was signed by Brewer on Friday. The law is scheduled to take effect 90 days after the legislative session ends this week.On Tuesday, seven members of the Los Angeles City Council signed a proposal for a boycott, calling for the city to “refrain from conducting business” or participating in conventions in Arizona. Councilman Ed Reyes, who coauthored the proposal with Councilwoman Janice Hahn, said he wants city officials to spend the next 90 days assessing the financial relationships that exist between various city departments and businesses based in Arizona.

“If Arizona companies are taking our money, I want to sever that,” he said.Hahn acknowledged that a boycott would be logistically complicated but said the city should not remain silent. “When people are asked to show their papers, it brings back memories of Nazi Germany,” she said.

A spokesman for City Controller Wendy Greuel identified at least 12 city contracts with Arizona companies that are worth an estimated $7.2 million.San Francisco supervisors introduced a similar resolution Tuesday, and Mayor Gavin Newsom imposed an immediate moratorium on city-related travel to Arizona, with limited exceptions. Newsom also announced the convening of a group to analyze how a boycott would affect city contracts and purchasing.

City Atty. Dennis Herrera said he hoped the city’s resolution would “be an impetus to others taking an aggressive stand in terms of scrutinizing the services they have with Arizona companies.”The leader of the California Senate, Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), called the law a “disgrace” and said the state also should consider a boycott. He sent a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asking for an inventory of Arizona businesses and government agencies with which California does business.

“The Arizona law is as unconscionable as it is unconstitutional, and the state of California should not be using taxpayer dollars to support such a policy,” Steinberg wrote.Already, several organizations have canceled planned conventions in Arizona. The American Immigration Lawyers Assn. announced that it is moving its fall convention, originally scheduled for Scottsdale in September.

“We just felt that given this new law signed by the governor that it would not be right for our association to meet and convene there and take on the issues of immigration in a state that passed such a misguided bill,” said George Tzamaras, spokesman for the group.Arizona was already reeling from a decline in tourism because of the recession, and the fallout from the law has taken hotel owners by surprise, said Debbie Johnson, president of the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Assn.”Obviously our members are concerned,” Johnson said. “I thought there would be political issues. It has become so tourism-focused and that, to me, is the unfortunate side.”

Johnson said 200,000 people, many of them Latinos and legal immigrants, depend on a paycheck from the tourism industry. “They don’t want to lose their jobs,” she said.Barry Broome, president of the Greater Phoenix Economic Development Council, compared the boycott resolutions to the aftermath of Proposition 187, the anti-illegal immigrant measure passed by California voters in 1994.”You didn’t see people in Arizona trying to leverage political gain from California’s issues,” he said.

Brewer said at a meeting in Tucson on Monday that she wasn’t worried about possible boycotts. “I believe it’s not going to have the kind of economic impact that some people think that it might,” she said.But Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who himself called for companies not to plan conventions in the state, said in an interview Tuesday that he expected the state to see declines in business and leisure travel, the trucking industry and retail shoppers from Mexico.

“There are political, legal and economic consequences that are going to hit the state,” said Grijalva, who has received death threats since speaking out against the law. “The disgust goes across state lines.”The concern about the law crossed international borders, with a travel warning posted by the Mexican government Tuesday. The post, on the Mexican Foreign Relations Ministry website, urged Mexican citizens to be careful in Arizona and to expect harassment and questioning.

bad behavior of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback' Ben Roethlisberger resulted Wednesday in a six-game suspension by the NFL

bad behavior of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback’ Ben Roethlisberger resulted Wednesday in a six-game suspension by the NFL and reportedly has triggered what once would have been unthinkable: The Steelers are testing the market to trade him.According to an ESPN report, Pittsburgh has been contacting teams selecting in the top 10 of this year’s draft, which begins at 4:30 p.m. PDT Thursday, to gauge interest in the two-time Super Bowl winner. By Wednesday afternoon, the network reported the Steelers had talked to St. Louis, San Francisco, Oakland, Jacksonville, Seattle and Cleveland. The 49ers are the only club without a top-10 pick (13 and 17).In a conference call with reporters, Steelers President Art Rooney II was vague on the subject but didn’t deny his team was shopping the quarterback, who last month was accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old college student in Georgia but will not face charges.

“As we’ve said before, we really can’t answer questions about trades, particularly this time of year,” Rooney said. “We go into every draft with the idea that we’re going to do anything we’ve got to do to make our team a better football team. We just have to stick with that and not discuss trades in advance.”What’s clear is the league and the Steelers have all but run out of patience with Roethlisberger, who last year faced similar accusations by a woman in Nevada. That case also did not bring criminal charges. Since then, reports have swirled that there’s a pattern of bad off-field behavior by the quarterback who once was among the NFL’s most popular players.Roethlisberger will be suspended without pay for six games — losing $2.8 million in salary — for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy, and he must undergo a “comprehensive behavioral evaluation by medical professionals,” the NFL said.

There is some flexibility to the suspension. It could be reduced to four games for good behavior after that behavioral evaluation has taken place, but Roethlisberger cannot attend any Steelers offseason activity until he completes the evaluation process.

“We’re trying to affect behavior here,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has a reputation for disciplining players who run afoul of league policies. “We’re trying to make people understand their responsibility, live up to that standard, avoid making mistakes and use good judgment.”We’re trying to have early intervention so that we can avoid people having criminal activity, deal with the issues and try to get them straightened out so they can lead productive lives. And if they can be great NFL players, terrific.”Rooney said the Steelers support Goodell’s decision and that the club was willing to suspend Roethlisberger if the league did not.

“We do have high standards here,” Rooney said. “But by the same token, we understand that we’re in the people business and people make mistakes. And when they do, we have to follow the procedures.”So far, there’s no indication Roethlisberger plans to appeal the suspension. Rooney was part of the phone call Wednesday when Goodell informed Roethlisberger of the suspension.”His intent here is to follow the program the commissioner sets out,” Rooney said. “It’s our hope and our expectation that that’s what he’s going to do.”

President Barack Obama and prime ministers and other top officials from 47 countries start work Monday on a battle plan to keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama and presidents, prime ministers and other top officials from 47 countries start work Monday on a battle plan to keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.Confronting what he calls the “single biggest threat to U.S. security,” Obama is looking for global help in his goal of ensuring all nuclear materials worldwide are secured from theft or diversion within four years.

On the eve of what would be the largest assembly of world leaders hosted by an American president since 1945 – the San Francisco conference to found the United Nations – Obama said nuclear materials in the hands of al-Qaida or another terrorist group “could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come.”

While sweeping or even bold new strategies were unlikely to emerge from the two-day gathering, Obama declared himself pleased with what he heard in warm-up meetings Sunday with the leaders of Kazakhstan, South Africa, India and Pakistan.”I feel very good at this stage in the degree of commitment and a sense of urgency that I have seen from the world leaders so far on this issue,” Obama said. “We think we can make enormous progress on this, and this then becomes part and parcel of the broader focus that we’ve had over the last several weeks.”

He was referring to what had gone before this, the fourth leg of his campaign to rid the world of nuclear weapons. The United States is the only country to use the weapons, two bombs dropped on Japan to force its surrender in World War II.The high-flown ambition, which the president admits will probably not be reality in his lifetime, began a year ago in Prague when he laid out plans for significant nuclear reductions and a nuclear-weapons-free world.

In the meantime, he has approved a new nuclear policy for the United States, promising last week to reduce America’s nuclear arsenal, refrain from nuclear tests and not use nuclear weapons against countries that do not have them. North Korea and Iran were not included in that pledge because they do not cooperate with other countries on nonproliferation standards.

That was Tuesday, and two days later, on the anniversary of the Prague speech, Obama flew back to the Czech Republic capital where he and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signed a new treaty that reduces each side’s deployed nuclear arsenal to 1,550 weapons. Medvedev also arrives Monday to sign a long-delayed agreement to dispose of tons of weapons-grade plutonium from Cold War-era nuclear weapons – the type of preventive action Obama wants the summit to inspire.Obama welcomes the assembled world leaders at a Washington convention center late Monday afternoon, but begins the day with a morning meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, whose intelligence apparatus is deeply involved in the Afghan war.

He then will sit down one-on-one with the leaders of Malaysia, Ukraine, Armenia and China.National Security Council spokesman Ben Rhodes said Obama would squeeze in a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey is a key NATO ally, and relations have been difficult recently, particularly over Iran. Rhodes said there were additional “pressing issues,” including normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia.

Throughout the two-day gathering, Iran will be a subtext as Obama works to gain support for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions against Tehran for its refusal to shut down what the United States and many key allies assert is a nuclear weapons program. Iran says it only wants to build reactors to generate electricity.Support from Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao, who sees Obama privately Monday, is critical, but neither is firmly committed to a new sanctions regime. (AP)

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck northwest Mexico's Baja California state Sunday

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck northwest Mexico’s Baja California state Sunday, rattling Arizona and southern California, and leaving at least two dead and more than 100 injured in Mexico, authorities saidAt least one person was killed in a building collapse in Mexicali, Mexico, according to the assistant director of civil protection in Tijuana.

The other victim died when he ran from his residence into the street and was hit by a car, said Alfredo Escobedo, Baja state’s director of civil protection.

More than 140 people were treated at local hospitals, including five who were in critical condition, said Rigaberto Lasoya, medical coordinator for the state of Baja. Some were being treated outside because there’s no electricity and water at the main hospital, Lasoya said.

All injuries are concentrated in Mexicali, officials said.In California and Arizona, there were no immediate reports of injuries and only limited reports of damages.The quake struck at 3:40 p.m. (6:40 p.m. ET) about 110 miles east-southeast of Tijuana, Mexico, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Pictures from Mexicali, a major metropolitan area and the capital of Mexico’s Baja California state, showed sides ripped off buildings, telephone poles toppled, roads cracked and supermarket aisles strewn with food that had fallen off shelves.

The entire city has lost power, according to Alan Sandoval, Tijuana’s assistant director of civil protection

iReport.com: Water splashes out of San Diego, California,Residents across Southern California and Arizona reported serious ground shakes.”We have not felt a shake like that since about 1979,” Michelle Tapia told CNN from Brawley, California, approximately 23 miles north of the Mexican border.

iReport.com: Pots clang in San Diego, California, homeJoe Madison was shopping at a Wal-Mart in Palm Springs, California, when he felt the earthquake.”I felt the entire store move, and people went running for the exits,” he said.Madison said people gathered outside in the parking lot until the shaking stopped.”We felt it for about 30 seconds. It was rolling,” San Diego County sheriff’s Lt. Scott Ybarrondo told CNN. “Nothing fell off the walls here, but we have reports of pictures falling off walls elsewhere in the county.”

The quake was the largest in the Baja California area since 1992, the USGS reported.iReport.com: Damage in a bookstore in Palm Desert, CaliforniaThe 1992 quake, which struck in Landers, California, triggered an earthquake the next day in Nevada and another quake 11 days later in Southern California, according to USGS seismologist Lucy Jones. Both were 5.7 magnitude quakes.

Jones said Sunday’s quake also could trigger others in the coming days, though she said the relatively quiet hours after Sunday’s quake make other big quakes less likely.There have been three large aftershocks so far, including one that registered a 5.5 magnitude, and other smaller temblors, USGS said.Chandeliers swung and water sloshed around in swimming pools in the Los Angeles suburbs, witnesses reported, while posters to Twitter reported feeling the quake in Phoenix, Arizona.

Capt. Steve Ruda, a spokesman for the Los Angeles city fire department, said there were isolated power outages and a few people reported trapped in elevators, but no injuries or structural damage were reported.Nine minutes after the Mexico quake, a magnitude 4.1 quake rattled windows in Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco. No damage was reported there, and Susan Potter, a USGS geophysicist, told CNN that was a separate quake from the one that struck in the Baja California desert.The USGS initially reported that the Baja California quake had a 6.9 magnitude. The USGS upgraded the quake about an hour later.

6.9 earthquake hit the San Diego area around 3:45pm today

6.9 earthquake hit the San Diego area around 3:45pm today, according to earthquake.usgs.gov. It is unclear what kind of damage was done, if any, but it is the third quake to hit with an epicenter in Baja, California this afternoon. Smaller aftershocks also occurred before and after the bigger jolt.
A 3.3 and 4.3 earthquake happened within a half hour of the biggest quake, and news sources are just starting to break the news about the big quake. Apparently the rattle lasted about 12 seconds, and Twitter was blowing up with people commenting on the rumble.

There were a few minor quakes in the San Francisco Bay Area today as well, but with magnitudes of less than 3.0. According to reports, today’s San Diego jolt occurred (16 miles) SSW of Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, Mexico. The hypocentral depth was 20 miles, according to Stinque.com.

Twitter can now let the world automatically know your whereabouts as well as your thoughts and activities

SAN FRANCISCO  Twitter can now let the world automatically know your whereabouts as well as your thoughts and activities.A new feature unveiled Thursday gives Twitter users the option of including their location with the assorted musings posted on the Internet messaging service.

Locations won’t be included unless users turn on the tracking tool. The technology, which shadows people through Web browsers, can be turned off at any time.Twitter is responding to the growing popularity of other Internet services, such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt, that broadcast people’s locations. Facebook is expected to join the trend soon, too.Many of Twitter’s 73 million worldwide users already mention their location in their messages, or tweets. But that wastes precious space because tweets are limited to 140 characters.Location sharing is becoming so prevalent that a Web site called Please Rob Me recently launched as a reminder that burglars can mine the information to help pinpoint places where nobody’s home.Twitter is advising its users to be careful about when and how they use the new location tool.

Persuading people to share their locations could help Internet services sell more advertising to companies looking to sell products and services in certain neighborhoods at a specific time.Twitter’s tracking tool is designed to work seamlessly with two Web browsers: Chrome and Firefox 3.5. The Internet Explorer browser requires downloading Google Inc.’s Gears software.(AP)

Facebook Inc. is expanding a service called Facebook Credits that gives it a 30 percent cut of sales from tractors

Facebook Inc. is expanding a service called Facebook Credits that gives it a 30 percent cut of sales from tractors, fish food and guns in online games, according to four people who have held discussions with the company.Facebook is already testing the payment option in at least 17 games, including “Happy Aquarium” and “Restaurant City.” The company will make the service available in more games ahead of its annual developers conference in April, said the people, who declined to be named because the plans aren’t public.After relying on advertising for almost all of its revenue, Facebook is moving to take a bigger piece of the market for virtual items bought in games, which may quadruple to $3.6 billion in the U.S. by 2012, according to ThinkEquity LLC. Today, almost all of those sales go to the game developers, such as Zynga Inc., creator of “FarmVille,” and Electronic Arts Inc.’s Playfish unit.

“It will likely be a significant revenue stream,” said Jeremy Liew, a managing director at Menlo Park, California-based Lightspeed Venture Partners who invests in social games. “They’ll keep working on it until it makes economic sense for developers.”Facebook, the most popular social-networking site, allows outside developers to offer games to its 400 million users. The games are free, and players can pay for items that advance their progress, such as a $3.33 tractor in “FarmVille,” a $5.95 helicopter in “Mafia Wars” or a $4.89 box of fish food for “Happy Aquarium.”
Facebook Cut
The Palo Alto, California-based company is seeking to take advantage of the popularity of online games, a market that has already blossomed in Asia. Shares of Tencent Holdings Ltd., a game company in Shenzhen, China, tripled in the past year, giving it a market value of $35 billion. Facebook is also taking a page from Apple Inc., which gets a 30 percent cut of sales from iPhone apps.Today, gamers on Facebook can either buy Facebook Credits to obtain items in games, or pay for them through third-party services. Of the $3.6 billion in U.S. virtual goods sales in 2012, about $2.2 billion will be on social networks, with 80 percent on Facebook, said Atul Bagga, a ThinkEquity analyst in San Francisco. If all payments on the site use Facebook Credits, that would mean $530 million in revenue for the company, he said.

‘Trust Factor’

“It’s the trust factor,” Bagga said. “You trust Facebook more than you would trust any other payment company.”EBay Inc.’s PayPal unit said yesterday that it will become a payment option for Facebook Credits, allowing PayPal customers to buy the site’s virtual currency. Players can also use credit cards or their mobile phone to buy credits.Payments and virtual currencies will likely be a focus of Facebook’s developers conference, which is scheduled to start April 21 in San Francisco, said three people who have had discussions with the company.

“We are continuing to look at ways to extend our virtual currency Facebook Credits  via a small alpha test with a handful of developers,” Facebook said in an e-mailed statement. “The test started in May and is exploring ways for people to use their Facebook Credits with third-party applications.”Allowing Facebook’s users to buy a single virtual currency that can be spent on all games will probably increase sales for developers, said Vish Makhijani, chief operating officer of San Francisco-based Zynga, the largest creator of games on the site.

‘Additional Liquidity’

“Facebook Credits will drive more people to become buyers,” Makhijani said. “That additional liquidity or ability to spend in more places clearly would be more attractive to a consumer than something you can only spend in one place.”

In rolling out Facebook Credits, the company may still allow players to buy goods using other payment services. Developers would prefer to have Facebook Credits as an option rather than being the exclusive payments provider  because purchases made with Facebook cost them more, said Vikas Gupta, chief executive officer of Jambool Inc., also known as Social Gold, which offers an in-game payment system.“Facebook Credits comes at a pretty high tax,” said Gupta, whose San Francisco-based company charges developers 7 percent to 10 percent per purchase. Still, he said Facebook Credits “will help grow the overall ecosystem so you’ll see more people pay for goods.”