Games

Probably the last tweet that was posted on this thread, if PayPal was denying purchases in certain regions than steam would get scared

Payment processors don't know which game you bought. That's not the concern.

Their concern is that the store they do business with provides services to content they deem inappropriate. Frankly, I'm surprised they allowed this much for so long given the past.

Why credit card processors are puritans, I have no idea. But MC, Visa and PayPal have historically always been super anti-porn.

yup they did this a LONG time ago with porn sites and DVD sales. I used to work in that industry as a web developer in the early 00s. Third party billers specifically set up for the porn industry thrived because of this.

there were many silly rules like you said, no fisting, at most two fingers in the asshole, Incest was "OK" as long as it was "step-" whatever BUT you could get away with it if you laid the ground work initially and say "step-mom" or whatever and then later on just say "mom". Step-Dad was...hit or miss if you could get away with it. Scat was a no go BUT piss was ok IF it was from Europe, sorry US folks, you're not allowed to piss on each other and film it in the good ol United States according to Visa and Mastercard. Finally some stuff like gang bangs or "abuse" porn was fine AS LONG as the girl at the end of the video has a mini interview claiming what a great time she had while covered in jizz. Visa and Mastercard needed to ensure this lady enjoyed herself.

fucking really dumb rules and I would have LOVED to be a fly in the room when Visa and Mastercard lawyers came up with these things.

I mean isn’t this effectively the problem bitcoin aimed to solve originally? Don’t get me wrong, crypto is fucked and I’m not advocating for it here per se. But a locally processed, secure, digital version of cash bypasses the need for any of this. Granted it bypasses the need for some of the most powerful institutions on the planet too, and so will never happen in a truly egalitarian sense.

Also just cause it’s bugging me, you understand that a credit card, or even a debit card or PayPal/venmo account, does not equate to ‘your money’ the way physical cash does, right?

Im not saying you shouldn’t have the right to privacy when making a purchase. But mandating the processors of that purchase ignore what that money is doing is a fools errand as that’s basically a core mechanism in their operation and generation of profit.

It's been like this for a while in the porn industry. In an interview a while back, Bree Mills says she gets more limited by payment processors than the government (though that might be switching).

Ever wonder why every faux-incest video goes out of the way to say everyone is a step family? Step father, step daughter, step mother, step brother, all somehow living in the same house, over 18, and no blood relation? The first amendment protects them from the US government, so that's not why. Credit card companies are why. The old Taboo series was distributed differently back in the day. Can't make that anymore.

This also applies to some of the more extreme BDSM stuff, like blood play or scat. Won't find them on kink.com.

an unelected duopoly can basically dictate global laws.

definitely dystopian

No, they were created to facilitate pyramid schemes and scams.

The EU is investigating a digital euro, but you won’t be pleased to learn that one of the key reasons is to increase tracking and compliance. Meaning their stated goal is to be able to restrict how the currency is used, by who, when, and on what. The EU is the very last organisation to ever create and maintain an anonymous and agnostic currency. We have that already with monero.