Video game news oriented community. No NanoUFO is not a bot :)
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On the one hand, oh noz, the incest games. Who will live without the low effort AI goon crap?
On the other hand, why do the payment companies get to dictate what sales are made? It's my fucking money, or my fucking store. It's not the job of the payment processors to determine if I'm buying illegal goods, just that the money goes from me to the store.
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.
The payments can become a legal liability for the processors. I believe there are federal laws that have penalties for anyone who facilitates transactions for certain prohibited goods or services. It's the same reason cannabis shops have such a hard time getting payment and banking services.
The payment processors have very little incentive to take risks here. As others have noted, there isn't much competition pressure.
EDIT: I went to find a source, and found the cannabis analogy isn't right. Seems that Visa and MasterCard really are the primary censors of the porn industry. This archived FT article went in depth. https://archive.ph/zXKuD
It's not even legal risk. It's brand risk.
There's a difference with cannabis shops because that's actually still federally illegal. As such, the required business accounts and tax documents required to use a national payment processor are often not forthcoming. It's a low level regulation that you can't generally tell a federal bank you'd like an account to store the proceeds of a federal crime.
With porn, the legal standards and protections are pretty well established. As long as the company is in possession of the required tax documents and business accounts, there's no legal risk beyond the standard due diligence they need to do for every customer. Visa isn't generally liable if a tire shop is discovered to be breaking a non-financial law. What processors don't want is to have their brand attached to something that they worry could make them look bad.
Payment processors should not be allowed to dictate what content they allow to be bought and what not. It's not their job to police people, let me live ffs
Agreed. If it's not illegal then it should be allowed. Not that I approve of this type of content, but corporations should not be selectively enforcing their morals.
It's only a matter of time before they come for furry stuff. They did it with fansly. It's apparently "simulated bestiality" and from what I've heard you aren't even allowed to reference trans puppy girls, pup play, etc without getting banned.
Wait, puppy play would get you banned? Isn't that just, like, wearing funny ears and walking around on hands and knees or whatever? Maybe at most a tail buttplug? I don't really get the appeal myself, but it seems pretty damn benign.
I wouldn't really care if Steam decided to crack down on porn games, its their store. Payment processors being the ones to force Valve's hands simply doesn't sit right.
an unelected duopoly can basically dictate global laws.
definitely dystopian
I didn't know this till I heard a podcast series about this, but the global rulemakes for porn are Visa and Mastercard. They decide what "goes too far" and remove a site from their service if they don't like it, effectively cutting off all revenue streams and killing the site. They did this with porn sites and threatened OnlyFans. There are a bunch of rules they've written for the industry (e.g. fingering an orofice with4 fingers was acceptable, but when the thumb goes in then it becomes "fisting" and this used to be unacceptable), but many rules are unwritten and have to be guessed.
I think this is the podcast series for anyone interested (although I heard this a long time ago and I'm not sure if it was a different series and I'm not going to listen again to confirm).
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.
Transcript
nickyflowers: It would be cool if websites let you be an adult on them. The advertisers and payment processors need everything to be Family Friendly though their definitions of family and friendly are fucked. But since they're in charge of the Internet now, no one is allowed to be an adult. TikTokers say things like "unalive" and "seggs" because they know death and sex are too adult for online. Online is for idiot babies only now because they're easier to market to.
nickyflowers: Oh I'm sorry you're a trans adult? Super ban. You are super banned for life. You have upset Visa's feelings. Mastercard is throwing up in the corner. How could you do this to Google Ads?
This might sound like a good idea. But it is not, since lets say some topic is too sensitive for the payment processor, then they have monopoly on what game can and can not be allowed on Steam.
So in the long run, this is a bad idea.
This doesn't sound like a good idea in any way. Why the fuck do banks get to say how my money is used? They can literally eat my shit.
Not a fan of porn games (which aren't available here anyway), but that is not a good sign.
Why would they even cater to payment providers? They should not be able to determine whether you bought a porn game or a regular game, just that it's something on Steam.
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.
Payment processors and financial institutions sure do seem to hold disproportionate amounts of power.
First they came for the incestuous porn
Then they came for the furries
Then they came for games with violence
Then...
Then...
Then...
I hope that the EU creates a digital currency system that is universal, and for privacy coins to become common. I don't want to deal with American payment processors, because they want to prevent me from supporting the people who make my life better.
Payment should be a dumb pipe, allowing me and you to uphold the social contract.
So… why tell payment processors exactly what was purchased? Why not call it “Steam store transaction” and that’s it?
Ironically, when you look at the receipts that is all it says.
I think they're just blanket saying "follow our morals or die" rather than "this particular title offends us".
Wait a minute, PayPal is pulling puritanical bullshit again? Did they learn nothing from the last time they tried that?
Ted Cruz in shambles
No worries, Sex With Hitler is still available for purchase.
Steam should accept bitcoin or some other crypto as default for all titles and only use card for "safe" titles
Steam users are mostly tech savvy enough to do it
