Is there anything that can be done with the weaponization of the payment system? Cryptocurrency as obviously failed, but is there really no possible recourse when every traditional payment method seemingly colludes to not take the business for whatever reason?
Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steams new censorship rules
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Re: Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steams new censorship rules
#12Man, having “GTA 5” and “No Mercy” as targets in the same conversation is strange. GTA5 is IMO really mild for a game, while I do think No Mercy probably crossed the line. But I haven’t played a GTA game in a decade so maybe I’m misremembering..
GTA was a lot more controversial in the past than it is today. It used to be the subject of moderate to heavy moral panic, since it's a game about committing crimes; stealing cars and running over cops / hookers. Hearing people whine about GTA today feels like a blast from the past.
There's actually a statue of Hillary Clinton in GTA IV (2008), in commemoration of her many battles against the series.
Re: Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steams new censorship rules
#13An interesting article I saw today in Portuguese language, is speculating that the real reason USA is threatening to tariff Brazil in 50% is because the invention of "Pix Parcelado" that is supposed to go online soon, will reduce the popularity of Mastercard and Visa, and thus remove an important tool of censorship from US government hands. Lula also himself accused the USA of putting tariffs because of credit card c…
Ironically, incidents like these further underscore the necessity of independence from Mastercard and Visa, as it seems anyone can influence these companies to serve their own interests.
Re: Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steams new censorship rules
#14Earlier:
Group Behind Steam Censorship Policies Have Powerful Allies
Re: Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steams new censorship rules
#15Man, having “GTA 5” and “No Mercy” as targets in the same conversation is strange. GTA5 is IMO really mild for a game, while I do think No Mercy probably crossed the line. But I haven’t played a GTA game in a decade so maybe I’m misremembering..
GTA was a lot more controversial in the past than it is today. It used to be the subject of moderate to heavy moral panic, since it's a game about committing crimes; stealing cars and running over cops / hookers. Hearing people whine about GTA today feels like a blast from the past.
Kids these days probably never heard of Jack Thompson's crusades.
Re: Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steams new censorship rules
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
GTA was a lot more controversial in the past than it is today. It used to be the subject of moderate to heavy moral panic, since it's a game about committing crimes; stealing cars and running over cops / hookers. Hearing people whine about GTA today feels like a blast from the past.
Totally fair point, the first one I played was GTA III in the early 2000s, and I definitely remember some of these conversations. Similar to how DOOM and Mortal Kombat had a lot of controversy, but like you, I had assumed that this was mostly in the past.
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Re: Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steams new censorship rules
#17Is there anything that can be done with the weaponization of the payment system? Cryptocurrency as obviously failed, but is there really no possible recourse when every traditional payment method seemingly colludes to not take the business for whatever reason?
> Cryptocurrency as obviously failed
I don't think cryptocurrency has failed. Yesterday I successfully payed with crypto when the payment with multiple credit cards failed.
Re: Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steams new censorship rules
#18It seems like we need two things. First, some type of universal standard to id the country of legal residence of a user. Second, some type of way to know what laws a company needs to comply with to operate in a jurisdiction. There are too many laws across different jurisdictions that makes it really challenging for companies to offer goods and services.
I'm not sure if this solves it exactly? If MasterCard says they'll cut you off unless you adopt their requirements it doesn't really help to say you'll apply that policy in X country and keep selling the stuff in another country, they could still cut you off unless you do it globally.
Re: Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steams new censorship rules
#19People like to give America shit for anti-porn activism and laws but it really seems like America is just trailing behind the rest of the anglosphere. This case for instance, of Australians imposing their prudish values on American companies that were content to tolerate these naughty games. And those porn ID laws that Texas/etc get flack for are just on the path already trail blazed by the UK.
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It's also an ideologically motivated misframing. It ignores any arguments about the actual harms of this sort of media and pretends it's all about pearl-clutching.
Re: Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steams new censorship rules
#20It seems like we need two things. First, some type of universal standard to id the country of legal residence of a user. Second, some type of way to know what laws a company needs to comply with to operate in a jurisdiction. There are too many laws across different jurisdictions that makes it really challenging for companies to offer goods and services.
Are you sure you want an internet where it's not possible to go escape legal censorship? Because that's what you're proposing with an id standard.