121–130 of 621 posts
By the way: https://www.amazon.com/Streetcar-Named-Desire-Blu-ray/dp/B07... Why is Mastercard processing money for this movie that contains a rape scene?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honestly I hope this comes under the EU's radar.
Oh the EU will happily pass new laws to screen your entire life when you'd like to buy a game (and to record and store everything you talk about with fellow gamers in case you say something that goes against EU policies). EU will even arrange a special new bank account for ya outside of Visa Mastercard called CBDC. No problem. EU is here for ya! /s
Dumb question: what if Steam only takes cash or crypto payment for these games, and leave them on the market? Cash is loaded from debit card and can be used for buying any games, while crypto apparently always works for everything. Would they still be on the hook?
Yes, but also the crypto option has been tried and absolutely doesn’t work.
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I think the larger point here is that the government is suppressing protected speech by using private sector actors as intermediaries.
Is there proof the government actually uses this apparatus? I don't think there's any government involvement necessary here - Mastercard has some censorship apparatus (which they claim to be necessary for their brand's reputation), and they used it (apparently through pressure from an Australian group) towards video games. This is really bad but I don't think it makes sense to believe a government was ever involved h…
Full title that doesn't fit in the HN headline: "Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down, but Valve says payment processors 'specifically cited' a Mastercard rule about damaging the brand" (For the people who don't click the link to read the article.)
>Each of these companies maintains its own terms of service and each of them can block a transaction by themselves. Additionally, intermediary companies that handle card transactions are mutually and individually bound to the terms of every Card Network, so even if you never do business with Discover or American Express, you must still obey their rules if you want to accept Visa or Mastercard. For online businesses, there are no alternatives: you will do exactly what they want, or you will not do business at all.
>If you are banned from processing payments, you will not be informed why or by which point of failure. "Risk management" is considered a trade secret in the industry. You have no right to know, you cannot sue to discover what has happened, and you also have no right to appeal.
Dumb question: what if Steam only takes cash or crypto payment for these games, and leave them on the market? Cash is loaded from debit card and can be used for buying any games, while crypto apparently always works for everything. Would they still be on the hook?
Yes, but also the crypto option has been tried and absolutely doesn’t work.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "The US has some clear laws against government controlling speech and, in the abstract, that makes it pretty much impossible to censor games." For background, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Entertainment_Merchan... ( "Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association" (2011) ( "ruling that video games were protected speech under the First Amendment as other forms of media" ))
First Amendment applies to the _government_, not private entities.