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Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

pcgamer.com

311–320 of 621 posts

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but also the crypto option has been tried and absolutely doesn’t work.

Why not? I regularly buy products and services online with crypto and it works quite well, usually a better experience than with a credit card. There are plenty of chains that can confirm transactions in a couple seconds, and if you're concerned with volatility, just use USDC/USDT. There are crypto payment processors that handle all of this and allow payment across a range of chains and handle the volatility so that…

I think I trust Stripe and Steam, probably two of the biggest money movers online by volume, to know when something doesn't work over just you.

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the mint should maintain a payment processor, and the post office should maintain an official email address for everyone. these are basic things we need to exist in society, we should not be at the whims of private organizations.

I cannot think of anything worse than an official post office email I have to maintain. Do you not remember how many government sites would simply shut down after business hours because they couldn't figure out how to do on-call? Have you ever used US-treasury direct? This site would be slow, the code base would be unmaintained, it'd get enormous amounts of spam you have to sort through to get some important tax docu…

Hard disagree on every point. Just because implementations aren't always perfect does not mean you should not have public services.

I know a librarian who spends an inordinate amount of time helping the elderly and tech illiterate members of the public with creating emails, because they're necessary. However, you can't create emails anywhere without a phone number these days - a post office option would fix that.

Email already gets enormous amounts of spam, and the only reason most don't see it is because private service providers like Google expend resources filtering them out. Why would a business not be able to charge for premium filter services on an email they don't host? Not to mention that private email services send you ads.

To be clear, I'm not saying we should shut down Gmail tomorrow, but having a free public email service option would allow many people to use internet infrastructure they don't have. It's an accessibility problem that should be addressed in the public's interest as well as shareholders.

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#313

If only we had some kind of decentralized internet money system.

Or a legally protected right to transact, ideally with cash-equivalent anonymity. I’d take either one.

The digital euro will be released in the coming years. It allows for digital offline transfers.

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#314

I really hope Steam will start to accept Bitcoin (via Lightning possibly) over this. Due to its decentralization, it is censorship free by default. And if Steam accepts Bitcoin, that would be a massive boost for the liquidity aspect of BTC: You could basically sell your BTC to anyone who wants to make a Steam purchase, making it similarly fungible as Amazon gift vouchers.

Not sure about bitcoin, but maybe a stable coin would be interesting.

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#315
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is that Steam wasn't able to adequately block the games in Austrailia. If people use a VPN to access the content, could Steam still be liable?

No, it hasn't been the case. The group in question, Collective Shout, has been pressuring Mastercard. Not Mastercard Australia, not Steam Australia: it's a concerted action to take down things they don't want. It's not a one time thing either: sex workers have been under attack by similar extremist catholic bigots. Furries, porn, anything they see as deviant is being attacked. And MC/Visa are happy to help. Do I mind…

This so much. The problem here is not the content that was blocked, it's the completely unaccountable process that was used to block content worldwide bypassing any legal protection.

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think so?

Here's the EO, I don't see where it kills FedNow, it seems like it just mandates electronic payments and disallows paper checks: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/mode...

Heh, while I like the idea of using immediate electronic dispursement over the mail.

I do find the ending of the EO pretty amusing. You're telling the agencies exactly what to do, how is that not impairing their authority?

> Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

> (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cannot think of anything worse than an official post office email I have to maintain. Do you not remember how many government sites would simply shut down after business hours because they couldn't figure out how to do on-call? Have you ever used US-treasury direct? This site would be slow, the code base would be unmaintained, it'd get enormous amounts of spam you have to sort through to get some important tax docu…

Hard disagree on every point. Just because implementations aren't always perfect does not mean you should not have public services. I know a librarian who spends an inordinate amount of time helping the elderly and tech illiterate members of the public with creating emails, because they're necessary. However, you can't create emails anywhere without a phone number these days - a post office option would fix that. Ema…

[dead]

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the mint should maintain a payment processor, and the post office should maintain an official email address for everyone. these are basic things we need to exist in society, we should not be at the whims of private organizations.

Is a payment processor operated by the Federal Reserve good enough? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FedNow Well, it probably would be, except guess who killed it in favor of a crypto scheme? https://www.jitumaster.com/2025/06/us-president-signs-execut... I agree about the PO though. Social media shouldn't be a for-profit enterprise either.

Every time we have this discussion someone brings up FedNow, and I will repeat the same question I always ask: when I visit the farmer's market this weekend, will anyone there be able to practically accept payment in FedNow? What would that even look like? (FYI the vendors take most cards, Apple/Google Pay, Venmo, paper cash, Square Cash, Apple Cash, etc.)

If the answer is "no for these reasons", then this probably shines a big light on why FedNow is not serving the same use case.

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#319

Anti-monopoly laws are good, but how about some harsh anti-duopoly laws? Could also hit the iOS-Android bird with the same stone!

It’s not even a duopoly, look at the majority shareholders of both Visa and Mastercard, Vanguard and Black-rock in both. So it’s effectively a monopoly.

Vanguard and Blackrock are just asset managers. Public companies are owned by everyone with mutual funds, like pension funds and individual retirement accounts.

https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.34N76K4

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the EO, I don't see where it kills FedNow, it seems like it just mandates electronic payments and disallows paper checks: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/mode...

Heh, while I like the idea of using immediate electronic dispursement over the mail. I do find the ending of the EO pretty amusing. You're telling the agencies exactly what to do, how is that not impairing their authority? > Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: > (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereo…

You can be almost certain these EOs are composed in tandem with LLMs.
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