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Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

pcgamer.com

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Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#331

Post by alexvitkov »

Ruthalas wrote: post #212
alexvitkov wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really hasn't. Everything has been tried with crypto, except actually buying things with it.

To be fair, in the case of Steam they legitimately did try. They supported bitcoin purchases for nearly two years before they stopped, citing volatility and processing fees: https://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail...

I wouldn't call using Bitcoin legitimately trying. Even in 2017 Monero existed, which solves both the fee and transaction time problems, and as an added bonus is way more private.

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#332

Post by clarionbell »

p_ing wrote: post #67
perihelions wrote: post #49

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.

In age of megacorps, this is a great weakness of this right.

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#333

Post by Null-Set »

master-lincoln wrote: post #232
polytely wrote: post #216

I wonder if Valve could (threaten to) become their own payment processor if this becomes too big of a threat. They are one of the few companies on earth with enough money to attempt it. If I remember correctly a big part of Valves heavy investment into linux was Microsoft wanting to lock windows down more, and now in 2025 gaming on linux is a viable alternative to windows.

What would that change? The assumption here is that payment processors need to comply with MasterCards rules. So would Valve if they would become a payment processor, no?

It would allow them to negotiate directly with Mastercard, making the deflection in TFA impossible.

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#334

Post by nemomarx »

dpoloncsak wrote: post #283
Freak_NL wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not targetted by pressure groups at the moment. MasterCard isn't acting out of its own moral convictions here, so don't expect these rules to be enforced wherever they might apply.

...So their quote "we require merchants to have appropriate controls to ensure Mastercard cards cannot be used for unlawful purchases, including illegal adult content." is just a lie?

I mean yes, of course they're lying? the article quotes the actual rule here, which is "don't do anything that might make us look bad".

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#335

Post by techpression »

dublinben wrote: post #319
techpression wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Thanks, but ”just asset managers” feels a bit generous, from that same link; ”But large asset managers may help bring issues to the attention of boards.” Is that the case here, no idea (likely not), but I do find it strange that both Visa and Mastercard refuse to take part of the multi billion dollar industry that is adult content. I have heard that it’s a volatile market with a lot of cash backs and fraudulent transactions, but they are happy to participate in other such endeavors.

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#336

Post by 0983736882 »

stego-tech wrote: post #89

The payment processor censorship issue backs up a point I made elsewhere about companies being involved in politics: they shouldn’t be, and shareholders should be screaming with rage that these companies have inserted themselves into these discussions on purpose. They’re payment processors , for crying out loud. Their entire grift is taking a slice of every transaction processed, ergo, the only restriction they shoul…

> If they don’t like processing payments for pornography or adult content (including games)

Pornography and adult content is fine—the real issue is that gaming storefronts refuse to moderate their platforms for child pornography and rape material and would rather kill their entire NSFW catalog, all while painting themselves as the victims.

> If they don’t like processing payments for pornography or adult content (including games), then don’t be a payment processor. They’re a business, not a person, and therefore their “preferences” regarding content are irrelevant.

Businesses are composed of people whose preferences matter. No business should be forced to serve pedophiles and rape fetishists.

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#337

Post by nemomarx »

stego-tech wrote: post #89

The payment processor censorship issue backs up a point I made elsewhere about companies being involved in politics: they shouldn’t be, and shareholders should be screaming with rage that these companies have inserted themselves into these discussions on purpose. They’re payment processors , for crying out loud. Their entire grift is taking a slice of every transaction processed, ergo, the only restriction they shoul…

If you're interested and have any index funds, you could call shareholder relations for one of these companies and make that argument. "why are you turning down income streams and hurting your own profits" is maybe a position they'd listen to?

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#338

Post by cubefox »

There are so many middle men involved, it gets confusing. Apparently the payment goes like this:

Game Buyer (Steam) -> Stripe/PayPal -> MasterCard/Visa -> Valve -> Game publisher

That's at least three middle men, and presumably all of them collect fees. I wonder why in the year 2025 there isn't a more direct way to pay for things.

Re: Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down

#339

Post by creer »

rs186 wrote: post #64

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?

This is a better way to think about it: Valve is in a situation where they could maintain two payment regimes on their site: some content can be paid through methods X, Y and Z, while others cannot be paid by credit or debit cards but accept all other methods. That's some programming and payment routing change on their site, but might be within the possible. Valve can do that because they charge separately for each item. If passes or subscriptions, they would need to shift from one to two.

This would be harder - it seems - for something like OnlyFans where payments and censorship are all one soup shared among all content.

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