It is very naive to think that Valve will really continue to allow adult games in case of controversies (which could cause millionaire losses with lawsuits).
That's misunderstanding both the Law and Steam that thinking they can inevitably be targeted by a lawsuit.
Like they kept their possibility to remove a game at their own discretion, they already comply to laws regarding content moderation that already exist around the world. They also have all that's needed to comply to local Law ; they already comply to German laws regarding violence in video games by example. And they are less concerned by the EU article 16 if it pass.
The only thing they do, is offering a platform to share/sell game(s), this while globally complying to the Law all around the world. If they forgot a law here or there, they'll receive a cessation notice ordering them to remove this or that, which they more than surely do, updating their own tools to this new knowledge. It's (almost) only in the US that people goes full lawsuit from the start, and like they are US based it's not a problem ; US Law is the one they know the most.
As for the payment processors, their fear with adult content isn't a moral thing. They know very well that there's a shit ton of money to make here. But they also know that it's the market where there's the more fraudulent transactions, and it's the reason why they avoid it. Still, they can agree to deal with it if their partner offer the needed guaranties, and Steam can do it.
It's not Patreon, where you can make a new account just to make a fraudulent pledge, get your reward and forget about it. You need your Steam account to play the game. It imply that Steam can remove the game from your library if it appear that the transaction was fraudulent ; where's the advantage to buy the game if you can't play it ? In the same time, you don't go to Steam just to buy an adult game, and you'll not create a new account just for this ; login on/off anytime you switch from a regular game to an adult one is quickly annoying. You also don't share the content of your two accounts, it will link them and so ease the works on anyone wanting to pursue you for fraudulent bank transaction.
So, like they also have enough money to fulfill the asked provision, for payment processors, Steam offer (almost) all the needed guaranties in regard of adult content.
In the end, the (almost) only threat they'll have to face is someone complaining that, "OH MY LORD, THERE'S P* IN HERE !" (NdA: I censored it to sound like them). But this person can't pursue Steam for this, because if he saw it, it mean that it's legal to sell it in his country and that he claimed to be above the legal age. So, in short, Steam do absolutely nothing illegal. If someone see illegal content, it's this someone who tried to cheat the Law, not them.
As for a call for boycott... when it come from the US and concern porn or things like this, the rest of the western world tend to react at the opposite ; it tend to make us laugh when the self proclaimed "land of freedom" try to restrict freedom. And even US based Steam users will not really follow the call, because they are players, not narrow sighted bigots.
What happened on Tumblr will happen, sooner or later, in any large company that is not focused on the adult market.
You know that Tumblr was kicked out of Apple store because of pedopornography, right ? It partly have to do with Apple point of view in regard of public moral, but they didn't moved before they had the possibility to effectively accuse Tumblr to host illegal content. That's because they know that they constantly fail at filtering child pornography, that Tumblr banned adult content, not because of some kind of moral crusade ; such crusaders exist against Tumblr, but they never were able to succeed.
Anyway, it don't concern Steam. They already can filter what's shown in this or that country, and can do the same to comply with moral issue of this or that store. Their content will always be legal and if needed be in accord with the moral points of view of the intermediary they need to use.
To this you need to add the fact that Steam is even bigger than Tumblr. The size of Tumblr helped them to stay safe of moral crusade, Steam and their 10 millions concurrent users logged in at any time of the day, if way safer on this side.
You may not agree, but the real way to gain credibility is with well-rendered services. In a market that prioritizes privacy, this is critical.
You know, the best software in computer security are all open sources. Strange, isn't it, that the best way to be secure is by showing to everyone how you secure your computer. It's the same for Tor. The software is open source and the nodes are public. Still it's one of best the way to protect your privacy online. Well, the same apply to privacy. Transparency is and will always be the best way to ensure privacy. Especially in a case like this one where your own privacy is on the hand of someone else.
The identity of his society and his privacy are two totally different things. Saying that the service is provided by [society] located in [full address], will change absolutely nothing to his privacy. We still don't know his sexual orientation, his religion, his marital status, if he have children, what music he like, what he did yesterday, and all in fact everything that his part of his private life. But, in the same time it will make all the difference between a trustworthy service and a service that can't be trusted.
That's your opinion, an opinion from someone who clearly does not have any confidence with cryptocurrency and related services. You've already made that clear in posts made on other topics.
You confuse two things here. I don't have a single issue with cryptocurrencies, it's with
part of the people using them that I have some problems.
When someone state that using a cryptocurrency is mandatory, then he don't only deal with legal business. This simply because it's neither mandatory when what you do is legal. It doesn't mean that you can't use cryptocurrency, just that you do it because you can/want. It's the "needed" part that is more than suspect, not the use itself. And the same apply when a service deal only with cryptocurrencies.
That's why, among other things, I said for few Patreon alternatives, that people should be cautious about them. When you target your whole funding business on untraceable money exchange, you open a door to pedo-ring funding, white supremacists funding, right and left wing extremists funding, terrorism funding, and so on. Then, either you explicitly close the door and I'm fine with you, or you let the door ajar and you can go fuck yourself.
I see the gray in the world, but when it come to hate spreading and child abuse, there's no more gray for me. If you don't stand against it, then you're part of the problem.
You don't have the authority to speak for all the developers in this niche. The vast majority of people are completely laymen with regard to Bitcoin and related topics and this is why they only use the traditional means to receive donations.
So, I don't have the authority to talk about something obviously visible, but you have the authority to talk about something that can't even be quantified... Aren't you a bit hypocritical here ?
Honestly, I'm not advocating for anything,
Are you kidding ? Saying this just after you made a completely hypocritical and absolutely not argued statement when trying to counter me... I felt back to my previous feeling. You defend them too hard to not be part of a-ads.
I could have just used it on my project and not brought any kind of information about it (it would be the smartest thing to do).
For once I agree with you. It would have proved that it's not a good way to fund your game.
Using Bitcoin would not bring any complications to the developers. Currently, even in third world countries there are already several services that make it possible to make any type of conventional payment using Bitcoin. For US residents, the options are even greater, since a myriad of services accepts Bitcoin directly.
Beep... I live in one of the richest countries, and still I can't use bitcoin at the grocery store in the corner of my street. Or perhaps are you misunderstanding why people need to be funded ?
