Steam Gaming Service Removes A Number Of Adult Games Following Pressure By Credit Card Companies, Paypal Blocks Steam In Much Of The World

 

If you're a fan of game with mature themes, there's been a development on Steam that will likely leave you worried and/or upset. It seems following pressure from credit card companies, Steam has taken a number of adult-rated games off it's list for sale. 

 

In a PC Gamer article, Value, which owns Steam, was reported as saying, "We were recently notified that certain games on Steam may violate the rules and standards set forth by our payment processors and their related card networks and banks. As a result, we are retiring those games from being sold on the Steam Store."

 

Earlier, Steam had enacted a new, and vague, rule about banning "Content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers."

 

An article in The Guardian stated the pressure by the credit card companies was due to pressure on them by "Collective Shout," a group seeking to ban adult content from Australian Internet access, saying the corporations were "facilitating and profiting from rape, incest and child sexual abuse game sales."

 

The result has been a backlash. On change.org, a petition was started protesting the censorship of the games, "not because they're illegal, but because they offend the personal values of executives or activist groups," going on to say, "These same payment processors allowed platforms like OnlyFans to operate with minimal oversight, despite multiple credible reports and lawsuits alleging the presence of real sexual abuse content involving real-life minors. That is a criminal failure of responsibility. Yet, when it comes to entirely fictional depictions, these same companies act swiftly — shutting down creators, restricting access, and acting as global censors." 

 

So far, the petition has gotten over a quarter million signatures. One who left a comment identified himself as a member of the LGBTQ community, "Banning sexual content never stops there, it always include non-sexual things. As such the fight to protect people’s right to sexual expression is vital for protecting my right to exist." 

 

Mastercard eventually responded, but denied making any pressure on Steam, "Mastercard has not evaluated any game or required restrictions of any activity on game creator sites and platforms, contrary to media reports and allegations."

 

To add to Steam's troubles, Paypal became unusable in most of the world as an option to pay for Steam purchases. It was reported in The Gamer only users in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, and countries which use the Euro can still do so. At first, Valve offered no reason as to why, but later would explain, "In this case, one of PayPal’s acquiring banks decided to stop processing any Steam transactions, which cut off PayPal on Steam for a number of currencies"

 

As of now, it is unclear when the delisted games will be restored, or when Paypal will be fully useable again. 

 

Sources: PC Gamer, The Guardian, The Gamer, Rock Paper Shotgun 

 

Bixyl Shutan 

 

News and Commentary: Linden Lab Among Tech Companies Filing Brief Against Trump's Executive Order On Skilled Worker Visas

By Bixyl Shuftan

In early February, Linden Lab issued a statement concerning President Trump's executive order at the time concerning several Middle Eastern countries. Branded a "Muslim Ban," eventually a judge blocked part of the order and eventually Trump dropped in in favor of a slightly different executive order later on. Recently the White House has found a new target: the H-1B visa program that allows skilled foreign workers to come to America. Linden Lab was among over 150 tech companies to sign a brief sent to the US District Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, calling for the executive order to be blocked.

Congress in 1965 prohibited discrimination in immigration decisions on the basis of national origin precisely so that the Nation could not shut its doors to immigrants based on where they come from — but the Order does just that. Moreover, the President’s authority under the immigration laws must be exercised reasonably, and is limited by the detailed standards enacted by Congress to address a variety of issues, including preventing entry of terrorists into our country. The Order overrides those standards without sufficient justification. Finally, the President lacks authority to impose sweeping, long-term changes on the entire system governing eligibility for entry into the United States by immigrants and non-immigrants; such changes require notice-and-comment procedures conducted by one or all of the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security.

The brief would also refer to calls on restrictions on immigration in the past, such as a quote by Woodrow Wilson whom criticized immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe saying the people had "neither skill nor energy nor any initiative of quick intelligence." And on laws based to restrict it which were mainly based on prejudice on these people in addition to Asians, Jews, and other groups, such as the Immigration Acts of 1917 and 1924. It branded Trump's new executive order as an abandonment of "the principles that have undergirded U.S. immigration policy for more than half a century," "unlawful," and "substantively unreasonable."

Although some such as Hamlet Au call the order part of the "Muslim ban," the country that benefits most from the program is India, which has a mainly Hindu population. Plus the H-1B visa program has been criticized for quite some time on the grounds of allowing companies to allow businesses to lay off native-born workers in favor of cheaper foreign workers. The most notable recent example of this was when Disney told 250 of it's workers they would soon be laid off and their last assignment would be to train their replacements.

Linden Lab's stake in the H-1B visa program is obvious, being able to attract foreign talent to work with them in the United States. But considering how Islam is so often linked to terrorism, such as the attacks France has suffered in the past few years, and an attack in Fresno California by a convert, those against Trump's executive order may want to pursue a different strategy in persuasion than link it to his effort to limit immigration from certain countries in the Middle East.


Sources: Yahoo News, New York Times, New World Notes, Business Insider, Redcode   

Bixyl Shuftan

Taking the Cake at Podex

It was a late June day at the Podex Bank. Summer was here, and many of the customers were talking about getting a new surfboard or jetski with their Lindens, or a new swimsuit. One customer from Sunweavers talked about seeing an anthro mouse in a snakeskin bikini, which got a few chuckles from the staff. Considering snakes and regular mice, why would girl with mouse features be wearing something made out of snakeskin, especially a bikini?

Other things were discussed too. The jet airshow was mentioned, as was the science-fiction convention in a few days. But the real topic of conversation was "The Birthday," or SL9B. Life as they had known it had been organized nine years ago. While many residents didn't seem to care that much, others were very interested, heading on over to the exposition area to see the sights, play the games, get souvenirs, and just plain have fun. Some of the tellers had gone or were planning to go. Others didn't want to fight the crowds.

In the middle of this, someone entered the bank. He was dressed somewhat plainly, shorts and a T-shirt, but he looked like was wearing a cake for a hat! Upon a closer look though, it wasn't really a cake, but a cake hat.

"Um, can I help you?"

"Yes, I picked up a voucher for this place at the SL9B, but, just what are you again?"

"Well sir, we're an exchange service. We accept US Dollars, Euros, and several other currencies, and exchange them for Lindens."

"What if I have Lindens to trade for dollars?"

"We do that too."

"Can't I just buy Lindens at, what's the place, Lindex?"

"We charge less than Lindex does."

The visitor looked over his shoulder and at a sign, "What's this about a Visa card?"

"We worked it out with Zachodni WBK, one of Poland's largest banks. Like any other Visa card or debt card, you can use it for both Internet transactions or withdraw cash from any ATM across the world. There are no fees for exchanging Lindens into your local currency, and your money will be on the card within the same day."

The man thought for a moment, "Well, I own a shop here, so I'll take one."

The customer and the clerk went over a few details, and the paperwork was taken care of, "You should be getting it in your mail soon."

"Great. Well, back to the SL9B."

"Have fun. By the way, just what is it you sell?"

"Oh, I run a party store. I sell lots of cakes," he grinned, "and getting to this birthday first thing they do is stick one on my head!"

The two laughed, and the customer gave his farewell and went on his way.

The Podex Exchange is located at Moonbeam (26, 223, 34), with a website at http://www.podex.info/ . Jacek Shuftan is the CEO. Podex has recently been offering an SL Visa Card, aka "Second Card," with details at http://www.podex.nazwa.pl/card/ .

Note: The preceding is a fictional story, written for the dual purpose of advertisement and entertainment.

Bixyl Shuftan