First they came for steam, then they came for itch.io .

Comments

• Furbag@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Could someone just make, like, Raunchy Mastercard and just process payments from whoever the fuck wants it? It seems like the payment processors being puritanical dipshits is a weakness that could be exploited by an enterprising competitor.

  But then again, we’re talking about a natural monopoly that has been in place for decades at this point. I wouldn’t expect them to exactly play fair.

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  • Smokeless7048@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    The problem is that people like MC and visa would then ban you from sending money TO RaunchyCard.

    So it just moves the problem back a step.

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• skisnow@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  One of the great mysteries of the 21st century is how a tiny number of US companies control most of the world’s payment processing, when it’s not a technically difficult problem.

  You could implement an entire end-to-end payment processing system in a year with a team of a few dozen competent engineers. The only difficulty is getting banks and retailers to sign up to it, but when the big players charge so much and create so much trouble this doesn’t seem like it should be a tough sell. In most cases literally all you’d need to do is charge 2.4% instead of their 3%.

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• SlartyBartFast@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It seemed like every search on Itchio was 70% NSFW results before this move

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• PlexSheep@infosec.pub ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The comment section of my favorite adult Visual novel is already getting panicked.

  Eternum is really really good I swear it’s not just porn

  Apparently there is some petition? Taking a look now.

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  • Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Makes me wonder if Echo Project will have to worry. Echo itself doesn’t have explicit sexual content, but it does have violence with minors, kidnapping, torture, and attempted rape.

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• MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  [deleted]

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  • bouh@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Censorship is always the first step. Genocide is the last step. People getting mad when the first step toward fascism is crossed is a very good thing to fight fascism and try to prevent a future genocide. This is exactly what the poem is about : react on the first step, because it will be too late when the genocide starts.

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  • UnpledgedCatnapTipper@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yeah they can just start banning media made by and about queer people. Totally fine and won’t hurt anyone or lead to anything worse. That’s certainly not one of the first things the Nazis did…

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  • Jankatarch@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Finally someone mentions it. It’s just straight up gross to compare. But I will say it only makes sense for people to get mad over here.

    In the context of US: Gay, lesbian, or trans characters existing is enough to label a media under “porn” and states like Florida regularly ban lgbtq+ books using this loophole.

    So a lot of people instinctively go on defensive when anyone bans porn.

    Also full story wasn’t the business independently chosing to moderate. Another company told them to and game company had to comply.

    People are mad an unrelated company out there is trying to regulate what you can’t buy with your money. It just feels weird.

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    • MotoAsh@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Straight up wholly accurate and applicable. If you don’t understand that basic fact, maybe you need to hear it referenced a few more times…

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• RagingRobot@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  So can I call the payment providers of the companies I don’t like and complain about them?

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• RagingRobot@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Why are they doing a comprehensive audit on the content and not doing a comprehensive audit on new payment providers? I sure would be

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  • brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Because they would basically die off without the credit card processors, I assume.

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    • RagingRobot@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yeah so they should shop around now that theirs seems to be problematic

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• Spoomis@toast.ooo ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  My biggest issue with this situation is: if they can get away with getting games they don’t like being delisted, where does it end? Delisting books with themes or authors they don’t like? Banning the sale of alcohol and cigarettes?

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  • DegenerationIP@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Honestly haven’t thought so far. But Media lacks that, as almost everything is clickbait.

    And you got a point. There is questionable stuff. But killing off a whole area is like a bit shot on a small bird

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• danny801@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  [deleted]

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  • MotoAsh@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I mean, crypto is still not the answer so long as it is functionally a speculative asset even after all the proof efficiency improvements… Also it still has centralized points which keyholders could easily leverage.

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• fne8w2ah@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Miserable fuckers, the whole lot of puritans…

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• Mustakrakish@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Yall will hate me for it, but porn games should have never been on the main launcher. That’s just asking for trouble. Steam should have a secondary launcher that is just for the adult games, and keep the two seperate. This shit wouldn’t be happening if these games hadn’t been so accessible to people not looking for that in the first place.

  Also lets be honest, some of the shit is over the line. There shouldn’t be multiple “Sex with Hitler” games, because as ridiculous as that sounds, normalizing Nazis and Hitler is a fucking virus that does so much fucking harm when spread. Its not just a “silly joke”.

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  • MotoAsh@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    You might have a point on problematic content for the same reason that satire is difficult to pull off, but the entire category of “porn” is WAY too broad of a line to draw.

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  • jjjalljs@ttrpg.network ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I don’t think adult content should be stigmatized and quarantined. Why is a game about cutting terrified victims open with a handsaw cool, but a game about licking a clit needs to be isolated?

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  • Antwares@lemmynsfw.com ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Adult content is opt-in and age verified on steam.

    Making an “adult content” launcher would just give more targeted scrutiny. It’s like saying, “here’s the target for you Puritans to attack the while company over!”

    The only way I can think that kind of obfuscation could work would be to have the adult content launcher run through a secondary company under license to use steam software. But then, there’s still the pay processing issue, and that license could violate the processor ToS anyways.

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• Nikls94@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  We should go back to sending the cash per physical mail…

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  • Katana314@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Imagine mail-order catalogs of hentai games on CD-ROM, or even cheap flash drives, in 2025.

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    • Nikls94@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Well if it hurts those companies enough, they’ll ignore that organization (the same that led to pornhub deleting 80% in 2020 and removing sex ed from American schools) that’s the reason for this bullshit in the first place.

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• hperrin@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I get not liking a game about SA and incest, but how about just not play that game?

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  • MITM0@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Reminder they do nohing about all thise fujoshi comics whuch has rape & incest. They like cuties too. So the goal was destroying men"s outlet for sexual pleasure.

    Notice they didn’t go after onlyfans

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    • vonxylofon@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Internet’s memory sure is short. theguardian.com/…/onlyfans-to-ban-adult-material-…

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• Boiglenoight@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Are we still doing phrasing also thank god they’re not coming for the ultra violence and graphic scenes of bodily dismemberment

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• Cyberflunk@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Collective shout finacials
  year: 2024
  revenue: 458043
  employee_expenses: 107000
  other_expenses: 215488
  net_surplus: 135555
  employees: 
    total_fte: 2
    full_time: 0
    part_time: 1
    casual: 4
  volunteers: 15
  donations_and_bequests: 389800
  government_grants: 0
  commercial_income: 0
  expense_to_revenue_ratio: "70.4%"
  average_expense_per_employee: 39400
  
  Leadership
  - name: Melinda Tankard Reist
    role: Founder, Movement Director
    public_socials:
      - Twitter: @MelTankardReist
      - Instagram: @collective.shout
    public_email_address: Not publicly listed
    salary: Not publicly listed
  
  - name: Caitlin Roper
    role: Campaigns Manager
    public_socials:
      - Instagram: @collective.shout
    public_email_address: Not publicly listed
    salary: Not publicly listed
  
  - name: Renee Chopping
    role: Campaigns Strategy
    public_socials:
      - LinkedIn
    public_email_address: r******@collectiveshout.org
    salary: Not publicly listed
  
  - name: Lyn Swanson Kennedy
    role: Campaigns Strategy
    public_socials:
      - Instagram: @collective.shout
    public_email_address: Not publicly listed
    salary: Not publicly listed
  
  - name: Coralie Alison
    role: Movement Operations Manager
    public_socials:
      - Twitter: @CoralieAlison
      - Instagram: @collective.shout
    public_email_address: Not publicly listed
    salary: Not publicly listed
  

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  • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    This is exactly like the pearl-clutching we had back in the 1980’s around D&D and music lyrics. At least we moved the goalpost from satanic panic and thinly-veiled racism, over to “art that features sexual expression I don’t understand.”

    If history is any indicator, their actions are only going to increase awareness of this kind of stuff.

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• ipitco@lemmybefree.net ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Time to bring back crypto!

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• Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  This morality police crap being carried out by the most immoral bastards on the planet needs to stop.

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  • joenforcer@midwest.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    You realize that you’re defending a game that was literally a rape and incest simulator that was already named in multiple countries before the payment processor issue occurred, right?

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  • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yeah! Let’s sell pornos out of candy shops too! Fuck morality policing!

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    • deaf_fish@midwest.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      No one with a brain is suggesting this. It should be up to the service and government to create rules to allow or not allow harmful content. It should definitely not be a payment processor.

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    • Iambus@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yep fuck morality policing and anyone who supports it, hope you all rot in hell etc.

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    • kilgore_trout@feddit.it ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The issue at hand is that it’s being made impossible to sell them at all.

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    • jumping_redditor@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      why not?

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    • qarbone@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      When did they say “fuck morality policing”, or even “let’s all stop policing morality”?

      Either you piggy-backed off a comment to be a whole weirdo. Or you neee to up your reading comprehension.

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    • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      When did you jerk off last?

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    • Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      except nowhere on earth is your example happening.

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• TheNamlessGuy@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  [deleted]

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  • jumping_redditor@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Because the laws are bs and intentionally make it harder while not being difficult to scale.

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  • JackbyDev@programming.dev ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I worked a little bit for a company that worked with payment processor networks. This is my understanding (and don’t view this as a defense of them, I don’t necessarily think they’re good). There are a ton of banks. Every bank having their own POS machines would be difficult. Imagine going to one that doesn’t support your bank. So payment processors sort of provide that bridge so devices only need to know how to talk to one (or a handful) of networks and the same for the banks.

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    • g0d0fm15ch13f@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      And so the point arises, what do these companies provide that standardization doesn’t?

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    • bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Payment processors: “I deal with the god damn customers so the engineers banks don’t have to. I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people. Can’t you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?”

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    • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Maybe there needs to be more competition in the payment processing space.

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• ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Can we crowdfund a big lawsuit against those responsible for this?

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  • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Or use cryptocurrency more

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  • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Does it have to be a lawsuit? Can it be a big guillotine instead?

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  • TeddE@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Against banks? I love the enthusiasm but this is not the way. Banks as a whole have many of the best lawyers in the game on retainer (possession is 9/10ths of the law, and this industry banks on that and make bank.) The best crowdfunding campaign in history* is 800 million. The banks would be willing to spend at least that in their own defence.

    *not including investments (nor blockchain)

    Plus, a progressive lawsuit in this environment? Might backfire spectacularly - right now banks are cautiously picking on ‘safe’ targets. But with a green light from the supreme court the banks could go full Nazi. Yeah - there’s nothing good I can reasonably expect here.

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• ayyy@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Fuck religion.

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  • Wahots@pawb.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Don’t you just love people that can’t mind their own fucking business?

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    • ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      “If you sin you’re going to hell, I have to save you from yourself!”

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    • YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Bro for real! Like I hate any porn game, as a game. Not as a societal flaw!

      So you know what I do? Same exact thing I do about gay sex. I don’t do it, I don’t think about it very often unless there’s a funny joke to be made in a tangential way, and I don’t tell other people that they have to be exact like me.

      Ffs, let people do what they want if they aren’t hurting anyone.

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• americanzgenozida@thelemmy.club ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Shame. I’m sure plenty of people will miss great titles like “Cousin Fucker Alabama: Step-sis anal edition” or “I’m a woodman but this ain’t a tree”

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  • burgerpocalyse@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    there are many non-pornohraphic games that have been targeted and delisted, but even if there werent, are you happy with 1000 religious weirdos having control over what millions upon millions of other people can and cannot purchase?

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  • SharkAttak@kbin.melroy.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Have you read the title? I doubt they'll stop at porn games, no matter the quality. They could go against Chun-Li cheeks next, or Dead Island blood&gore. Don't forget that such groups of people led to burning comics, or DnD manuals or Harry Potter books.

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• OmegaLemmy@discuss.online ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  This is literally 9/11 for so many itch io games 😂

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• EldenLord@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  We got GoonerGate before the release of the Epstein files

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• Zexks@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Hmmm. Could porn once again because the medium catalyst for bitcoin to take off.

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• bbsm3678@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I find it funny that a lot of the fediverse is anti-cryptocurrency, yet this is a perfect example of a problem cryptocurrency can solve. No one can stop you from transacting on a number of blockchains.

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  • chiliedogg@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    If it was used as an actual currency instead of an investment vehicle for speculators, that would help.

    It also has zero protection from scams and fraud.

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    • Cocodapuf@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I mean you can use it as currency, and I do sometimes. I have bought plenty of steam games with Bitcoin. I’ve also bought a bunch of stuff on Newegg, and other places online.

      It has exactly as much protection from scans and fraud as cash does, that’s essentially what it is.

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    • bbsm3678@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Cash has zero protection too

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  • americanzgenozida@thelemmy.club ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Couldn’t you just masturbate the normal way?

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    • Rolder@reddthat.com ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      It’s more fun when it’s freaky

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    • trashgirlfriend@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Image

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  • SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Crypto is so heavily regulated now, I don’t even know how to procure any cause all the sites I have used years ago are just dead now.

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    • lazynooblet@lazysoci.al ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      If you are in the UK, here is one.

      bittylicious.com

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    • bbsm3678@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      In KYC systems it is really easy to acquire—companies are willing to sell it to you with no problems.

      If you want to get it anonymously, the easiest would probably be to buy via cash. In Switzerland, you can buy via some atms

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  • MITM0@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Monero

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  • Mk23simp@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    In theory, crypto could be good for this, but crypto is used (and designed) more as an investment than a transaction tool.

    Also, the issue here is not centralized currency under a government, it’s centralized payment processing under monopolistic private companies. Crypto is not required to solve that, all that is needed is an alternative payment processor.

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    • Cocodapuf@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      In theory, crypto could be good for this, but crypto is used (and designed) more as an investment than a transaction tool.

      I would argue that while crypto is as investment now, it was initially designed and intended to be used for transactions.

      Out of curiosity though, why do you think this situation would be any different if it were government controlled? Especially considering that you sometimes have administrations like Trump’s, which would do anything no matter how corrupt.

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    • Zetta@mander.xyz ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      True, but crypto is used very successfully all the time to purchase things online. Now just because most of those transactions are for drugs doesn’t mean it doesn’t work, steam should start accepting monero, the only truly secure and private crypto currency.

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    • FishFace@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      It’s a good point, but a payment processor run by the government would also be under pressure (from voters) to wield its power to suppress marginal content.

      Imagine a US-government-run payment processor right now - it would be blocking anyone that sells anything “woke” or “DEI”.

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  • flamingos@feddit.uk ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Too bad cryptobros are more interested in using it as a speculative investment/scam machine than an actual currency.

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    • bbsm3678@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yes you are right, but there are always grifters everywhere, unfortunately.

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    • mad_lentil@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yeah the wild swings in exchange value instantly preclude its use as a currency.

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• shneancy@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  gamers, unironically, rise up. this isn’t going to end on niche porn games

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  • Mustakrakish@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Neighbors being kidnapped: I sleep

    Taking my fetish games: Real Shit

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    • shneancy@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      most of the world isn’t american. we can’t do anything about your government

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• SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Holy fuck why did Collective Shout go full nuclear and go behind the platforms’ back and straight to the payment processors. Like they could have at least talk to the Itch.io people.

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• BaroqueInMind@piefed.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  What games were taken down? Are they preserved somewhere? Anybody know?

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• Lumidaub@feddit.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  This is what killed tumblr.

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• pycorax@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  What’s stopping them from doing what DLsite did in Japan by using credits purchased off site? Seems like an alternative business opportunity there.

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