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Itch's New TOS. It's Jover.
2 months ago
Itch.io bullshit continues. They've updated their TOS:
The following is a non-exhaustive list of prohibited themes present in card processing networks. We are unable to support the sale of any works containing these topics:
* Non-consensual content (real or implied)
* Underage or “barely legal” themes
* Incest or pseudo-incest content
* Bestiality or animal-related
* Rape, coercion, or force-related
* Sex trafficking implications
* Revenge porn / voyeur / hidden cam
* Fetish involving bodily waste or extreme harm (e.g., “scat,” “vomit”)
It’s almost impossible to come up with an exhaustive list of unacceptable products to sell, so often we have to take content reviews one at a time. If an issue arises with your account that isn’t already covered by our policy, then we will contact you and share what options you may have.
If you've collected money while in violation of terms, we may be forced to refund or freeze all pending transactions, as accounts that are in violation of our terms are not eligible for payouts.
Note the emphasis I added. Serious. Read it. "or". I've currently set up a little page linking to all my projects as I'm expecting I will not be passing this review process. Furthermore, I already know of multiple people that have had their projects taken down.
So yeah, no more uncertainty. I'm also expecting this to continue to creep to other platforms with payment systems. (Nervously glances at FA+)
The following is a non-exhaustive list of prohibited themes present in card processing networks. We are unable to support the sale of any works containing these topics:
* Non-consensual content (real or implied)
* Underage or “barely legal” themes
* Incest or pseudo-incest content
* Bestiality or animal-related
* Rape, coercion, or force-related
* Sex trafficking implications
* Revenge porn / voyeur / hidden cam
* Fetish involving bodily waste or extreme harm (e.g., “scat,” “vomit”)
It’s almost impossible to come up with an exhaustive list of unacceptable products to sell, so often we have to take content reviews one at a time. If an issue arises with your account that isn’t already covered by our policy, then we will contact you and share what options you may have.
If you've collected money while in violation of terms, we may be forced to refund or freeze all pending transactions, as accounts that are in violation of our terms are not eligible for payouts.
Note the emphasis I added. Serious. Read it. "or". I've currently set up a little page linking to all my projects as I'm expecting I will not be passing this review process. Furthermore, I already know of multiple people that have had their projects taken down.
So yeah, no more uncertainty. I'm also expecting this to continue to creep to other platforms with payment systems. (Nervously glances at FA+)
And owners of such sites still can't understand, that by removing nsfw, they all will face tumbr fate - you'll keep your financing, but what's the use of it on an almost dead site with 95% of users left?
Furthermore, Itch.io's options are "your platform obeys and maybe limps away to recover" or "your business is guaranteed to did". They will take a hit, but they will be able to walk away from this. Tumblr is still around. It didn't go offline and still has millions of users. I don't know what parallel reality you are from, but Tumblr still sees a very active userbase in mine.
Speaking of parallel realities, let's say Itch stood its ground. MC, Visa, Stripe, Payoneer, and Paypal pull-out leaving the whole site with no ability to take payments. As a reminder, MC and Visa have pulled out on larger businesses already (see the whole thing with Pornhub). Stripe and Payoneer already banned porn. Paypal is extremely hostile to it. All 3 aren't shy to strong-arm "violators" pulling for bigger crowds than itch.
So, they're banned. Now what? They are completely blacklisted from MC and Visa's network. What do they do? Where do they go? How do they survive havong no source of income available?
Obeying keeps the site alive. It'll be a major blow, but its alive and has a chance to recover. What's annoying is how Itch is totally unprepared for this despite 2/3 of their payment processors being hostile to their content. Furthermore, the political climate in the United States has emboldened anti-queer and anti-sex policies. The UK just rolled out new age verification requirements. The writing has been on the wall for years now.
You are failing to see, or perhaps don't want to see, the deeper pattern here. It's not about the individual platforms; it's about the politics and people with powerful influence and boundless capital surrounding our platforms. They all will fall. And they will keep failling until pornography, queerness, and kink aren't treated like unmentionables sins or blites to be erased.
A lot of pre built product sites seemed to stand longer than commissions. He said they said stories would range from people saying they paid for a commission a artist said they never got paid for or Commissioner said got delivered.
People would chargeback and even 07 runescape got strongarmed into trying to remove free trade to chargebacks from credit cards getting stolen hence PayPal seen as a safer account vs credit card alternative then.