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Comment by dragontamer | Hacker News Reader

> Then why the weak sauce denial from Mastercard?

https://www.mastercard.com/us/en/news-and-trends/press/2025/...

> Mastercard has not evaluated any game or required restrictions of any activity on game creator sites and platforms, contrary to media reports and allegations.

This seems like a rather strong refutation of the discussion.

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> If the crux of the issue is that everyone has arranged a system where nobody has to take responsibility for anything, none of what you’ve said absolves Mastercard (or Visa) of any guilt.

Stripe has literally been saying no porn on their network since the freaking start of this controversy with Itch.io.

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It’s really not. They’re saying they didn’t do it themselves, but aren’t ruling out it being done by proxy, which is exactly what Valve are saying happened. Actually, it’s a triple weasel, since they also didn’t evaluate any games, they went off unverified 3rd party reports, and aren’t targeting ‘game creator’ sites, but game distribution sites. It could be a potential quadruple weasel, since they could have not ‘required’ any restrictions, but presented such onerous alternatives that it was a de-facto requirement that still fell short of the strictest definition of the word.

And yet there is still porn on Steam, so clearly this is more than just Stripe.

Steam is on the record that Mastercard literally never interacted with Steam on this entire controversy.

The entire discussion is between Steam and it's payment processors. And Steam, for whatever reason, hasn't publicly shamed (or discussed) who those payment processors are who were pushing these rules.

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For now, we can rest assured that Itch.io case is being well discussed. We see it is Stripe and Paypal for Itch.io and unless conflicting news comes out, I'll assume the same for Steam.

That is irrelevant. The payment processors are enforcing Mastercard’s rules, and explicitly state as much. Mastercard don’t need to ‘interact’ with anyone if they have intermediaries willing to do so on their behalf. Mastercard’s own rule 5.12.7 /is/ conflicting news. It states that they have sole discretion, so there is little chance of any partner invoking it against Mastercard’s wishes. Just in a non-interactive way that only ends up with a few turbulent priests getting put to the sword.

Then why can I buy porn with my MasterCard right now?

Answer: because the company I buy Porn from uses CCBill, not Stripe. You know, like what the article says Itch.io is looking into.

There are specific payment processors for pornography. This is accepted because everyone knows that Porn gets more chargebacks (Hubands often have to chargebacks and pretend they didn't buy porn when their Wives find the charge). So there's a large degree of customer fraud in pornographic purchases.

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Like Steam, Mastercard, Itch.io and even stripe themselves are pointing out: the problem is solidly the payment processor. Or Stripe in this specific Itch.io case.

Done. Now when another Manga / Doujin Library gets banned for too much porn on behest of MasterCard, that will be the time to complain. But for now, stand down. This issue is becoming a boy cried wolf like overreaction. Especially as the facts are finally coming in.

That’s moving the goalposts. The fact that Mastercard doesn’t even apply their own rules consistently is another, arguably even greater problem that you would probably be better off not mentioning. Stop deflecting and explain why Mastercard lied by omission by claiming they don’t do something that their own rules clearly state that they do. If you can’t do this, you’re not interested in the facts, you’re just whiteknighting for a poor defenseless international megacorporation with veto power over a huge portion of the world’s economy.

Is it really so hard for you to understand that Stripe is a different company than MasterCard and that Stripe also has a large degree of control of this situation?

That's my point. Stripe is at fault in this exact case.

Okay, you’re being deliberately obtuse here. More than one party can be at fault.

Also: Having failed to answer a simple question, I conclude that you concede the point and that your position is logically inconsistent. Please continue to post as it only continues to make you look less reasonable.

Lulz.

You have literally no response to my Stripe point despite multiple back and forth.

You know, the Stripe point I brought up in the very root comment at the top? And every time I try to guide you back on topic you've ignored my efforts and tried to talk about something different.

You aren't even talking about Itch.io this entire time despite the article and topic.

But yeah, take your win. I guess I'm too feebleminded to keep up with your gymnastics.

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