Copyright and Control Freaks

Video game distribution platforms Steam and Itch.io have been removing a series of video games with adult themes, including sexual content and extreme violence, citing pressure from payment service companies. However, Mastercard, one of those companies, denies forcing these platforms to limit the distribution of such games.

Mastercard released a statement claiming that it has not requested any restrictions on the activities of game creators sites and platforms, despite accusations from Steam and Itch.io to the contrary. The company stated:

Mastercard has not evaluated any game or required restrictions of any activity on game creator sites and platforms, contrary to media reports and allegations. Our payment network follows standards based on the rule of law. Put simply, we allow all lawful purchases on our network. At the same time, we require merchants to have appropriate controls to ensure Mastercard cards cannot be used for unlawful purchases, including illegal adult content.

This situation arose after a campaign by the Australian moralist campaign group, Collective Shout pressurised game platforms to block games referencing  rape and incest.

Game developers argue that the refusal by payment providers to allow people to freely purchase blocked content amounts to censorship. After all, pornography is not illegal, and works that glorify sexual violence are already prohibited.

Reddit allows people to freely share and discuss content but that freedom sometime displeases others. In Denmark, several actors feel embarrassed by Reddit users who clip and share their nude scenes.

A Danish trade group Rights Alliance says that it's time for the platform to take responsibility. These comments from the Rights Alliance come in response to a revelation from the local radio program Kulturen . In a recent episode, it revealed that sexually revealing scenes were systematically shared on Reddit.

Kulturen reported hearing from 20 Danish actresses affected by this issue, which some describe as abuse and being molested. While they are fine with the original sex or nude scenes, being featured this way is not what they intended.

Actress Andrea Vagn Jensen, who has had one of her explicit scenes shared online, explains that there's a huge difference between appearing naked in a film and being posted on Reddit. She said:

It's just abuse. You deliver something for the production and the story, and then you end up being molested that way.

fellow actress Signe Egholm Olsen added:

It's crazy that some people feel entitled to do that, and what's just as crazy is that there are so many people who subscribe to it.

Rights Alliance reported the issue to the police, on behalf of the Danish Actors' Association and the respective rightsholders.

In response to the controversy, several clips were removed by Reddit, but that doesn't end the problem as the scenes can simply be re-uploaded.

The Rights Alliance responded urging Reddit to take its responsibilities seriously under Article 17 of the EU Copyright Directive. Article 17 requires large platforms to ensure that copyright-infringing content does not reappear after it's removed. This can be achieved through upload and other censorship technologies, which are already in place on YouTube, Facebook, and elsewhere.

Last week, a German court ruled that Uberspace is liable for hosting the website of youtube-dl, an open-source tool that allows people to download content from YouTube. The owner of the hosting company warns that this ridiculous and devastating verdict opens the door to privatized censorship.

In 2020, the RIAA infuriated many players in the open source community by targeting YouTube-ripping tool youtube-dl.

The RIAA sent a takedown notice to GitHub, alleging that the software bypassed technological protection measures, in violation of the DMCA.

GitHub initially complied but later changed course. After consulting legal experts, including those at the EFF, it restored the youtube-dl repository.

GitHub also launched a million-dollar defense fund to assist developers in similar disputes.

...read the full article from torrentfreak.com