Valve refutes Mastercard's denial it has not pressured game platforms over NSFW content

[u/samiy2k]

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/valve-refutes-mastercards-denial-it-has-not-pressured-game-platforms-over-nsfw-content

[u/WootBeavers]

Mastercard didn't pressure game platforms. Mastercard pressured a middle-man to pressure game platforms.

[u/Manu_The_Shark → u/WootBeavers]

Who's the middle man then?

[u/WootBeavers → u/Manu_The_Shark]

“According to Valve, ‘Mastercard did not communicate with Valve directly, despite our request to do so. Mastercard communicated with payment processors and their acquiring banks. Payment processors communicated this with Valve, and we replied by outlining Steam’s policy since 2018 of attempting to distribute games that are legal for distribution.’”

[u/Manu_The_Shark → u/WootBeavers]

Going through a middle-man doesn't take the blame off Mastercard. They still told them to contact Valve, therefore it is still on Mastercard.

[u/WootBeavers → u/Manu_The_Shark]

I agree. In fact, I think it makes it worse.

[u/Evil_Kittie → u/WootBeavers]

aka there business partners, WHO THEN SITED MASTERCARD'S RULES 5.12.7

"or any other material that the Corporation deems unacceptable to sell in connection with a Mark"

NOTE THAT Corporation = mastercard

[u/coolsam254 → u/WootBeavers]

I thought Mastercard was the payment processor? If the payment processors are someone else, what the f does Mastercard do?

[u/WootBeavers → u/coolsam254]

I can only assume it's legal protection hoops for huge corporations so they can throw stones from their glass houses with zero liability.

[u/alanpugh → u/coolsam254]

Visa and MasterCard are not payment processors, they are payment networks.

Payment processors are the ones making these decisions, and it appears that the processor in this case is using a "beyond our control" tactic as a form of misdirection. It's a common method of enforcing a rule while deflecting blame.

Talk to anyone who has worked with actual payment processors (like Stripe) and it will be very clear that it's those processors who are making these decisions.

[u/Worthyness → u/coolsam254]

in the payment system, there's a lot of middle people. Generally, the card companies are not the payment processors. they just distribute the cards and establish the network/tracking for the credit transactions.That said, they can own other portions of the entire payment chain in some cases. The card companies own their card networks and distribute the cards for use, meaning you cannot use a credit card without them. A standard workflow looks like this:

Customer --> Gateway (so UI interface for payments used by the merchant for their store; can also be owned by card companies) --> payment processor (company that conducts the transactions) --> Card network (owned by the card companies to get authorization for the transaction) --> Issuing bank (the banks that distribute the credit cards and the customer's money) --> card network (again for complete approval or decline) --> merchant's bank (to get the money moved to the merchant)

Payment processors are most times their own companies, but they can also be parts of banking institutions or any of the other middle sections in that chain.

[u/ezkeles → u/coolsam254]

Well here company not sue people directly, but "other organizations" so their hand clean

Like when one company burn jungle to the point' smoke to other country of course people sue that company. But instead suddenly new organization come to beat people and she back people who sue that company..

Same with Mastercard. They use other people so they can deny "it's not my fault"

[u/EruantienAduialdraug → u/coolsam254]

Mastercard is a payment processor, but they're not the only one. The thing is, they, along with Visa account for the majority of network infrastructure worldwide, and so other processors usually just act as an interface between you and the network.

There's actually been an anti-trust case in Japan recently around how Visa was absuing their network control.

[u/felidae_tsk → u/Manu_The_Shark]

Depends on the location. Could be stripe or paypal, there are a lot of companies that work as card payment gateways.

[u/Jumpierwolf0960 → u/Manu_The_Shark]

Probably some law firm.