Paypal Forces E-Book Publisher To Censor Erotic Content 301
hey! writes "On February 18 of this year, global giant payment processor PayPal sent eBook publisher Smashwords an ultimatum: if Smashwords didn't remove all eBooks with certain erotic content from its catalog in the next several days, PayPal would immediately stop handling payments. Smashword's TOS already precluded child pornography, but now PayPal wants them to also censor depictions of consenting, non-related adults acting out incest fantasies. Likewise, fantasy novels in which human characters transform into non-humans are affected if those characters have sex. ZDNet has a summary of the impact of these changes, which would among other things ban Vladmir Nabokov's Lolita. As outrage mounts, finger pointing is in full swing. Smashwords blames PayPal, and PayPal blames the banks it deals with. The crux seems to be that erotica buyers have a higher rate of 'chargebacks' — customers who buy stuff then demand their money back. Fair enough, but is a customer really more likely to return a book because it depicts one kind of fantasy between consenting adults vs. another? Perhaps the problem is just the quality of writing."
Note: as you can probably tell from the summary, the linked articles (while factual in nature) discuss subjects that may not be suitable for workplace reading.
Will this kill Twilight? (Score:5, Funny)
Likewise, fantasy novels in which human characters transform into non-humans are affected if those characters have sex.
Please?
Bitcoin! (Score:5, Funny)
Oblig (Score:4, Funny)
Down with this sort of thing!
Re:More likely to return? YES (Score:5, Funny)
Does anyone really doubt that if you purchased a book that fantasizes incest.. and ANYONE else finds out about it, the first words from your mouth are: "my card was stolen"
Unless it's your sister who finds out... ;)
When asked to comment (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Will this kill Twilight? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:More likely to return? YES (Score:4, Funny)
I could mention Alabama, but I won't.
I think you forgot how not to mention Alabama...
Re:It's not enough... (Score:5, Funny)
Absolutely. Who are they to determine what is and what's not allowed. Who do they thing they are, Apple?
Re:When asked to comment (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Will this kill Twilight? (Score:4, Funny)
Not only that, but I heard that a 100-year-old teenager has sex with a teenage girl in those books.
FTFY.
Dick Clark was in Twilight?
Re:As someone in the payments industry... (Score:5, Funny)
Yet I could feasibly buy a horse cock dildo at my local adult store using my credit card from potentially one of these banks...
Just a paperweight, right? Neighhhh.
Actually.... (Score:5, Funny)
Slashdot is not one person, there are many people with many ideas.
There's just you and one other person (who can type REALLY fast).
Re:The man who fell to Earth? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Wouldn't that include the Game of Thrones books (Score:4, Funny)
Shapeshifting in the Bible? No.
Incest in the Bible? Genesis 19:30-38 [gutenberg.org].
Re:The man who fell to Earth? (Score:1, Funny)
Or distinctly non-human ghosts having (implied) sex with humans? (Looking at you Mr Holy)