How Amazon's Monster Erotica Book Ban Shaped CloudFlare's Censorship Stance (zdnet.com) 125
An anonymous reader writes with news that CloudFlare chief executive Matthew Prince recently spoke about how Amazon's ban on "monster erotica" helped shape his position on censorship. ZDNet reports: "I worry about Jeff Bezos' bizarre obsession with dinosaur sex," said Prince, towards the end of a long conversation in our New York newsroom. "I don't think I've ever heard a chief executive -- hell, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say anything like that before," I said. Prince was referring to how the bookseller and online retail giant banned so-called "monster erotica," a genre of fan-fiction revolving around fantasy-based fictional encounters with mythical or extinct creatures (including dinosaurs), which was for a time sold on its online bookstore. Amazon, according to reports, pulled hundreds of the self-published books it sold -- as well as some content that fetishized incest and rape -- despite "vague" guidelines by the retailer. "You can make a rational argument that if you're writing books fantasizing about having sex with animals or children, maybe that promotes a certain kind of behavior. But there's no risk of someone abusing a dinosaur," he said.
He's right (Score:2, Funny)
It is indecent towards dinosaurs and hurts their feelings.
Re: (Score:2)
"Dont give a crap about stupid fictional characters created to control and brainwash the uneducated and ignorant."
Hey! Stop dissing Sexual Harassment Panda!
whole thing is stupid anyway (Score:1, Insightful)
no, you can't. you can only make an irrational argument for that assertion.
otherwise the videogames, movies, television, toys, the population consume day in and day out would have resulted in "promoting" that behavior. but it doesn't. Instead, society continues to think that murder and etc is a bad thing. because of course it is. as is sex with ch
Re:He's right (Score:5, Funny)
besides my cock is much bigger than that pathetic little vienna sausage you call a penis
Oh yeah? [wordpress.com] (SFW)
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this is what happens when libtards are allowed to run things. i'm waiting for them to say it's RACIST against dinosaurs, pretending like dinosaur is a race
..and this is what happens when bored, precocious children of overly-permissive parents are allowed unmonitored access to the Internet: They become annoying little trolls, lowering the S/N ratio all the way down to the noise floor in any discussion they litter with their verbal diarrhea.
************
Meanwhile, back in actual discussion:
This has nothing to do with what's 'appropriate', it has everything to do with the 'moral pendulum' swinging back towards prudish, ultra-conservatist ways, in a knee-jerk of
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This has nothing to do with what's 'appropriate', it has everything to do with the 'moral pendulum' swinging back towards prudish, ultra-conservatist ways,
It's the left--particularly SJWs--leading the push against pr0n, because it promotes rape culture and is demeaning to dinosaurs.
Re:He's right (Score:5, Funny)
It's the left--particularly SJWs--leading the push against pr0n, because it promotes rape culture and is demeaning to dinosaurs.
Damn, I hate those social jurassic warriors.
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It's the left--particularly SJWs--leading the push against pr0n, because it promotes rape culture and is demeaning to dinosaurs.
Do we? I mean I've been "accused" of being an SJW numerous times, and I've never pushed against porn. And the left? It's the right wing government over here in the UK which wants to censor porn.
I think perhaps they should cover up all the naughty bits with a picture of David Cameron's face rather than a fig leaf.
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It's the left--particularly SJWs--leading the push against pr0n
Do we? I mean I've been "accused" of being an SJW numerous times, and I've never pushed against porn.
Most of the people who use the term "SJW" are shitheels. You can't expect them to apply it evenly or judiciously. Yes, we've all seen the PC police go too far, but the anti-SJW crowd is targeted by those people for a fucking reason, and it's not just bleeding hearts dripping in one direction. They truly do harbor countless hypocritical fuckhead assholes amongst their ranks.
SJW is only meant to be applied to the professionally offended. Instead, tinyweener'd trolls taunt with't.
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To me an SJW is somebody who, for example, tells a woman that she can't be in favor of gamergate because she's a woman. Or at least, that's what a few SJWs have said to a few prominent feminists that are in favor of gamergate.
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To me an SJW is somebody who, for example, tells a woman that she can't be in favor of gamergate because she's a woman. Or at least, that's what a few SJWs have said to a few prominent feminists that are in favor of gamergate.
Well, at least that's specific and demonstrable. Thankfully such people are blessedly rare. There are of course an awful lot of people on the internet so no matter how silly an opinion, you'll find some people with it.
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"I think perhaps they should cover up all the naughty bits with a picture of David Cameron's face rather than a fig leaf."
Now that truly is disgusting.. Unless he was being eaten by a dinosaur, now that I could come to. [snigger] :D
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Unless he was being eaten by a dinosaur, now that I could come to. [snigger] :D
or a pig
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Now that truly is disgusting.
Why thankyou :)
Sex is scary (Score:5, Informative)
Weird people shouldn't have sexual fantasies. It scares boring normal people.
Re: (Score:1)
Uh, http://rent-a-chicken.net/ [rent-a-chicken.net]
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Quick! Someone get over to Wikipedia [wikipedia.org] and add a paragraph on this subject to the 'chicken' entry.
Re:There is a risk! (Score:5, Funny)
Quick! Someone get over to Wikipedia [wikipedia.org] and add a paragraph on this subject to the 'chicken' entry.
I think things like 'chicken entry' is exactly what's being banned at Amazon.
Re:There is a risk! (Score:5, Informative)
You are obviously male and confused. Essentially all the human-dinosaur sex fantasies are of male dinosaurs having regular (especially vaginal) sex with female people. The novels of those fantasies are hardly ever bought by men.
Re: (Score:1)
Surely dinosaurs had cloacas as well? (soft tissue issues are hard, granted ;)) If the target audience is females preferring intercourse, then the creatures surely belong to the category of fantasy creatures, and everything goes as stated.
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see, there you go. That's exactly what we're talking about, people like you fantasizing about dinosaur's sex organs. Well, that filth might pass here on slashdot but at least amazon is walking the path of censored righteousness.
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You are obviously male and confused. Essentially all the human-dinosaur sex fantasies are of male dinosaurs having regular (especially vaginal) sex with female people. The novels of those fantasies are hardly ever bought by men.
Since the fantasy is aimed at female readers, does that mean the dinosaurs have to take the women in the stories out to dinner and on long walks together before doing the deed?
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Since the fantasy is aimed at female readers, does that mean the dinosaurs have to take the women in the stories out to dinner and on long walks together before doing the deed?
Women want to have sex without preamble too, but a lot of them have been convinced otherwise so apparently they have to fantasize about fucking lizards in order to just get down to it.
I've known some glorious counterexamples, this isn't about sexism, this is about society.
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It means that T-Rex get shafted because their tiny hands can't provide the required back rub.
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Only in the human male on female t-rex fantasy novels.
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How exactly would that work, given that dinosaurs probably didn't have penises?
Is a money thing (Score:5, Insightful)
Prevent microagressions against species! (Score:2)
Short-armed Tyrannosaurs are poorly served by erotic literature.
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Yeah, but I bet the trees sure took a beating...
Re: (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Just doesn't get it (Score:5, Funny)
going too far down the rabbit hole.
Watch it there, buddy!
Re: (Score:2)
I must be in the 1% then. I don't give a shit what someone sticks in their body as long as it's consensual on all sides.
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A dinosaur is an animal. Therefore someone fantasizes about screwing a dinosaur is going to be more open-minded toward animals that actually live today.
A human is an animal. Therefore someone who fantasizes about screwing a human is going to be more open-minded towards animals.
Ban hetero-normal sex. It's the only way to save the animals.
Re: (Score:2)
"Say, didn't Fred Flintstone's daughter live with a dinosaur?"
Sorry to have to break it to you, bub. Yes, there are fan fictions about Pebbles and Dino.
no risk of someone abusing a dinosaur (Score:1)
No, but somebody please! Think of the whales...
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Nasty words, you have been warned! (Score:1)
Where's the "rancid assholes" guy when you need him? Here's your story chance!
What ban? (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:3)
Up until a few minutes ago, I was blissfully unaware that monster erotica or dinosaur erotica were even things. I mean, I know that man's capacity for deviance is endless, but I had no idea.
I think it's time for me to start drinking to see if I can erase the images these things bring to mind. I may never be the same again.
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I'm pretty sure he meant "man" as in "mankind", not necessarily only males.
I'm pretty sure given the statistics we need to correct all statements referring to this to read "womenkind" for accuracy.
Hey, you ladies want to scream for gender equality? Then learn to take that spotlight whenever you've earned it. We men certainly have.
Ignoring the rest of your message: I'm sure _you_ haven't earned anything.
Re: (Score:2)
Finally, a reason for tequila!
Re:What ban? (Score:4, Informative)
I am sure there might of been a slashdot entry but alot of the eroctica section got nerfed. Then almost as soon as it happened it was back. Like almost no point to the whole thing. More likely not because of the outrage but because of the lawsuits on an undefined policy.
That's what the cloud fire guy is talking about. Companies arbitrarily deciding whats good or bad on their networks. He makes probery the best quote out of the whole thing:
"I'm somewhat skeptical of slippery slope arguments. But, if you ban books that depict sex with dinosaurs, it doesn't take much before you ban books." - CloudFlare CEO Matthew Prince
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"But, if you ban books that depict sex with dinosaurs, it doesn't take much before you ban books." - CloudFlare CEO Matthew Prince"
That's the worst argument ever. Ever.
Re: (Score:3)
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That's what the cloud fire guy is talking about. Companies arbitrarily deciding whats good or bad on their networks.
Well that actually puts the issue in a different light; or at least it potentially does. There are two reasons a company might decide some content is bad on their network. The first is that it's bad for their customers. That's not only none of the company's affair, it makes no business sense. The second reason would be if it's bad for the company itself.
How can something that sells be bad for the company? Lots of ways; it could take up a lot of time and not make very much money; it could damage the com
Re: (Score:2)
There's a third reason (a fourth if you count the AC's below): Implict threat of government intervention. It's how we got the Comics Code authority and video game ratings. Yes, it was pressure groups, but one of the reasons pressure from pressure groups works is that if the company doesn't obey, they can pressure the government into cracking down on the company "to protect the children" or "to stop violence against women". For that matter, they can just directly sue the company in order to censor them; e
No risk to dinosaurs, you say? (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
I've seen the movies. They come back. It gets ugly.
Jurassic World had it wrong. When we bring dinosaurs back, we should fiddle with the genetics to make them better lovers, not better killers.
Dozens of Amazon literotica book-sellers can't be wrong! :-9
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Yeah, CloudFlare is a specialist of censorship (Score:1, Troll)
CloudFlare stands in the way between you, and more and more of the internet, and they don't like TOR: try to browse with TOR, and many, many sites suddenly become "protected" by unsolvable captchas that get served every 3 pages - practically making those sites unavailable.
CloudFlare is essentially passing judgment on who is allowed to access the site they front and how. So they sure don't have any lessons to give on free speech...
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
CloudFlare blocks visits from endpoints that are common sources of malicious behaviour - unfortunately, that includes TOR endpoints for obvious reasons.
The reality is that sites don't want to get attacked.
Monster erotica? (Score:2)
rational agrument? (Score:2, Insightful)
"You can make a rational argument that if you're writing books fantasizing about having sex with animals or children, maybe that promotes a certain kind of behavior. ..."
People have said the same thing about a lot of other stuff;
racing video games: your going to speed IRL
FPS video games: Your going to start shooting people IRL (how many times have we heard that one?)
RPGs; your going to go nuts and think your a High Elf ranger fighting monsters IRL
Read adult magazines/watch porn: your going to become a rapist IRL.
And yet, to the best of my knowledge, there has never been a causal link proven despite years of studies.
Prince probably freaked out becaus
Behaviour... (Score:4, Insightful)
"You can make a rational argument that if you're writing books [sic] fantasizing about having sex with animals or children, maybe that promotes a certain kind of behaviour."
The same way as writing books about murder mystery or war will promote a certain kind of behaviour to kill ?
Why don't we ban such books too? Oh, and let's ban history books as they may also promote a certain kind of behaviour to repeat...
Re:Behaviour... (Score:4, Interesting)
commentsubjectsaredumb (Score:2)
I mean, it's not like you can jump straight to banning [insert] in porn, you gotta boil the frog slowly.
For extra ridicule, put "banning blacks" in.
Gotta ask (Score:1)
Does the dinosaur have to be 18 or over?
Re: (Score:2)
I think you have to multiply by seven. Or is it divide? No, wait, maybe that's dogs.
Poignant, in a way (Score:2)
"I worry about Jeff Bezos' bizarre obsession with dinosaur sex,"
I'm starting to forget when a statement like this was never even contextually apropos, much less relevant to the topic, in a semi-mainstream news story. The times, they are a-getting unidentifiable.
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I'm starting to forget when a statement like this was never even contextually apropos, much less relevant to the topic, in a semi-mainstream news story. The times, they are a-getting unidentifiable.
Lol, O Brave New World....
-
"I worry about Jeff Bezos' bizarre obsession with dinosaur sex,"
I hear ya. That was a sentence I could never have expected or predicted to hear, no matter how long I lived.
Re: Poignant, in a way (Score:2)
Presumably at some point before they made live action pterydactyl porn.
If you were a Dinosaur, My Love (Score:2)
http://www.apex-magazine.com/i... [apex-magazine.com]
I know this story pissed off those guys who tried to rig the Hugo awards, but banning the whole genre seems a bit extreme.
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I know this story pissed off those guys who tried to rig the Hugo awards, but banning the whole genre seems a bit extreme.
It is unfortunately stories like that one which gave the puppies that tiny kernel of truth which made the message much more compelling. I mean, I hate to agree with the puppies, but that story was bad. It'a (a) not sci-fi or fantasy or magical realism or any of those things and (b) just plain mawkish.
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While I personally find the stuff to be indecent at best, who am I to tell anyone what is decent.
Yeah, I think it's weird, but I don't see the harm in it. What kind of terrible things do people think will happen by allowing dino-porn?
in case you are wondering WTF is monster erotica (Score:2)
Vaginal Fantasy book club did "Taken By The T-Rex":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Meanwhile, CloudFlare blocks Tor heavily (Score:2)
CloudFlare blocks Tor in practice, by endlessly forcing Tor users to fill out captcha pages. How is that not censorship?
Societal Priorities Are Weird: (Score:3)
I doubt Amazon would ban a book detailing how to do a real world harm, say: A detailed manual on how to loot a corporate pension fund and defer the retirement health insurance payments until bankruptcy can be declared. All without getting prosecuted for it. (And, I'd agree that odious though it was, a book about it shouldn't be prohibited.)
But, we can get all bent out of shape and restrict things, especially sex, that meets someone's definition of "icky" or "scary", regardless that it's fiction about things that do not exist outside of human imaginations.
I'm reminded of a person who, when looking for a roommate at college was visibly overstressed by worry that I had a copy of the DnD Players Guide. He assured me that the demons could use the pictures on the cover to come into our world.
I was glad he didn't want to be a roommate, as I was convinced he was mental.
How is this getting bent out of shape over something fictional much different?
Darwinian sales techniques (Score:2)
WAIT! (Score:2)
What the hell am I wasting my time typing this for?
TIL (Score:2)
TIL the CEO of CloudFlare is into Dinosaur sex stories.
Bezos (Score:2)
Perhaps he saw something featuring Uncle Fester and thought it was parodying him?
The infamous "Bob's Animal Farm" ... (Score:2)
My sig is not a joke. Birds are dinosaurs, for all practical meanings of "birds", "are", and "dinosaurs".