• Porn-makers challenge Patreon's crowdfunding ban
    12 replies, posted
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41749885[/url]
[quote]"Your fuzzy position on 'adult content' versus 'porn' gives you the freedom to discriminate at will." ... "Porn is a multi-billion dollar industry mostly in the hands of well-heeled men," the letter adds. "You were helping us hold it in our own hands. We ask you to take a stand on behalf of the sex workers who use your platform, their fans, and everyone who supports freedom of expression."[/quote] As someone who worked in financial services, there is a very good reason that their position is fuzzy. It's because the underwriters' position is fuzzy. Their terminology is exactly the same - no adult content. And given that Patreon is really just a glorified payment processor, their terms have to mirror the terms of their merchant account. And if they suddenly get booted off their merchant account and get classed a high risk merchant, their processing fee suddenly goes from 3% to 15+%. And thus, their margin disappears, and they go out of business. This is why middleman/marketplace services for adult websites and content simply don't work or have to take a huge fee. I walked down this path before and I can assure you that it is simply not possible to find a credit card processor that will accept pornographic content for the standard 3%. It just doesn't happen. So you can either have Patreon without the porn, Patreon with a huge fee for everyone (not [i]just[/i] the adult content), or no Patreon at all. I'd imagine Patreon would like to continue to exist, so there's your answer.
[QUOTE=Snowmew;52819880]As someone who worked in financial services, there is a very good reason that their position is fuzzy. It's because the underwriters' position is fuzzy. Their terminology is exactly the same - no adult content. And given that Patreon is really just a glorified payment processor, their terms have to mirror the terms of their merchant account. And if they suddenly get booted off their merchant account and get classed a high risk merchant, their processing fee suddenly goes from 3% to 15+%. And thus, their margin disappears, and they go out of business. This is why middleman/marketplace services for adult websites and content simply don't work or have to take a huge fee. I walked down this path before and I can assure you that it is simply not possible to find a credit card processor that will accept pornographic content for the standard 3%. It just doesn't happen. So you can either have Patreon without the porn, Patreon with a huge fee for everyone (not [i]just[/i] the adult content), or no Patreon at all. I'd imagine Patreon would like to continue to exist, so there's your answer.[/QUOTE] Why are porn services considered more of a high risk? I mean, Patreon is not a risk when it's just doing normal things but as soon as porn gets on a service that was a normal/low risk, why does that suddenly make it a high risk?
[QUOTE=Snowmew;52819880]it is simply not possible to find a credit card processor that will accept pornographic content for the standard 3%. It just doesn't happen.[/QUOTE] How come porn-related services are classed as high-risk? Alternatively; are payment services run by American prudes the only options out there?
[QUOTE=Svinnik;52820103]Why are porn services considered more of a high risk? I mean, Patreon is not a risk when it's just doing normal things but as soon as porn gets on a service that was a normal/low risk, why does that suddenly make it a high risk?[/QUOTE] It's a self perpetuating cycle. Porn is seen as high risk which means the industry never develops in a healthy way which in turn means that porn is seen as high risk etc etc. This doesn't matter with patreoned content (since you're donating, not buying) but payment processors don't care, rightfully.
[QUOTE=usaokay;52820013]RIP in pepperoni every SFM porn maker.[/QUOTE] Nah, just the scum making rape, gore and child porn.
[QUOTE=GHOST!!!!;52820469]Nah, just the scum making rape, gore and child porn.[/QUOTE] Don't fucking start this shit again.
[QUOTE=usaokay;52820013]RIP in pepperoni every SFM porn maker.[/QUOTE] RIP every Furry pornmaker, cant wait to see how they'll moan
[QUOTE=Svinnik;52820103]Why are porn services considered more of a high risk? I mean, Patreon is not a risk when it's just doing normal things but as soon as porn gets on a service that was a normal/low risk, why does that suddenly make it a high risk?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Im Crimson;52820120]How come porn-related services are classed as high-risk? Alternatively; are payment services run by American prudes the only options out there?[/QUOTE] Because underwriters live in 1997. They live in a world of porn paysites where people would sign up and their wives would come barreling into the room a month later with a credit card bill screaming about some charge from HotHornyHousewifeHoles and they'd have to call the credit card company and demand a chargeback. Or, alternatively, they'd go rent a porno on Betamax and the same thing would happen. Chargebacks are (obviously) expensive, so card companies identified this trend rather quickly and moved porn companies over to separate "high risk" accounts to balance things out. AmEx is also rather infamous for outright banning high risk merchants (which, in combination with their slightly higher processing fee, is why they historically could afford to offer better services to cardholders). So when you sign up for a merchant account with a payment processor, they report back to the card company and say "hey, Patreon is high risk, it looks like they sell porn", the card company says "we'll sign them up for a 15% fee" and the processor comes back with that number. But then 20 years passed, and we have the likes of Pornhub where the vast majority of people aren't using paysites and renting pornos. Granted, there's still a risk of the same thing happening for camshows - this is actually why Patreon pulled back and clarified that this ban is for extreme content and camshows, not just any old porn - but the explosion of adult content on the internet leaves payment processors in a bad spot. If you really negotiate a deal, it's possible for only incidentally-adult-related websites to get a standard rate from an underwriter. But a site like Patreon - where content is wholly decided by its users - gets in big trouble if they don't police things to make sure their users are not engaging in these high-risk activities.
[QUOTE=dustyjo;52820479]Don't fucking start this shit again.[/QUOTE] Well I mean it's true though, alot of regular porn makers aren't really going to get hit, I know of several who haven't even been touched, but I know of others, like the type I mentioned, who are under review.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.