Going up against giant payment processors will probably require something with a lot of power. The EU has, especially regarding internet stuff, a history of trying to limit big corporations doing basically whatever they want, via regulations like GDPR and DMA. It is very much in line with EU that payment processors should not get to impose arbitrary censorship based on the whims of lobbyists.

Given how much momentum Stop Killing Games gained, an EU petition about this would seem like it could get big too. Problem is, I'm too high anxiety to organize a thing like this and don't have the reach, but I do want to help put the idea out there.

(I'd like this topic to not be about Itch's role, as most threads are about that already)
 

It's definitely worth making the issue more public and gathering people that could help out. Could be also good to contact with people that made EU Initatives in the past to know what is required to adhere to guidelines.

I'd support this. This ban will affect my entire livelihood. I'm just not sure where to start, but I know there are 2 petitions already: 

Tell MasterCard, Visa & Activist Groups: Stop Controlling What We Can Watch, Read, or Play
https://chng.it/b2pMbsLvdg

Mastercard: Sex work is work. End your unjust policy
https://action.aclu.org/petition/mastercard-sex-work-work-end-your-unjust-policy

Absolutely! I'd like to help boost a conversation about it, but bc high anxiety and currently pretty high workload I can't be a main organizer of it. But, if it happens I'd really be up for helping out. I'm definitely going to talk to people around me who are better at this sort of thing than I am. Anything like this definitely begins with people talking to each other :)

I definitely think EU is one of the most powerful entities that also have a history of fighting this sort of thing.

Sounds like a fantastic next step. I'm not in the EU so wouldn't be able to sign but I'd definitely share it around.

I think something simialr to stopkillinggames but for nsfw anti censorship would be good but for nsfw games and anything related to it

Personally I think it'd make sense to keep this one as broad as possible. Payment processors shouldn't be able allowed to impose any kind of extralegal censorship upon anyone using their services. The itch thing can be used as an example of course, but the strongest reason for EU to get involved is probably the fact that it's precisely what they're doing, and the implications of corporations having that kind of power over businesses in general. "If they did this to Steam and itch, they could do this to any business for any reason including political lobbying" is pretty compelling, especially in a time when the trust between EU and US has deteriorated, and the talk here is to rely on the US less for important services.

Hello all,

I got to this thread because I was looking to see if someone has already created the EU petition regarding this matter.

As @Nifflas said, this subject far surpasses either itch.io or Steam, this kind of attitude opens the door to major manipulation of what we can and cannot access with our money. Of course the pressure from zealots starts with adult content, but how much time will it take for them to come for atheist content, or socialist content? This overeach is a major attack on our freedom to use our money to support whatever we want to support, a payment processor should just process the money regardless of the object of the purchase (as long as it is legal obviously).

So, all that being said, if no one started this EU petition I am not only onboard, I can start the process myself and post the link here.

EDIT: Studying the situation, it seems what we need might be a Citizen initiative and not a petition, I'll search if some is already ongoing

I guess the trickiest aspect is neither of itch and Steam are based in Europe. But as game developers are so dependent on these services to sell what we create, maybe it could at least further fuel the idea that the EU needs to run its own non-US reliant payment processors asap (something which in turn would definitely put pressure on Visa/Mastercard too).

But yeah, even signaling to the EU that this is a big problem and could get bigger in the future feels important. It'd be awesome if you started something like this!

Regardless of what you can or cannot use in the EU, the fact is that if we look at our wallets, all our cards are either VISA or Mastercard, even the ones issued by local (non multinational) banks. Can we really trust that, in the future, we can use out VISA card to purchase something, even if the processor on the store end is BLIK or something else?

My thinking was to frame this not from the perspective of the stores, like itch.io and Steam, but from the perspective of the European consumer's rights being restricted by a foreign company that the consumer has no way of not using because the European banks do not give the consumer that option.

Now my question remains, is this a case for Petition because one cold argue it goes against EU freedoms, or is this a Citizens' Initiative like Stop Killing Games? Probably the later since it has a lower formality bar.

I'm on board with this. I think both routes are good.

My understanding (I'm not a lawyer, THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE) is that this may break article 102 TEFU because the dominant undertakings (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) are "refusing to supply input indispensable for competition in an ancillary market", in this case supply input is providing payment processing services and ancillary (subordinate) market is digital distribution of software (Steam, Itch and their competitors). However I couldn't find similar precedents.

I think the citizens' initiative may take longer because it needs time to collect the signatures before any procedure can even start, but I may be wrong on this. In any case I think getting help from Stop Killing Games is not a bad idea.
 

Oh yeah! Thank you so much for the link, I'm definitely going to leave my feedback

Hmm, I recently raised the issue of Mastercard and Visa with my MEP. I even got a response that they were investigating what could be done through official channels. I hope something actually happens. Mastercard and Visa are crying over the constant phone calls already. 

He tenido un problema con el pago de un paquete, he mandado correo a soporte, pero ¿a alguien mas le ha pasado?

The EU is trying to pass a law that forces companies to monitor private conversations. Trust me, the EU governments would not be on your side right now.