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As you probably know, I'm originally publishing some titles in addition to my traditionally published work (under another pen name) and my fanworks. My Stragetic Affair series can be found at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords.
I also publish at two romance-centric websites--Bookstrand and All Romance Ebooks.
Last week, Bookstrand released a letter saying that Paypal had frozen their account, on judgment calls on the books they sold and had an objection to, among other things, rape, incest, child sex, bestiality, and pseudo incest.If Bookstrand didn't remove these, Paypal would permanently revoke their vendor account.
Now, most of these things are quite illegal. If I'm getting it on with one of my cats, I can be arrested in all 50 states, not to mention most of the countries in the world. Incest? Child sex? Rape? Yep, all illegal.
Now, what about pseudo incest. What is it? Well, it involves stories where the hero and heroine have a family link, be it adopted child, stepfamily, distant cousins, in-laws, etc. The problem is, this is perfectly *legal* everywhere!
If I wanted to have a relationship with my stepdad, that might be morally squicky, but legally? Nope, there's no law against it. If I wanted to become literal kissing cousins with one of mine? Again, not illegal. In fact, some states allow cousins to marry. Legally. So yeah, in some states cousins have more rights than same/sex couples.
So, Bookstrand issued this edict and told people they either had to remove titles with any objectionable content or their accounts would be closed down. These are publishers here trying to make a living, authors writing FICTIONAL stories.
Tonight, All Romance Ebooks issued the same edict, banning the same sorts of books. But instead of allowing authors and publishers to remove their books, they moved books to an inactive list. There is no exact science to this and one of my books was targeted--Sparking the Fire. STF is a book with two adult heroes, never met, unrelated, who are not animals in any form, who have VERY consensual relations. Yet someone marked it off sale, and though I've marked it to be put back ON sale, who knows what will happen.
This entire situation is downright frightening. A third-party vendor (Paypal) is trying to make moral judgments toward what you and I read and write. Today it is the perfectly legal pseudo incest. Tomorrow will it be BDSM? Read this link and tell me BDSM titles are safe.
How about male/male Daddy!Kink? Will they try to tell us we can't read or write that? How can a third-party vendor have so much control? And where does the censorship stop?
If you're buying my books at Bookstrand or ARE, I encourage you to consider picking them up at Smashwords instead. Smashwords has multiple unlocked formats (PDF, RTF, HTML, etc) and thus far hasn't slapped censorship on authors or readers.
I also publish at two romance-centric websites--Bookstrand and All Romance Ebooks.
Last week, Bookstrand released a letter saying that Paypal had frozen their account, on judgment calls on the books they sold and had an objection to, among other things, rape, incest, child sex, bestiality, and pseudo incest.If Bookstrand didn't remove these, Paypal would permanently revoke their vendor account.
Now, most of these things are quite illegal. If I'm getting it on with one of my cats, I can be arrested in all 50 states, not to mention most of the countries in the world. Incest? Child sex? Rape? Yep, all illegal.
Now, what about pseudo incest. What is it? Well, it involves stories where the hero and heroine have a family link, be it adopted child, stepfamily, distant cousins, in-laws, etc. The problem is, this is perfectly *legal* everywhere!
If I wanted to have a relationship with my stepdad, that might be morally squicky, but legally? Nope, there's no law against it. If I wanted to become literal kissing cousins with one of mine? Again, not illegal. In fact, some states allow cousins to marry. Legally. So yeah, in some states cousins have more rights than same/sex couples.
So, Bookstrand issued this edict and told people they either had to remove titles with any objectionable content or their accounts would be closed down. These are publishers here trying to make a living, authors writing FICTIONAL stories.
Tonight, All Romance Ebooks issued the same edict, banning the same sorts of books. But instead of allowing authors and publishers to remove their books, they moved books to an inactive list. There is no exact science to this and one of my books was targeted--Sparking the Fire. STF is a book with two adult heroes, never met, unrelated, who are not animals in any form, who have VERY consensual relations. Yet someone marked it off sale, and though I've marked it to be put back ON sale, who knows what will happen.
This entire situation is downright frightening. A third-party vendor (Paypal) is trying to make moral judgments toward what you and I read and write. Today it is the perfectly legal pseudo incest. Tomorrow will it be BDSM? Read this link and tell me BDSM titles are safe.
How about male/male Daddy!Kink? Will they try to tell us we can't read or write that? How can a third-party vendor have so much control? And where does the censorship stop?
If you're buying my books at Bookstrand or ARE, I encourage you to consider picking them up at Smashwords instead. Smashwords has multiple unlocked formats (PDF, RTF, HTML, etc) and thus far hasn't slapped censorship on authors or readers.
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It makes me think about the first book I ever read with m/m romance in it. It was a trilogy in Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series. In the trilogy, the main character was brutally raped. This is a mainstream author who I can go to bookstore and get a copy. Under this, that book would be "banned"...
WTF PayPal?
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You hear right, people. They think BDSM should be considered RAPE.
This is two consenting adults engaging in consensual acts, where a contract is usually negotiated and signed, where sex may or may not even occur. This is two people who respect each other and mutually agreed to certain consensual acts IN THEIR BEDROOM. And PayPal considers it rape.
If this is not censorship I really don't know what is. It's frightening to think that we are no longer allowed to publish something that is legal and isn't even remotely morally objectionable if you look at what is going on with the world right now.
The worst part is that it may only be a matter of time before Smashwords also cave under pressure from PayPal.
What is to stop them from deciding one day that they have moral objections with gay and lesbian relationships and that books with explicit sex between two unrelated, consenting adults of the same sex should be banned?
This type of corporate-enforced censorship should not be allowed. We fight so hard to stop SOPA and PIPA, and yet a mere company is trying to do the same. Don't let them.
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And how the hell can BDSM be classified as rape... *sigh* Ignorance on subjects is not a good thing when people base it off of how they *think* something is because it's not something they are comfortable with.
And even with rape, there is the fact that rape can be used to jump start the entire story and/or evolve the story even if it's not the main aspect of the story (Law & Order SVU anyone?).
It's one of those, once you start, where does it stop when it comes to starting the censorship and it shouldn't be started in the first place.
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Other than that I totally agree with everything you wrote. Censorship, especially when it comes to art in every form there is, is a bad thing. Art is there to challenge and make you think and just let you relax and enjoy whatever it is you're looking at or reading.
And a third party never should be the one deciding if something can or can't be bought. Besides, if they are judging books by the amount of violence and rape, are they gonna ban the Bible too?
Or is it okay to offer your daughter to be raped, as long as it's not a m/m thing happening?
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AN even Daddy!Kink is outlawed now. If two men want to roleplay...please.
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I'd like to know who's behind PayPal's unilateral decision. Fiction does not instigate behavioural patterns moral or amoral, because if that were the case, maybe they should read the Old Testament of the Bible. It might not be explicit but it does talk about incest, rape.
Are they going to ban the books about Ancient Greece and Rome where gay/lesbian sex not to mention incest were considered acceptable.
Nobody and I mean nobody over 18 should be banned from reading anything and I mean anything. If you don't like gay sex then don't read it, you don't like fiction dealing with incest don't read it, etc., etc., and of story.
PayPal's attitude is in line with that of the Spanish Inquisition and countries with dictatorships.
Like Kate said they want to get their facts straight about BDSM, among others.
Coercion of freedom is intolerable.
If they start here, who's to say they won't start banning DH Lawrence, Shakespeare, Stephen King, etc., for reasons similar.
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*hugs*
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Can't say I'm surprised. PayPal has a huge track record of asshattery (remember how they froze an account right around Christmas for donations for kids in need, saying they would be okay with it if it were for animals instead?). They're known to freeze accounts for no reason, ruining people's lives that way. I mean, if you can't get your hands on the money that is rightfully yours for no other reason than PayPal deciding you shouldn't have it, then you're screwed.
Adding the censorship aspect puts the whole thing on a new level of asshattery though. Boy, am I glad that I'm buying your ebooks through Amazon (all hail credit card!).
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Paypal, as a third party in the transaction, is there to facilitate that transaction, it has no right to call judgement upon it.
Yesterday I used Paypal to buy a book at another publisher. The book had much of the content they have suspended Bookstrand's account for. What they are doing must surely have legal standing, on which to fight them.
As for the BDSM, I thought we were finally getting to the point where there was much better understanding. What Paypal is doing, is perpetuating the same old, myths, that can only do harm and give fodder to those who wish to use it.
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I just can't help but wonder how our society got to the point where standard naked sex between two consenting adults - let alone anything even remotely unusual - requires an astronomical rating, but blowing somebody's brains out is okay.
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Over all though.... booh on them because all I can really focus on is that if they sold V. C. Andrews they would have to remove a ton of her books LOL
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Seriously pisses me off... Someone should make a FUCK PAYPAL group and get every fandom to join, we can kick their asses with a larger group...
A seriously pissed off JenIsaks
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