This is a really stupid journal and I admit it
15 years ago
General
and i'm probably going to be too ashamed of it to keep it up for very long.
Here's what's been established:
1) FA has lost it's transaction provider, AlertPay, is not elligable to sign back up with them, and it's donation funds have been seized.
2) All the major furry websites (In particular, those that have allowed or hosted cub) use AlertPay. It is only a matter of them being reported to AlertPay to have the same thing that happened here, happen there.
Speaking of which:
3) A crazy, gun-wielding (and not the good kind, like me) lunatic has gloated already about reporting InkBunny to Alertpay. InkBunny is currently or will soon be in much the same boat as FurAffinity and is shopping around for other handlers for their transactions.
4) What has been banned on FA is only the hardcore depictions of minors (IE sexual intercourse, genitals, etc). Whatever Pedophiles frequent this website will still come here for the suggestive and softcore art. Pedophiles would still be here regardless. Pedos. Pedos everwhere.
5) The ban has not resolved the issue of AlertPay dropping FA. Dragoneer is still without someone to handle the site's online funds and if anything will only slightly improve the chances he has to find an alternative.
6) This will not make the furry community look better. FurAffinity's staff had about as much a choice of banning this material as Joseph Fritzl had to turn himself in to the authorities (Afterr he was arrested and charged). FA has long held it's ground on the subject of cub porn and even when they finally did ban it, they banned it regretfully and after the fact.
Here is why what's happened, happened:
1) No banking / credit card / online transaction business wants anything to do with child pornography. These institutions work with law enforcement as much as they can to ensure their services aren't supporting the distribution of such material.
2) Outside of furry, anime, online culture in general, the murky territory that loli / cub / etc finds itself is not the sort of area these companies want to do business in and, for them and the rest of the world, there is no discernable difference between a drawing and a recording. And who can blame them? I didn't even see the difference for the longest time in the world.
3) AlertPay is a private organization. It does not need to recognize civil liberties outside of the regulations it already submits to (barely) against the discrimination of gender, race, sexual orientation, class or nationality. Outside of this and as a business, it has a right to refuse service to anyone and will gladly do so to maintain it's profit margin. Handling the transactions of a site that hosts even simulated and fictional child pornography is not worth the outcry it will cause in the public, media and the house of congress.
4) Noone wants to be "Soft" on sex crimes. Even if no crime is technically taking place.
Here's my bullshit theories:
1) AlertPay may have been obligated by law to seize FurAffinity's funds due to a report of child pornography. Upon their own investigation, they would not see the difference between a drawing and a photograph. If that is the case, AlertPay may be in contact with the authorities. An investigation could be pending if it wasn't already for instances in the past. In short: v&
2) All of the websites which have hosted cub (And by extension, loli, etc) which do business with AlertPay will go offline as they're reported, due to lack of funds and no viable alternative.
3) Cub has just been banned from the entire internet. Not by law, but by the online financial industry. Now it's only a matter of reporting the sites that host it. Turns out capitalism does work (some of the time).
4) The Furry community is going to change. Painfully. The chances of sites like FurAffinity, SoFurry, InkBunny, etc surviving are slim. New Art Galleries and misc other sites are going to sprout up in their wake. The Smart ones are going to remember the circumstances that allowed them to exist and not repeat mistakes
5) I think I know who snitched. And if it's who I'm thinking it is, this individual will be very, very disappointed when everyone finds out that he / she ruined furry for everyone and we all collectively tar and feather him out of our ice cream social while saying very mean things about him.
UPDATE: The same person that reported Inkbunny to AlertPay also reported SoFurry. He's probably also reported or will report e621 at this rate along with all other furry websites hosting or allowing cub. He's also advocating in his FA that everyone write to their politicians to illegalize the shit and treat it the same as photographic child pornography.
Inkbunny is currently in the process of trying to become it's own processor for online transactions, IE a furry paypal. I'm lightly curious to see if other furry sites begin using InkBunny's service and this just engrains cub (And to some extent, pedophilia) that much more into the furry community.
Here's what's been established:
1) FA has lost it's transaction provider, AlertPay, is not elligable to sign back up with them, and it's donation funds have been seized.
2) All the major furry websites (In particular, those that have allowed or hosted cub) use AlertPay. It is only a matter of them being reported to AlertPay to have the same thing that happened here, happen there.
Speaking of which:
3) A crazy, gun-wielding (and not the good kind, like me) lunatic has gloated already about reporting InkBunny to Alertpay. InkBunny is currently or will soon be in much the same boat as FurAffinity and is shopping around for other handlers for their transactions.
4) What has been banned on FA is only the hardcore depictions of minors (IE sexual intercourse, genitals, etc). Whatever Pedophiles frequent this website will still come here for the suggestive and softcore art. Pedophiles would still be here regardless. Pedos. Pedos everwhere.
5) The ban has not resolved the issue of AlertPay dropping FA. Dragoneer is still without someone to handle the site's online funds and if anything will only slightly improve the chances he has to find an alternative.
6) This will not make the furry community look better. FurAffinity's staff had about as much a choice of banning this material as Joseph Fritzl had to turn himself in to the authorities (Afterr he was arrested and charged). FA has long held it's ground on the subject of cub porn and even when they finally did ban it, they banned it regretfully and after the fact.
Here is why what's happened, happened:
1) No banking / credit card / online transaction business wants anything to do with child pornography. These institutions work with law enforcement as much as they can to ensure their services aren't supporting the distribution of such material.
2) Outside of furry, anime, online culture in general, the murky territory that loli / cub / etc finds itself is not the sort of area these companies want to do business in and, for them and the rest of the world, there is no discernable difference between a drawing and a recording. And who can blame them? I didn't even see the difference for the longest time in the world.
3) AlertPay is a private organization. It does not need to recognize civil liberties outside of the regulations it already submits to (barely) against the discrimination of gender, race, sexual orientation, class or nationality. Outside of this and as a business, it has a right to refuse service to anyone and will gladly do so to maintain it's profit margin. Handling the transactions of a site that hosts even simulated and fictional child pornography is not worth the outcry it will cause in the public, media and the house of congress.
4) Noone wants to be "Soft" on sex crimes. Even if no crime is technically taking place.
Here's my bullshit theories:
1) AlertPay may have been obligated by law to seize FurAffinity's funds due to a report of child pornography. Upon their own investigation, they would not see the difference between a drawing and a photograph. If that is the case, AlertPay may be in contact with the authorities. An investigation could be pending if it wasn't already for instances in the past. In short: v&
2) All of the websites which have hosted cub (And by extension, loli, etc) which do business with AlertPay will go offline as they're reported, due to lack of funds and no viable alternative.
3) Cub has just been banned from the entire internet. Not by law, but by the online financial industry. Now it's only a matter of reporting the sites that host it. Turns out capitalism does work (some of the time).
4) The Furry community is going to change. Painfully. The chances of sites like FurAffinity, SoFurry, InkBunny, etc surviving are slim. New Art Galleries and misc other sites are going to sprout up in their wake. The Smart ones are going to remember the circumstances that allowed them to exist and not repeat mistakes
5) I think I know who snitched. And if it's who I'm thinking it is, this individual will be very, very disappointed when everyone finds out that he / she ruined furry for everyone and we all collectively tar and feather him out of our ice cream social while saying very mean things about him.
UPDATE: The same person that reported Inkbunny to AlertPay also reported SoFurry. He's probably also reported or will report e621 at this rate along with all other furry websites hosting or allowing cub. He's also advocating in his FA that everyone write to their politicians to illegalize the shit and treat it the same as photographic child pornography.
Inkbunny is currently in the process of trying to become it's own processor for online transactions, IE a furry paypal. I'm lightly curious to see if other furry sites begin using InkBunny's service and this just engrains cub (And to some extent, pedophilia) that much more into the furry community.
FA+

On a side note, since when did AlertPay become the big internet payment site? I thought Paypal had that market in a stranglehold.
AlertPay doesn't have that policy. Thus, they got a monopoly pretty much on everyone paypal leaves behind (Although people obviously still use paypal and keep the adultt service part on the down-lo).
And I honestly doubt anyone in that line of business would risk touching websites with that kind of material. However big some may think transactions related to these websites are, they're still a small profit margin. These sites aren't big or profitable enough, and in comparision to the rest of the online market, null. Too much risk, very little reward, and a really unlikeable subject.
Because, if this policy as in effect then is was FA's responsibility to recognize that they would not use that service since they allowed cub porn (which is porn that depicts anthropomorphic animals with ages not unlike humans).
Now, if that policy was already in effect and FA had contacted them asking if cub porn fell under that restriction and the company said it did not, and just now suddenly they decided that that wasn't the case and without allowing FA to retract their use of the service because they were now violating any terms, then the company is in the wrong and not FA.
I haven't done any research into any of these specifics since I don't particularly care about the whole deal, but I'm not against talking about it or taking a side.