In a recent political move, Taro Yamada, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives, came to the defense of Japan's adult content industry, which has faced increasing pressure from interbank companies such as VISA and MasterCard. These companies have withdrawn their banking services from sites that distribute this type of content, putting a significant portion of the sector's financial transactions at risk.

The problem is serious, because VISA and MasterCard operate the vast majority of bank cards worldwideand the loss of these services means a considerable reduction in the transaction capacity of the sites, which in turn directly affects their revenues. Taro Yamada He decided to take matters into his own hands and traveled to the VISA offices in San Francisco, United States, where he presented a detailed report on the situation:

• VISA本社(米国、サンフランシスコ)
• Visit: Visa Inc. Headquarters (San Francisco, California).
• Bottom:
• Although the content is legal in Japan, there have been reported cases of credit card payments being declined due to the nature of the content. The situation in the United States, where VISA is headquartered, was investigated to understand the international trademark directive that prohibits the use of certain terms in specific content.
• In a world where cashless payments are expanding, credit cards, which are the most widely used payment platform and a crucial piece of infrastructure, must be reviewed in terms of their treatment. An exchange of views was held with VISA in this regard.
• Results:
• VISA values integrity.
• Integrity risks for VISA fall into three categories: harm to the safety and well-being of individuals, harm to consumers through the exploitation of its economic advantages, and compliance with VISA regulations.
• While VISA makes legal judgments about the legality of transactions, it does not make value judgments about the legal content. For example, although the debate over firearms in the United States is controversial, VISA does not make value judgments on this issue.
• Regarding adult content, VISA sets common global standards: that age rules are respected and that content is offered with consent. It does not set or judge standards on the content itself.
• VISA headquarters does not issue specific instructions on terms or keywords that should be prohibited.

The industry's response was immediate. Sites like Getchuknown for distributing adult content and other sensitive materials, They have started accepting payments with VISA bank cards again. Furthermore, there are rumors that DLsiteanother major distributor could follow the same path and recover payments with VISA cards.

This development comes as a relief to the adult content industry in Japan, which has taken a heavy hit in recent months. by decisions of banking operators, who “apparently do not want to get involved with adult content”. Taro Yamada’s intervention could mark a turning point in the relationship between these payment platforms and the industry, and will certainly give him some popularity points among the population that consumes this content.

• «Oh, so they resumed VISA payments».
• «“The fact that they were able to resume them means that there was no valid reason on VISA’s part to stop the transactions.”».
• «Does this mean that since Diet member Taro Yamada went to VISA offices and got the statement that 'they do not regulate keywords in specific content', it was revealed that someone in the middle was acting intentionally...? It seems that some places have resumed VISA payments, so perhaps this means that they will gradually do so in more places».
• «VISA is said to be resuming payments. It was definitely an impulsive move on the part of the Japanese subsidiary.».
• «It seems that Getchu has resumed VISA card payments. Did Taro Yamada's intervention at the headquarters have any effect? It would be great if other sites that have stopped payments would also resume them soon.».
• «It's amazing that they were able to resume VISA payments.».
• «I ran to get a free JCB card…? Well, maybe some sites like DLsite are still cautious and won’t resume VISA transactions, so maybe it’s not a waste to have it».
• «Has DLsite resumed VISA payments? Did Yamada's intervention anger the intermediaries and cause any backlash?».
• «Regarding the resumption of transactions with VISA, shouldn't they thoroughly investigate the real cause, even if they don't make it public?».
• «Even if VISA decides to resume payments now, it's already too late. I've already changed everything to JCB».

Source: Hachima Kikou