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When I click the signup link, I get a message that by signing up, I agree to your terms. But I don't see a link to those terms in the message, and I can't find

When I click the signup link, I get a message that by signing up, I agree to your terms. But I don't see a link to those terms in the message, and I can't find a link to those terms anywhere else on the main page. I also can't find your privacy policy. A couple of questions on that front: - Do your terms include mandatory arbitration agreements for creators? - Do your terms include mandatory arbitration agreements for tippers? - Your signup link mentions that you ban adult content. Do you have a clear definition somewhere of what adult content is, or is this following the "know it when we see it" model of platforms like Patreon and Steam? On the privacy policy front: - What personal information do you require on signup (for creators and tippers). Can I tip someone without providing them my address/phone number? Can I create an account without providing you my address/phone number? On the general feature front: - The site mentions that I can create webhooks, but doesn't mention whether there's a general API for things like adding posts, updating pledges, etc... This is my biggest personal problems with Patreon -- their interface isn't particularly great, and I can't automate any of the stuff I need to regularly do, so as a result I mostly ignore it or try to handle all of my reward tiers outside of the platform. But on a wider, less personal level, it's also a way to make it harder to migrate between funding platforms and to increase lock-in.

smeyer 7y ago
Mousing over the word "Terms" in "By signing up, you agree to our Terms." on the sign up page linked me to https://www.buymeacoffee.com/terms https://www.buymeacoffee.com/terms .
- Stratoscope 7y ago
  Mousing over doesn't work on mobile, of course. But "Terms" is a link, so tapping it on mobile works. But... The link is styled identically to normal text, both on desktop and mobile! There is no way to know that it is a link until you actively interact with it.
chipotle_coyote 7y ago
> Your signup link mentions that you ban adult content. Do you have a clear definition somewhere of what adult content is, or is this following the "know it when we see it" model of platforms like Patreon and Steam? It's a little dismaying that so few -- quite possibly zero -- mainstream creator-payment platforms like this are comfortable with adult content. Patreon seems to still be trying to thread that needle, but there's a near-annual ritual of "OMG Patreon is cracking down the porn" panic. Ko-Fi explicitly (ahem) changed their policy to disallow NSFW content and BMaC here seems to be starting with SFW-only in place. And, yes, I know the fingers are always pointed at the payment processors here, but that just shifts the question as to why payment processors do this. We're not talking about 1-900 numbers or adult video stores in the divey-ist parts of downtown that are going to face chargeback after chargeback as a cost of doing business; is there truly a good business case for Stripe and PayPal policing somebody's patronage of risqué catgirl comics or what have you?
- danShumway 7y ago
  Once I got a link to the actual terms, I noticed this also includes violent content, which is a little surprising to me. I try to regularly draw attention to the fact that payment processors are systemically disenfranchising people who produce adult content, and that payment platforms are implicitly cooperating and encouraging that disenfranchisement by silently going along with the processors without even speaking up or openly questioning the standards. But I'm not super-surprised when I see those bans, because pretty much every platform has them. On the other hand, a ban on violent content is something I haven't seen a lot of, and that makes me question who this service is even designed for. Does that mean anyone producing a comic or writing a book would need to make sure it's the violence equivalent of PG or below? Why would any creative use a platform with that kind of restriction? Again, there's no hard line describing what that means. You just have to make sure that anything you produce is relatively tame. It's very, very weird to live in a world where culturally people almost universally celebrate the artistic value and entertainment value of shows like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, while simultaneously building platforms where that kind of content just can't exist. It's an almost absurd cultural disconnect that only seems to exist to lock any non-establishment creators out of building meaningful stories that stretch boundaries or challenge viewers.

smeyer 7y ago

Mousing over the word "Terms" in "By signing up, you agree to our Terms." on the sign up page linked me to https://www.buymeacoffee.com/terms https://www.buymeacoffee.com/terms .

Stratoscope 7y ago
Mousing over doesn't work on mobile, of course. But "Terms" is a link, so tapping it on mobile works. But... The link is styled identically to normal text, both on desktop and mobile! There is no way to know that it is a link until you actively interact with it.

chipotle_coyote 7y ago

> Your signup link mentions that you ban adult content. Do you have a clear definition somewhere of what adult content is, or is this following the "know it when we see it" model of platforms like Patreon and Steam? It's a little dismaying that so few -- quite possibly zero -- mainstream creator-payment platforms like this are comfortable with adult content. Patreon seems to still be trying to thread that needle, but there's a near-annual ritual of "OMG Patreon is cracking down the porn" panic. Ko-Fi explicitly (ahem) changed their policy to disallow NSFW content and BMaC here seems to be starting with SFW-only in place. And, yes, I know the fingers are always pointed at the payment processors here, but that just shifts the question as to why payment processors do this. We're not talking about 1-900 numbers or adult video stores in the divey-ist parts of downtown that are going to face chargeback after chargeback as a cost of doing business; is there truly a good business case for Stripe and PayPal policing somebody's patronage of risqué catgirl comics or what have you?

danShumway 7y ago
Once I got a link to the actual terms, I noticed this also includes violent content, which is a little surprising to me. I try to regularly draw attention to the fact that payment processors are systemically disenfranchising people who produce adult content, and that payment platforms are implicitly cooperating and encouraging that disenfranchisement by silently going along with the processors without even speaking up or openly questioning the standards. But I'm not super-surprised when I see those bans, because pretty much every platform has them. On the other hand, a ban on violent content is something I haven't seen a lot of, and that makes me question who this service is even designed for. Does that mean anyone producing a comic or writing a book would need to make sure it's the violence equivalent of PG or below? Why would any creative use a platform with that kind of restriction? Again, there's no hard line describing what that means. You just have to make sure that anything you produce is relatively tame. It's very, very weird to live in a world where culturally people almost universally celebrate the artistic value and entertainment value of shows like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, while simultaneously building platforms where that kind of content just can't exist. It's an almost absurd cultural disconnect that only seems to exist to lock any non-establishment creators out of building meaningful stories that stretch boundaries or challenge viewers.