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Valve Censoring Torrent References In Steam Chat

Posted by samzenpus on from the watch-what-you-say dept.

dotarray writes It seems Valve is restricting just what you can talk about when using the Steam chat service. Specifically, any reference to a particular torrent site is being stripped from conversation, while mentions of other pages trigger a warning that the site is "potentially malicious." In the wake of website KickassTorrents being taken offline earlier this week, people quickly noticed that references to the torrent site were being stripped from chat - with no warning, notificiation, or acknowledgement that anything is missing. We've seen censorship before, with chat providers blocking certain words, replacing key letters with asterisks or simply substituting inoffensive words for those considered 'problematic.' That's not what Valve is doing here though - the entire message is disappearing, not just the troublesome domain.

3 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. I don't see the problem by tsotha · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Would you go to Walmart's site and leave links pointing to instructions for shoplifting at Walmart? Valve's site; Valve's rules.

    1. Re:I don't see the problem by gl4ss · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Valves site, Valves rules, so next week don't be so surprised when a friend messages you back that they bought a game they thought you recommended to them.

      it's valves site after all so why not?

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      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  2. Re:Good for them by smooth+wombat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    it is against the constitution for them to censor speech in such a way.

    False. The Constitution applies to what the GOVERNMENT can do regarding speech. An employer or business is free to censor within certain bounds such as preventing their employees from talking about an upcoming product, internal financial figures and so on.

    Further, this is Steam's property. They can do what they want, just as any other business can do with their property. You know those signs which says, "No shoes, no shirt, no service"? Guess what, they're not censoring your right to walk around barefoot. They are only saying on their property you can't do so.

    Finally, anyone who didn't think their comments regarding how to not pay Steam for the games they developed wouldn't get censored is an idiot.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower