I attended the speakeasy on compliance yesterday and wanted to share some of my takeaways for those who couldn’t make it.
1. Compliance is a mess. It is a huge job and C4S is doing the best they can to bring on new people and get them trained up as fast as possible. Mistakes are made. Often. And many of them are embarrassing (such as approving and denying the same clip with different formats). The decision to use people, rather than AI is resulting in some inconsistency and frustration for creators, but they are working hard on standardization and training and making sure clips that are denied are seen by multiple people.
C4S did a great job of explaining their process, why errors are occuring, and taking responsibility for their mistakes (which I found incredibly refreshing). They also understand how incredibly frustrating and financially damaging it can be to creators.
It is going to take time for things to improve, but they are taking the steps they need to get better and appear to be putting resources toward more effective solutions.
2. As most of us already know, the banks and credit card companies are the tail that is wagging the dog. They are not only writing the rules for what content is allowed, they are also enforcing it, doing spot checks, and have very clear standards for what should and should not be allowed on C4S.
If they decide to prohibit something tomorrow, they can. And C4S (and everyone else) will have no real choice but to comply.
Stay tuned on this one, because I suspect it is going to get worse before it gets better.
3. DID as a category is totally fucked. And not in the fun way. Other categories may be as well, but I didn’t pay as much attention to them because my content is all bondage and gags (if others want chime in on the effects on other genres, please feel free).
Any model using the word “no” (in any context) with be treated as making a stop request and the clip will be regarded as non-consensual. Head shaking will be considered a “stop request” and will be regarded as non-consensual. “Excessive distress” will be considered non-consensual.
They are aware this is often the context of the clip and our stories, but once again, it isn’t up to them; it is a bank decision.
4. The only thing that matters is what is in the clip. Pre and post interviews, signed consent forms, and just about any other work around you can think of will be met with “how do we know that is what really happened?” from the banks.
They only care about what is in the clip. C4S has pretty much explored every workaround and they are all met with a firm no from the banks.
C4S is well aware that content that would get a PG rating in a Hollywood movie of pass standards and practices at a major TV network for primetime will be banned in C4S. If it was up to them, things would be different, but they aren’t.
5. They are actively looking into payment systems to get around credit card and bank dominance, but it is tough. The vast majority of members will pay with visa/mc. Crypto right now isn’t looking especially stable. They even mentioned giving discounts to alternative forms of payment. But for the moment, we are stuck with banks deciding what is appropriate for us to shoot, buy, and sell.
The rules are the rules ([https://www.clips4sale.com/clips/page/contentrules][available here]) and they are the ones being enforced. Some of the terms are vague and nebulous out of necessity.
6. When clips are flagged for non-compliance, C4S is not permitted to tell the creator how to “fix it” only point out areas that are non-compliant.
My personal takeaway, and reasonable people may disagree, was that C4S is working very hard to keep within the bounds of what credit card companies/banks demand while allowing creators as much freedom as possible.
They are committed to kink, fetish, and sexual expression, but also are acutely aware of the risks of running afoul of our financial masters. There is an incredible openness to feedback and a lack of defensiveness on their part that felt like actual transparency.
