All the recent concern over censorship are rooted in the need of some people to assail our very imaginations.  All this misguided effort is the direct result of social pressure gone wrong.  It is not only the prerogative but the responcibility of artists of all types to question the social norms of society.  This is not to say that society doesn't need norms for the safety of the populace, but as society develops, the customs and mores of the past need to be examined with new eyes to discover if they still hold merit in the world of the day.  Fundamentalists will always fear change, for they are unable to adapt in an ever changing world.  Were it not for the questions posed by the thinker's of the day concepts like freedom, abolition, and women's rights would never have been taken up by the masses and the evil's of the past would still plague the society of today without opposition. 

According to Mark Coker's latest update (dated Mar 12 2012) a meeting with paypal has resulted in Smashwords green lighting a return to their pre Feb 24th TOS.  This is good news for everyone.  Let us hope that it is the last word in this fiasco.  I know it will come as a welcome relief to many, and hopefully will be remembered as a V

Visa answered an inquiry yesterday, forwarded by Ms. Madeleine Morris from BannedWriters.com concerning the accusation by paypal that their new policy concerning erotica was a result of trying to accomodate the requirements of the credit card companies.  According to Visa, they have no such policy, and whether they approve of material or not is not the business they are in.  They stress in the letter that they are in no way part of the reason that paypal started strong-arming publishing companies concerning their legal content.  While I confess I often write about subjects that while my fevered brain can contemplate, I would never consider actually doing, it is exactly this ability to use literature to explore beyond the borders that makes it so very important.  Some will argue that such work only benefits the depraved, but generally speaking those people are the ones whose moral footing is weakest.  Unable to look beyond their own impulses at the issues of right and wrong they cling to outdated mores without understanding their true meaning. 
Visit Ms. Morris's blog for the complete text of the letter from Visa at: http://www.bannedwriters.com/2012/03/10/visa-writes-us-back-this-is-not-our-doing-paypal-censorship-erotica/

Today, Anuj Nayar, Director of Communications, for Paypal blogged in some very sugary words about how the acceptable use policy that has brought on an outcry of censorship was only good business for them, and that they had no intention of censorship but rather suggested that they were preventing their service from being used to purchase items that "might" not be legal.  They suggested that works containing the banned subject matter "often includes images" and "sometimes intentionally blurs the line between fiction and non-fiction".  I have read a great deal of fiction over the years that is now banned by this decision and I don't recall either of those too assertions being held up by the works I have seen.  I believe this is an attempt to quiet the furor of the mainstream without actually capitulating to the admission that they are censoring legal content.  Mark Coker at Smashwords is IMO doing a good job of working for the benefit of his authors and publishers, but one man or one company alone will not bring Paypal out of their medieval stance.  If they fear images (which could be illegal) or works that are not fiction (not sure how that works) then by all means require that all books containing illegal images remove said images, and require fiction author's to clearly state that their work is a work of fiction.  These are two things that publisher's could do quite simply I believe, and thus we could all return to business as usual. 

In case you haven't already heard, this week is the "Read an eBook Week" at Smashwords.  Many books are free/discounted. 

As those that have read much of my work know, my erotic fiction tends to jump across the line in the sand recently drawn by paypal.  I obviously don't like that many of my titles will be fading from the eShelves of the major retailors, but what concerns me most is what shall be next.  There is a growing number of people in this country it seems who feel it is their Divine Right to dictate what is acceptable and what is not.  This can not be allowed to stand, or next it could be books on opposing religious views or political positions that are not in line with whoever controls the money.  My works certainly offend some people and some of the things I write about I wouldn't consider doing personally, but that doesn't mean I can't indulge in the fantasy.  Many women have rape fantasies, yet none that I have met and talked to actually desire to be raped. 
If there is one thing I have discovered in my journey it is that personal bias is not a just measure of right and wrong.  We need a simpler definition I think.  Perhaps our Wiccan brothers and sisters have the best rule: "an it harm none, do what you will".