German gov't considers jail time for gamers

Proposed legislation targets pixilated mayhem and virtual violence; legislators consider acts of cruelty against "human-looking characters" as reason enough to fine, imprison.

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[Jokerswild]

Watch out Hitman!!!!

[XoRn]

Does Germany have an ex post facto law? I imagine they do, or else they may have just squished out a great deal of gamers.

[yurimxpxman]

Nazi symbols are also banned in the country, except for art and educational purposes--so games which use them, including the Wolfenstein series, are also banned from being released in Germany.

Couldn't games be considered art? I can't imagine a decent game being designed without a payed artist.

[Sovereign]

Wow...LAME. The whole POINT of videogames (at least in some respects) is that you can go around blowing things up and generally being a menace to society without actually hurting someone...

It's called "virtual reality" for a reason. What are they going to do next, start policing Second Life, WoW and others? Seriously, government can do some good things by intervening in people's lives to a limited extent but this is ridiculous.

[Panda Man]

"The proposed legislation comes on the heels of a shooting on November 20 where an 18-year-old student went on a shooting rampage and wounded six people in his school before killing himself. Backers of the bill also point to the 2002 Erfurt massacre where another German student shot 13 people, according to the paper. Both incidents have been blamed in the media on violent games and much has been written about the two shooters' fascination with games such as Half-Life: Counter-Strike."

OMG TEH INTERNETZ GAMES ARE MURDER TRAINERS! HIDEZ TEH CHILDREN!


People need to grow up and quit blaming games for peoples motives/actions. If you can't tell the difference between reality and and a video game and your over the age of 9, why haven't you sought out a psychiatrist?

And Germany is taking this way to far. Censorship, especially taken to this level, only promotes crime. Did we not learn anything from prohibition?

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

Originally Posted by Panda Man

"The proposed legislation comes on the heels of a shooting on November 20 where an 18-year-old student went on a shooting rampage and wounded six people in his school before killing himself. Backers of the bill also point to the 2002 Erfurt massacre where another German student shot 13 people, according to the paper. Both incidents have been blamed in the media on violent games and much has been written about the two shooters' fascination with games such as Half-Life: Counter-Strike."

OMG TEH INTERNETZ GAMES ARE MURDER TRAINERS! HIDEZ TEH CHILDREN!


People need to grow up and quit blaming games for peoples motives/actions. If you can't tell the difference between reality and and a video game and your over the age of 9, why haven't you sought out a psychiatrist?

And Germany is taking this way to far. Censorship, especially taken to this level, only promotes crime. Did we not learn anything from prohibition?

Yeah, with censorship, CS:S is going to be a game where you hit people with rubber chickens... OH NOES... WAITZ. THATZ VIOLENCE!

[Hitman]

WTF, Damn Germans. Germans treat violence how we treat Pornography.

Germans are very liberal, in Germany you can....
1. Drink Beer in Public at the Age of 16.
2. Buy Cigarettes at the age of 16.
3. Buy porn at the age of 16.

In Germany you can not...
1. Buy a violent video game under the age of 18. Your parents can't even buy it for you. If they do they are subject to punishment under German law.
2. Go to a movie that has graphically violent scenes, if you are under the age of 18. In fact some violent movies made in the US aren't even allowed here in Germany.
3. Go to a LAN Party where Violent games will be played, if you are under 18.

So you can Drink, Get a Prostitute, and smoke cigarettes at the age of 16, but you can't play Counter Strike until your 18.

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

Originally Posted by Hitman

WTF, Damn Germans. Germans treat violence how we treat Pornography.

Germans are very liberal, in Germany you can....
1. Drink Beer in Public at the Age of 16.
2. Buy Cigarettes at the age of 16.
3. Buy porn at the age of 16.

In Germany you can not...
1. Buy a violent video game under the age of 18. Your parents can't even buy it for you. If they do they are subject to punishment under German law.
2. Go to a movie that has graphically violent scenes, if you are under the age of 18. In fact some violent movies made in the US aren't even allowed here in Germany.
3. Go to a LAN Party where Violent games will be played, if you are under 18.

So you can Drink, Get a Prostitute, and smoke cigarettes at the age of 16, but you can't play Counter Strike until your 18.

WHAT!



































I can buy porn in Germany legally?

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by wtcnbrwndo4u

I can buy porn in Germany legally?

You can do better then that. You can get a prostitute, and its perfectly legal.