Slashdot Mirror
Red Cross Condemns Misuse of Emblem In Games
Heartless Gamer writes "The British Red Cross has told GamesIndustry.biz that it hopes to work with developers to prevent the 'illegal and detrimental' misuse of the red cross emblem in videogames. From the article: 'It is important for videogame manufacturers not to use the emblem in their games, including for matters related to its humanitarian purpose, such as first aid or general medical care,' said Michael Meyer, head of international law for the British Red Cross."
That'll be an interesting trademark to defend:
1. Its been used in games for two decades now with nary a lawsuit. You have to actually defend a trademark to keep it.
2. The developers used it in the first place because they routinely saw the symbol in military movies and TV shows emblazoned on the medical jeeps.
3. Its a symmetrical red plus-sign on a white background. I'm sure its possible to create a more generic symbol but I can't think of any off hand.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
It is important for videogame manufacturers not to use the emblem in their games, including for matters related to its humanitarian purpose, such as first aid or general medical care,'
Right because heaven forbid young people get the redcross emblem associated with help when you need it as that is just plain slanderous against the poor red cross.
W...T...F...???
i am now dumber for having read that.
I'm not trying to comment on the article or poo-poo the Red Cross; I was just struck that there's a lot to learn here... as a general rule, you can be more effective in communicating with others if you choose positive approaches in preference to negative ones. Of course, it's often more costly to find those positive approaches... it can take creativity, patience, and self-denial.
-1, Too Many Layers Of Abstraction
Like another group of people jumping on the litigation train to get some free publicity and maybe some free money for something that's become a mainstay symbol of health/healing in the gaming industry.
M*A*S*H is fine because it's a historical fiction and the use is consistant with armed forces medical personnel. But many other uses, like on civilian ambulances and medical equipments would most likely be in violation. Games probably _aren't_ because they're depictions of armed forces and war.
But what if a game IS historical fiction? What about all those various WWII/Veitnam games where medkits, ambulances, and medical tents all have red crosses on them, exactly like they did in the real wars? Are they suddenly not exempt simply because they're a game, and not a TV show?
For security, the MD5 hash of this message and sig is 09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0.
Would you send your 12 year old daughter camping with a 35 year old man, or your 12 year old son camping with a 35 year old woman? Well, this is slashdot and a lot of readers don't have a lot of common sense, but I'd wager most people wouldn't. I work with teens a fair amount, and everytime anything happens about which there has been a remotely related lawsuit in the past, the person in charge always says, "this is a big liability." Poison oak: liability. Diving into a river without an OSHA approved diving board: liability. Male chaparone and female student seen walking out of the woods together: holy crap, I think I just dropped a load of liability in my pants!
The boy scouts looked at how much litigation has taken away from really good youth organizations and realized, sending kids camping with a gay guy as their chaparone is just as much a liability as sending them camping with an adult of the opposite sex as their chaparone. Thankfully, we had people who think that political correctness is the greatest good in the world to turn it into a lose-lose situation for the scouts.
I have an emergency box that isn't a standard first aid kit. I use two feet of red duct tape, with smaller inlaid reflective tape like this stuff http://www.reflectivelyyours.com/generic123.html) in case the lights are out, to make a red-cross-like symbol on it so anyone who grabs it or needs to find it can do so in a hurry. Should I be turning myself in? I mean its no different that I use it for my own personal gain (insert evil laugh?) than blizzard using little dancing logos in WoW when you use bandages, is it? I'm sorry I thought the Red Cross has other shit to worry about than someone using what I would consider a universal symbol for "NEED FIRST AID LOOK HERE!"
Freezing the meaning of words and symbols to something specific isn't really useful. Meanings of things change trough time, newer generations see things differently. It's annoying when they force you to use old meanings of symbols and words, which don't reflect the current use by the people who use it, and ban all modern use of it.
Kaetemi
The boy scouts looked at how much litigation has taken away from really good youth organizations and realized, sending kids camping with a gay guy as their chaparone is just as much a liability as sending them camping with an adult of the opposite sex as their chaparone.
Oh, and I missed your (literally) homophobic comment. Gays are no more likely to be pedophiles than anyone else. If this is your justification for what the boyscouts and girlscouts did, it's just plain bigotry. 100 years ago white parents probbably wouldn't trust sending their kid out in the woods with a black man. Does that justify racism too?
AccountKiller
i dont really see why this is such a big deal... it is a GAME! a GAME! as in not real.
The red cross on a white background has come to symbolize basically any emergency medical support. Like the term "Asprin," it is in broad use enough that it doesn't represent a company or group, but (in this case) a service.
It's not like it was a particularly original symbol to begin with.
The ______ Agenda
This is typical IP law gone nuts
We also have aircraft manufacturers sueing people (or threatening to sue them) for using their designs and names in games. So people have to build fictional planes instead. Now there is a need to come up for a new simulated symbol for health/medical care in video games.
Pretty soon what you'll get is an extreme divergence between the real world and simulated worlds. Stuff gets less realistic, less educational and just plain less cool.
I say there should be some exemption for such law in simulation.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
No. Phobia doesn't just mean fear.
And to say someone "simply doesn't approve" of homosexuals is no more sensible than saying somone "simply doesn't approve" of black people or Jews or any other group.
I can picture you in the 1960s: "Black people's push for tolerance should not be overrun by a push for acceptance; it's enough that I let them live in my neighborhood, I shouldn't be socially pressured to let my sister date one."
Sorry, no. Bigotry sucks, and we're now in a time when homophobes are going to be called on it the way racists were decades ago.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
Several nations have indeed set special laws governing the use of the emblem and if they've signed the Geneva Convention, this falls under it. In Finnish law, you face fines or up to 6 months of jail for misuse.
Then again, as some western administrations have recently demonstrated, why should the Geneva convention apply to them, even if they've signed. Torture is ok if you don't call it torture, misuse of the Red Cross emblem is really just trademark dispute, and so on....
J
So I say: give them some credit for all their work, and if they don't want their symbol used in a particular manner, respect their opinion.
Besides, what have you done to support their work recently?
I don't know that that system would work well in the US.
For one thing, not everyone can give blood, due to certain restrictions.
I, for example, cannot, where the Red Cross is concerned, since I lived in Western Europe for more than 6 months since 1980. The FDA bars anyone who has spent 6 months or more in the UK between 1980 and 1996(?) from giving blood, but the Red Cross' rules are slightly more stringent (3 mo in UK/6 mo Western Europe).
There may be other FDA regulations that I'm unaware of, but with the Red Cross' rules, that rules out quite a number of people who have foriegn service jobs. Given the fact that there may be other FDA rules for other areas of the world with potential infectious agents, this might not be feasible in the US. I've only ever been able to donate blood to myself for surgery.