German Minister Seeks Jail Time For FPS Players

GamePolitics has the somewhat unbelievable news that German Minister of the Interior Gunther Beckstein is seeking jail time for violent game developers, publishers, and players. MSNBC has further coverage of the issue, which has pro gamers in Germany quite worried. From the article: "The draft law, a reaction to a school shooting that shook German public opinion last month, will come before the upper house of parliament next year. But it is already sending shockwaves through the 2m-strong German online gaming community. 'We have among the most drastic censorship rules for games,' said Frank Sliwka, head of the Deutsche E-Sport Bund, an umbrella federation for German online gaming teams. 'Now we are being labelled as a breeding ground for unstable, dysfunctional and violent youngsters.'"

Comments

WOW, more of the same

[zappepcs]

More clueless people trying to make rules for systems that they have no idea how it works....

First, Didn't the neo-nazi youths have this title all wrapped up before there were violent games?
Kidding aside, this is just another stupid knee jerk reaction to social problems that nobody wants to take the blame for.

When I was a kid, we played with toy guns, king of the hill, kill-the-guy-with-the-ball, and other VIOLENT games...
It wasn't until they banned 'red rover' that this sort of bad finger pointing started to happen...

FerChrisSakes - lets blame everyone and everything but the parents and families of violent kids...

Sheesh

Re:WOW, more of the same

[thhamm]

FerChrisSakes - lets blame everyone and everything but the parents and families of violent kids...

true, and beckstein is an idiot. he's got real paranoia and nobody is taking him really seriously here. er. i hope.

Reason?

[PieSquared]

Can you say publicity stunt? Seriously, gaming in Germany is massive, and nearly every video game is violent in some way. Why don't they ban "tag" while they're at it, a game which encourages *actual* attacking of another human being in the game. I'm not familiar with German law, but I get the feeling this guy isn't elected. Why? Because so many germans play games and would be against it. This would probably be political suicide even in America, a country that seems more inclined to take away people's rights. Now, however, whoever the interior minister works for can point to this (probably) failed bill whenever a school shooting comes up, but then point at someone else whenever the bill is criticised. Some day people are going to realize that the people in school shootings got the plan on *how* to go about doing their crime from a video game *at worst.* The idea *to* do it came from themselves, from deep mental issues probably stemming from their parents or not having enough ways of releasing their anger safely (ever try video games for that?). If they hadn't gotten the plan from a game, they'd get it from a movie, or a book, or even (gasp) come up with their own.

Re:Reason?

[Red Jesus]

Says PiSquared:
This would probably be political suicide even in America, a country that seems more inclined to take away people's rights.

Says the summary:
'We have among the most drastic censorship rules for games,' said Frank Sliwka, head of the Deutsche E-Sport Bund, an umbrella federation for German online gaming teams.

While it's true that Americans raise the greatest fuss when folks try to take away our rights, are you sure your allegations are correct? Are we really more inclined to take away people's rights? Gay marriage aside, America is actually pretty good about censorship compared to some places. Especially Europe.

"Logic"

[Daemonstar]

"It is absolutely beyond any doubt that such killer games desensitise unstable characters and can have a stimulating effect," Mr Beckstein said on Monday.

Although true, I don't see how banning a game is going to prevent future violence. You can't apply that "logic" to other areas:

1) Pretty females can have a stimulating effect on sex offenders (known and unknown), so will you ban women from walking in public?

2) Good tasting food can have a stimulating effect on people with eating disorders, so will you ban good tasting food?

How about doing something constructive and helping people recognize problems in their kids, providing free help to families with issues, and promiting good family relationships, instead? :P

Re:"Logic"

[HeavenlyBankAcct]

No, honestly, I doubt that any industry is looking after my personal well-being. And I do agree with you on the general principle of the issue. However, I can't help the fact that I'd vastly prefer the situation if "looking after my own best interests" was a job left to me and me alone.

Re:"Logic"

[moerty]

Or make them wear burkas. Might as well. That's where the EU will be in 10 years time anyway. The lovely streetwalkers of Paris will become a thing of the past. :-( that's just an ignorant statement, in order for any religion in europe to ever get to the point where they control people's daily lives they'd have to survive multiple bloodbaths. europe isn't all peace and flowers you know, the past 70 years of peace are an anomaly and there have been longer peaces in europe which have degenerated into bloody darkness, america is as likely as europe to becoming islamist. the real danger is fundamentalism prevalent in mainstream religion, europe has fought many bloody wars to reach a point where religion is almost completely excluded from the body politic, in this sense america is more likely to turn into a christian theocracy than europe.

Re:"Logic"

[Lars T.]

"It is absolutely beyond any doubt that such killer games desensitise unstable characters and can have a stimulating effect," Mr Beckstein said on Monday.

Although true, I don't see how banning a game is going to prevent future violence. You can't apply that "logic" to other areas:

1) Pretty females can have a stimulating effect on sex offenders (known and unknown), so will you ban women from walking in public?

2) Good tasting food can have a stimulating effect on people with eating disorders, so will you ban good tasting food?

How about doing something constructive and helping people recognize problems in their kids, providing free help to families with issues, and promiting good family relationships, instead? :P Your counter-logic fails because it ignores "desensitise unstable characters".

The first reaction by government...

[Anonymous Coward]

...is invariably an over-reaction.

Surprised? Nope.

Sounds silly but ...

[terrymr]

The USA did ban playing cards online.

What the State Really Wants

[jazman_777]

Is a throughly docile democratized (herd mentality) society. No one must be able to imagine or visualize "solving problems" by using violence, by himself. No one must be able to imagine that there even is a problem. I love this State! More soma, please!

Re:It's all the games' fault!

[Drooling Iguana]

Germany didn't start WWI. It began as a war between Austria and Serbia.

They got involved pretty damn quickly, though.

The crickets sure are loud in here...

[WgT2]

It sure is quiet here.

Flamebait me if you will, but: Where are the cries? Where are the cries of fascism!?

Here is real fascism, all you Bush haters, and you've all but gone silent. You need to stand up for what you believe where it really matters instead of merely in your self-righteous murmurings of posts past.

You know what causes the most school shootings...

[Tokerat]

...is all the media glamor and shock that is the result of school shootings. These kids want to "make a statement". They're so hurt or outcast and they shoot up their school to lash back and to make the world notice, as if to say "It's that bad here." It's essentially an act of terrorism.

I'm pretty sure Islamic extremist groups didn't become violent from video games, but because they felt a need to lash out. The behavior is, plain and simple, unchecked immaturity combined with a little knowledge.

Re:you got it all wrong

[paeanblack]

This guy is elected...By old people.

More aptly, this guy is elected by people who bother to vote

Re:It's all the games' fault!

[Lord Kano]

World's fastest invocation of Godwin's Law? :D
        ~~=====> - Godwin's Law

            0 - You
          _|_
            |
          / \

It's not a rule that can be invoked like "Whoever finishes the TP must install the new roll.", it's a law in the sense of "E=MC^2".

Let me introduce you to Kano's Law.

• The odds of someone using Godwin's Law to shield an idea from criticism is proportional to how much that idea resebles those of the Nazis.

LK

Re:It's all the games' fault!

[mrchaotica]

Not to mention that he didn't even say anything about the world wars; for all we know he could have been referring to Germanic barbarians fighting with the Roman legions 2000 years ago!

I'm surprised we don't see one every single day

[Scudsucker]

And not because kids want notoriety, but do to this simple formula: a kid is bullied and ostracized until he or she decides that life is simply not worth living anymore, and before they go, they might as well take the fucking assholes with them that are responsible for making them feel that way.

Some clarification

[Fefe]

The guy is not the German minister of the interior, he is the Bavarian minister of the interior, and he is well known for this stupid publicity stunts. He is always at the forefront of demanding new databases, new surveillance, longer jail time for everything, more police and using the military to do police work. In short: the guy is a nutcase.

He is doing it to make sure people don't notice all the scandals his administration is involved in, for example they just completely botched a police IT spending bill, wasted millions on new software which does not work. And his law and order state had issues with soccer hooligans.

In short: the guy is a joke. Don't take him seriously.

Re:Not "German Minister of the Interior"

[Ihlosi]

Bavaria is the most conservative state in germany, ruled for nearly 60 years by the same party.

To you Americans: Think Texas. That's about how Bavaria is compared to Germany.

Re:Why the First Amendment is Important

[CrimsonAvenger]

Does the phrase "I hate Illinois Nazis" have any meaning for you?

We have Nazis in the USA too. They have even, on occasion, paraded in the streets (through Black or Jewish neighborhoods, in fact), protected by police from hecklers.

For the most part, they are laughed at. It doesn't take a legal ban to render them harmless - letting them spout their doctrine on TV seems to make them objects of ridicule in and of itself.