Slashdot Mirror
Venezuela Bans Hostile Videogames and Toys
An anonymous reader writes "In an effort to 'help improve child education and prevent misconduct,' the Venezuelan government began enforcing a law on March 3rd banning war videogames and toys, imposing a fine and 2.5 years in prison on the production, distribution, sale, hiring and use of video games and toys inciting violent behavior. Alberto Federico Ravell, former director of opposing news network Globovision, has already come on twitter denouncing the authorities for seizing imported Gameboy, Wii and PlayStation 3 consoles, due to considering them violent."
Tinpot dictator does something stupid. Story at 11.
How about seize nothing, because this law is retarded.
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me". - stolen from Dan C alt.os.linux.slackware
As a gamer talking to a parent I ask you: WHy in hell do you want ME to suffer for YOU to educate YOUR CHILD in whichever way YOU decide?
Do I violent gamer have a say in how you educate your children? Then why do you advocate in favor of people telling ME how to educate MINE?
NO SIG
If they have no video games they'll go outside and play ... and then encounter other children who are being forced to have 'fun' ... which of course will result in some altercations ... a percentage of these will be violent ... and viola! They no longer need video games to incite violent behavior. Problem solved.
As a gamer you should be educated enough to know which games are appropriate for a child, and as a parent you should be aware of what he/she is up to and police them yourself. As a parent I understand children are willful and disobedient at times, but once he's old enough to sneak one by me, he's probably old enough to handle some nudity and violence without turning into a serial killer.
As a parent, I lament losing the opportunity to be able to teach my child right from wrong and instead having state opinions foisted upon children.
You are the embodiment of everything that is wrong with actions and laws such as these. It is not the governments place to parent your children yet you cheer them on every time they do.
You think of your children, no one else should have to.
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
As a parent you applaud them giving out time in prison for the "production, distribution, sale, hiring and use" of violent video games for everyone, in the name of 'protecting the children', even when there's no evidence of it harming anyone? The whole thing is ridiculous on multiple levels. You shouldn't be applauding factually baseless think-of-the-children moral panic laws imposing harsh punishments and broad restrictions of the rights of others even as a parent.
However, seizing the consoles seems overboard.
Seizing anything is overboard. You might applaud the effort, but what do your kids learn? That responsibility is someone else's problem and that you have the right to control what others do? Those are the attributes of a reckless bully, exactly how we teach kids not to think. Parents should be against this for that (and the whole freedom of speech trampling of a universal human right thing).
Im Venezuelan, linving in Venezuela. And the seizing of gaming consoles is a lie. The new law, bans violent games and toys. So since yesterday no violent videogames can be imported or sold. The goverment will refund the stores who have violent videogames on their shelves so they dont lose their investment, as same for violent toy. Thats all, Alberto Federico Ravell is a liar and a media terrorist.
Nice Troll, but if you want responses you should create an account. Also you might want to add some stuff about how these games are clearly for children.
watch your fucking kids
if your kids are fucking you have bigger problems
What are they going to do when a kid picks up a stick and pretends it's a gun?
As a parent, let alone a human being, you should really FIND OUT about who Hugo is and what he has done to the people of his country.
I work with person from Venezuela, his family is here (U.S.) from Venezuela and they are all, everyone, completely opposed to mad-man, his usurping of power, his decimating the what freedoms the people of his country had, etc.
Hugo and the antics of his government deserve the ridicule and condemnation of all free people. This gaming thing is just a small small piece of the overwhelming oppression he has rained down on his people.
Yeah. Grandchildren!
He was elected to being with, and that election seems to have been fair. However since then he has been taking increasingly underhanded methods of retaining power, stifling dissent and so on.
Do remember that a large number of dictators are elected to power initially. They then just misuse the power and suppress freedom. That someone was elected initially doesn't mean they aren't a dictator now.
If you read the article, it says things that "incite violence and hate". Sorry, but over the years I've grown tired of the military writing war simulators to train my kids. I've played these games, I know what they are. Child or adult, it just glorifies violence. If the US were more focused on deterring violence instead of sexual explicitness we'd be far better off. Sex is natural, killing other humans is not.
Where genius and insanity become confused true wisdom is found
killing other humans is just as if not more natural than sex.
Linux Zealots: Smarter than Mac Zealots, but still zealots.
[Citation Needed]
You'll have to forgive me if I don't believe some AC who likes to call journalists "terrorists." I find it equally probable that you are simply a supporter of Chavez who is making shit up.
So, cite or GTFO.
Sex is natural, killing other humans is not.
Whaaaa? Killing is very natural and we have been doing it since day zero. It's taken a long long time to bring that natural act under control, and it still slips out now and then.
hypocrisy
Perhaps so, but reasons and what-ifs aside, I wonder how they plan to block the vast amount of browser games that are certainly violent? How do you stop the internets?
Do they really think it's possible to put a block on every violent game link? What about phone games? I seem to recall that Quake 1 just got ported to Andriod or iPhone?
Interesting stance for a government to take, but really, honestly, truly. Goodluckwiththat.
Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
So, in your crazy little head, assassinating someone - which the CIA and our proxy Mossad do regularly - is the activity of a thuggish dictatorship...
I guess when Chavez plots an assassination of a government we subsidize, that's a crime. However, when we carry out plotted assassinations against our enemies, it's justice. Yes, it makes perfect sense to me now!
Hypocrisy? What's that, a new Morrissey cover band?
As much as I hate censorship, I do agree with this sentiment. Has anyone actually sat down and watched a kids' show? Ben10 has something like 10 violent acts every 3 minutes.
Being anti-censorship does not mean "anything goes". I am the primary carer (uncle for my adopted nephew) for a 4 year old, and I can tell you there is a marked increase in hyperactive behavior, aggression and general lack of control for hours after watching Nickelodeon. Consequently, I have banned TV in my house. It was a few days of tantrums, but he's gotten over it, and the improvement in behavior is astonishing.
I flatly refuse to accept that what we watch does not affect us. Movies like Saw and Hostel simply cannot be psychologically inert, the content is just too potent.
"Down with censorship" and "down with psychologically and socially destructive media" are NOT mutually exclusive in the same way that "down with government control" and "down with harming your neighbor" are also not mutually exclusive. Lets grow up past the idea that any control of media that has a negative social impact is censorship and should be fought. Media *can* have a negative impact on social behavior and mental health. Get over it.
I hate printers.
People have been killing for just as long as they have been fucking. For a long time the solution to grievances or injustice has been murder (Burr–Hamilton duel, Rome assassinations, Code of Hammurabi). Only recently have we replaced this with courts.
Stomping on people and throwing fireballs is pretty violent, but I dont think Mario made me a bad person.
Yeah, but look at what it did to him .
Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
This is a dictatorship with deep financial troubles. The reasons they give for seizing valuable equipment don't bear deep inspection.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Tag's pretty violent when you get down to what the goal is, you're basically hitting your friends while running around. Should we ban that? All competition is violent, and some of us enjoy competing.From a certain perspective even Pong is violent (Slam that ball into your opponents goal! Yeah! Right past that loser!) so have fun without any games (not even number cruncher passes a strict definition of violence).
Perhaps you're referring to blood and gore which is an entirely separate thing from violence?
There are two kinds of fool One says 'This is old therefore good' Another says 'This is new therefore better'- Dean Ing
Preach it, brother!
/sarcasm
I know for a FACT that violence has always been the heart and soul of video games! Did you know that the first video game, Pong, was based on two bullies pushing a nerd back and forth between them, with the "loser" being the one who didn't get in the last push before the nerd ran away?
UNIX: Find it, fsck it, forget it.
"People killing other people is not natural."
Look up instraspecific competition sometime. Biology disagrees with you. People not killing others for their stuff is far LESS natural than the alternative, without civilizations killing goes up (after all if I want joes stuff and nothing bad'll happen to me if I just go and take it what's there to stop me?)
I usually don't bother with tabula rasa people but really now? You're going to make an argument that's contradicted by ALL of human history and everything we know about biology? Really?
There are two kinds of fool One says 'This is old therefore good' Another says 'This is new therefore better'- Dean Ing
The way things are developing right now in Venezuela, in a couple months we'll have no electricity to power our violent video games anyway.
It's another violation of our rights, but it'll have to take the back seat while we deal with the hijacked supreme court, the lack of separation of powers, 12000+ violent deaths a year, the constants attacks on freedom on speech and the money unlawfully gifted by Chavez to foreign countries while lobbying for its revolution and the 21'st century socialism, and estimated over 50 billion dollars.
This could be called my two cents, but being in Venezuela I can't exchange local to foreign currency freely, another right violation that's 6 years old and counting.
Will add sig later...
Chimp tribes have been observed to go to war with other chimp tribes, and brutally kill them. As repulsive as you may find it, war is a natural activity for humans.
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
There is no seizing of consoles, that is a lie. However, this stupid law is true. In short, any sale, rent, distribution or even promotion of video games with any sort of "violence" in it, can get you 3 to 5 years in jail.
It is explained in the law proposal that this is meant to protect the children from violence, but there is no exception for adults. Yes, for ages 18+ porn is legal, prostitution is legal, bearing firearms (with permit) is legal, but video games? no sir.
Most game software companies will be unable to sell their products, the most affected are of course console games.
I oppose this law and the constitution (art. 74) allows a referendum to revoke it. The question is, will enough people get together to start this?
Here is the law in the official print (in spanish).
Key excerpts from this law (forgive my translation):
Article 3.1
War videogame: Those videogames or programs usable in personal computers, arcade systems, video(game)consoles, portable devices or mobile phones and any other electronic or telematic device, which contain information or symbolism images promoting or inciting violence or use of weapons.
Article 14
Any who import, manufacture, sell, rent or distribute war videogames or war toys, shall be penalized with prison from 3 to 5 years.
Artix
Your Linux, your init.
I don't think censoring as a society is the answer. But censoring as a parent for age/development appropriate levels to create a nurturing environment for kids makes a lot of sense IHMO (up to some point).
Resources about non-violent cooperative games:
http://www.familypastimes.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Playfair-Everybodys-Guide-Noncompetitive-Play/dp/091516650X
http://www.amazon.com/No-Contest-Case-Against-Competition/dp/0395631254
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
would NOT say
dammit
Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
I'm not going to read all that because the fact that you think people who come from spanish, portuguese and the such families are responsible for the slaughter of the indigenous people 300 years ago. You have no idea of how Venezuela is nowadays. It's one of the most dangerous, hostile, and ignorant countries in the world. The "Democratic process" is held by a company who's allied with Chavez. The "aristocratic rich" people are like, i don't know, 1% of the whole population? Yet the last election chavez won by less than 10% of the total votes. Really interesting isn't it? Why does he win? Because the ignorant masses vote for him because he's a ridiculous clown, is funny, and keep saying he helps the poor, which is a sad lie. Why do I know that? For a fact. I live in Venezuela.
Oblivion Awaits
When a headline writer can employ the incoherent phrase "hostile videogames and toys" with a straight face, the battle is already lost.
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Violence in media is not the issue, its the acceptance of violence as a resolution in society that it.
I know a guy growing up, extreme fundamentalist family who filtered everything he watched, as 12 yr olds when we started watching Aliens and Terminator he was barely permitted to watch Blinky Bill. He was shipped off to a religious school as soon as was permissible and the last I heard, he'd spend his life since 18 in and out of rehab. His family of course pretends he's dead.
An anecdote yes but with a point, his parents neglected their responsibilities to prepare him for the real world. Violence is part of the real world and parents need to teach their children how to respond to it. This means teaching them the results of violence. Not all portrayed violence is bad, your examples of Saw and Hostel are extremes but when you look at other examples, even action movies like Terminator and Batman they portray the repercussions of violence (people getting hurt) and are meant to invoke the correct emotions associated with this (empathy, pity, fear).
There is also the difference between real violence and fantasy violence, games like COD which are fairly mature do not portray things in a very realistic manner, that being said it's still unsuitable for a young child (less then 12). Once again it is the responsibility of the parent to ensure a child can tell the difference between fantasy and reality the same as right and wrong. A lot of games do not have you fighting other people (humans) rather using a proxy (aliens, zombies, nazi's) to obviously abstract the idea of harming other people in the minds of the player.
In the west, we are fairly lucky (esp here in AU) where violence is not prevalent because it is not accepted. If we look at places like Thailand, culturally maintaining face is important, one way to do this is to simply kill the person who made you lose it. As violence is repugnant to the Thais and admitting to violent society would be a loss of face they simply turn a blind eye to this, ending up with one of the highest murder rates in the world. I'd be willing to bet there are similar stories of a social acceptance of violence in South Africa and Venezuela.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
In America, and many other western countries, there is a system for rating games based on their content. Minors cannot purchase some media, including movies, games-- so why should all of us be restricted as a result of your poor parenting?
'Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.' - Mao Tse-tung
This is a dictatorship with deep financial troubles. The reasons they give for seizing valuable equipment don't bear deep inspection.
Venezuela wrote forgave Haiti $295 million in oil-related debt. South America leaders hold Haiti aid summit
It's unlikely that Chavez has forgotten or forgiven Mercenaries 2. Video game simulating invasion of Venezuela raises ire of Chavez allies
There have been other irritants in the Tom Clancy lie: Venezuela [As a Video Game Setting]
Well since all the wealthy right wingers started funding violent opposition - complete with actual military coup attempts, egged on relentlessly by the media companies they own ... it is hardly surprising.
Their remedy for "calm" is a traditional South American military crackdown on all uppity poor, complete with mass disappearances and executions in soccer stadiums - Chile style. Would this "reduce" violence? Of course - until it spawned yet another South American tradition: an uprising of a guerrilla army of the peasants.
What you are seeing in Venezuela is simply class warfare - violence will continue in one form or another until the disparities diminish and edge is taken off from all real and perceived colonial injustices.
Chavez is of course very unlikely to fix this problem, but listening to all the hateful braying of assorted racists and supremacists which he inspires is rather entertaining, particularly when they try to wrap themselves in the colors of "freedom" and "democracy"...