Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

South Korea Blocks Late-Night Online Gaming for Adolescents

Posted by Soulskill on from the digital-curfew-keeping-the-zerg-safe dept.

PolygamousRanchKid writes "In its effort to curb game addiction among adolescents, South Korea pulled the plug this weekend on young gamers after midnight by blocking access to game websites, putting a hotly debated law into practice. The new system called the 'shutdown law,' also referred to as the 'Cinderella law,' blocks those under the age of 16 from accessing gaming websites after midnight and has fueled heated anger among younger gamers and avid game fans. Critics point out that many teenagers hold gaming accounts created with their parent's personal information, easily providing them with an alternative log-in option. 'You can say someone is an alcoholic if they drink more than three bottles (of liquor) a day, but you can't call them alcoholic because they drink after midnight. It's the same with gaming,' Lee Byung-chan, the lawyer who filed the petition on behalf of parents and a young gamer said. 'From the parents' point of view, it violates their right to educate their children,' Lee added. It is for the parents to decide what time they want to allow their children to play games or not, not for the government to exclude them from that process, the argument goes."

2 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. that's ok by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    they forgot to block late night frosty pissing!!!

  2. Re:Another way of saying "Korean gamers" by FrootLoops · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    While your post is of course flamebait, it got me curious. According to this exceedingly reputable map, South Koreans (in fact, most Asians in general) do have below-average penis sizes. I wasn't able to find numbers on the prevalence of homosexuality in South Korean men compared to the rest of the world, though there is a Wikipedia article on this general topic. While the numbers vary wildly depending on when, where, and how people are asked, apparently something like 4% of people identify themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, with significantly more having had some homosexual experience at some point in their lives.

    Of course, this has essentially nothing to do with the topic at hand. My apologies for the off-topic post.