'This consultation paper outlines the concerns about non-photographic visual depictions of child sexual abuse, i.e. computer generated images (CGIs), drawings, animation, etc, and seeks views on proposals to make its possession an offence.'
By a timely coincidence, here's part of the announcement for a forthcoming academic conference:
'Recent decades have seen philosophers devote considerable attention to depiction, that form of representation characteristic of figurative paintings, drawings and photographs. Despite this attention, there is as yet little agreement about what depiction involves. This conference aims to help remedy this situation by bringing together philosophers working in this area to discuss topics central to an adequate philosophical understanding of depiction...'
I expect the government to get its law, but goodness knows what the language will be or how the courts will deal with it...
In the case of the hardcore gamers who drop out of college, etc. then you've got a plausible case of addiction or at any rate a probable failure of rational choice, but I wonder how well that generalises to the broader social changes the parent mentioned. If 'technology is a neutral medium that people choose how to use [and it makes] it easier for people who would seal themselves off from the world, to do so', that looks like expansion of freedom and autonomy, and I'm not sure how that squares with 'falling victim'. If you get to make choices, you get to make mistakes; you also get the chance to find out whether given modes of living actually suit you.
Though it would be nasty to be the sole, eccentric neighbourhood extrovert, fruitlessly seeking company.
And to clarify my own post further, realising 'non-statutory role' was a bad term to use: classification of films in general (unlike games, and with a few exceptions) falls under the Video Recordings Act, but only some of what the Board takes into account is explicitly laid down legally.
Just to clarify the parent: the BBFC classifies games insofar as it's required to as the designated authority for the Video Recordings Act, and so only the 15+ and above ratings are required. (For games in general there's PEGI.) For films there's a wider set of classifications; the BBFC's role in the film industry predates its legislative functions. I don't know how much flexibility the Video Recordings Act offers to reflect public opinion in practice, but I suspect it's less than the Board enjoys in its non-statutory role.
In this case the claim is that there exists no person who shoots someone in the face and is not a hitman and is not a gamer - so what's required to debunk that claim is a counterexample (someone who shoots someone in the face and is neither a hitman nor a gamer), and only one is logically required; presumably the Google numbers are for rhetorical force. ('How can he have overlooked all these easily found counterexamples?')
TFA's paragraph in full: 'Funny, that. A quick Google search on "shot in the face" turns up 921,000 entries. Here's a quick sample just from the past week. We see nary a video game or a hitman among them.'
The way Game Politics puts it, the police seized the games as a result of Thompson's input; if that's correct then he's been influencing police activities, which makes matters more newsworthy.
TFA: 'The WFPSO took Thompson's information and used it as a basis to search the home of a 16-year-old suspect in the crime. A police official told the newspaper that deputies seized several M-rated video games from the residence. Captain Spence Dilworth, however, drew no conclusions from his findings.'
'This film was originally shown to the BBFC in an unfinished version, including a temporary score and sound mix. The BBFC advised the company
that sound levels during some acts of violence may be too impactful for 12A
and that the film was likely to receive a 15 classification. The final
score and sound effects on the completed film included differences in sound
levels which reduced the strength of some acts of violence to an extent
which made the film acceptable at 12A.'
Prior art, complete with the term 'skins'. Hence the 'late-90s' bit, I suppose. The trouble is, older skins are only quasi-officially supported because the staff don't want to have to add features to every skin rather than just the default.
I'm told that one of the reasons ontology is a current growth area in philosophical research is its possible computing applications; at any rate that was one of the ways in which my university's new Ontology module was advertised.
Part of the point of the panopticon was that prisoners would never know whether they were being watched, so they were always potentially under surveillance, and would behave accordingly.
Under this system you can be a watcher yourself, unlike the panopticon prisoners, but the watchers have the same ubiquity and so the end result is still to encourage automatic self-regulation of behaviour in accordance with expected watcher approval.
The conservatives don't want an easy to access way to find lots of porn. They want to keep it tucked out of sight.
Keep? On the Internet, it's out of sight for as long as you deliberately avert your eyes. It's already easy to access. Don't 'the conservatives' (or at least some of them) realise this? After all, it improves your horror story for the moral panic if you can claim (truthfully!) that porn is easily accessed.
Hmm. My prove-you're not-a-script word is 'chastity'.
Given that the chap playing Metroid Prime: Corruption was shown performing a sideways roll, and later hopping up and down (Morph Ball), I think the movement in the videos may have involved some exaggeration.
I don't think we're part of his base of influence, even by extension, so frankly I hope coverage on gaming sites distracts his attention as much as possible.
That's one of the best aspects of the Internet - to quickly get information from many sources.
Trouble is, one then has to find time to read all this diversely nuanced material; to read it carefully, for preference. And there's still only so much time available.
It sounds like a committee sat down with a list of high-minded bullet points about what they want to communicate and didn't leave until they had something that fit them.
Well, the 'high-minded' audience may be a new nut for the industry to crack...
I'm not sure I've ever 'identified' with characters in any medium; and if I have it was more likely during the decision-making dialogue of Planescape Torment than in a spatial puzzle-solving/reaction test game. To my mind Lara is a vehicle, and it's nice to drive a flash car. And the games are perfectly playable from this perspective.
Slashdot Mirror
People in the UK may also be interested in this: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/cons-2007-d epiction-sex-abuse
'This consultation paper outlines the concerns about non-photographic visual depictions of child sexual abuse, i.e. computer generated images (CGIs), drawings, animation, etc, and seeks views on proposals to make its possession an offence.'
By a timely coincidence, here's part of the announcement for a forthcoming academic conference:
'Recent decades have seen philosophers devote considerable attention to depiction, that form of
representation characteristic of figurative paintings, drawings and photographs. Despite this
attention, there is as yet little agreement about what depiction involves. This conference aims to
help remedy this situation by bringing together philosophers working in this area to discuss topics
central to an adequate philosophical understanding of depiction...'
I expect the government to get its law, but goodness knows what the language will be or how the courts will deal with it...
'Honest people' is a subset of 'people'.
The quotation doesn't prove that dishonest people don't invite DRM; but I suspect that in itself, it's not meant to.
Yes: having the toothpaste fall off my toothbrush and wondering whether I should reload from my last quicksave.
In the case of the hardcore gamers who drop out of college, etc. then you've got a plausible case of addiction or at any rate a probable failure of rational choice, but I wonder how well that generalises to the broader social changes the parent mentioned. If 'technology is a neutral medium that people choose how to use [and it makes] it easier for people who would seal themselves off from the world, to do so', that looks like expansion of freedom and autonomy, and I'm not sure how that squares with 'falling victim'. If you get to make choices, you get to make mistakes; you also get the chance to find out whether given modes of living actually suit you.
Though it would be nasty to be the sole, eccentric neighbourhood extrovert, fruitlessly seeking company.
And to clarify my own post further, realising 'non-statutory role' was a bad term to use: classification of films in general (unlike games, and with a few exceptions) falls under the Video Recordings Act, but only some of what the Board takes into account is explicitly laid down legally.
Just to clarify the parent: the BBFC classifies games insofar as it's required to as the designated authority for the Video Recordings Act, and so only the 15+ and above ratings are required. (For games in general there's PEGI.) For films there's a wider set of classifications; the BBFC's role in the film industry predates its legislative functions. I don't know how much flexibility the Video Recordings Act offers to reflect public opinion in practice, but I suspect it's less than the Board enjoys in its non-statutory role.
In this case the claim is that there exists no person who shoots someone in the face and is not a hitman and is not a gamer - so what's required to debunk that claim is a counterexample (someone who shoots someone in the face and is neither a hitman nor a gamer), and only one is logically required; presumably the Google numbers are for rhetorical force. ('How can he have overlooked all these easily found counterexamples?')
TFA's paragraph in full: 'Funny, that. A quick Google search on "shot in the face" turns up 921,000 entries. Here's a quick sample just from the past week. We see nary a video game or a hitman among them.'
The way Game Politics puts it, the police seized the games as a result of Thompson's input; if that's correct then he's been influencing police activities, which makes matters more newsworthy.
TFA: 'The WFPSO took Thompson's information and used it as a basis to search the home of a 16-year-old suspect in the crime. A police official told the newspaper that deputies seized several M-rated video games from the residence. Captain Spence Dilworth, however, drew no conclusions from his findings.'
No longer joking about the name doesn't entail being content with the name, however; it's just that the name has ceased to provide amusement.
What was really dangerous were the sound levels.
Prior art, complete with the term 'skins'. Hence the 'late-90s' bit, I suppose. The trouble is, older skins are only quasi-officially supported because the staff don't want to have to add features to every skin rather than just the default.
I'm told that one of the reasons ontology is a current growth area in philosophical research is its possible computing applications; at any rate that was one of the ways in which my university's new Ontology module was advertised.
Analytic philsophy emphasises logical rigour; and Anglo-American philosophy courses tend to emphasise the analytic style.
I suppose it's possible s/he was thinking of the more exclusive sort of private club. But no, it's still not a very familiar picture.
'Concerned parents'?
Similar enough, anyway.
Part of the point of the panopticon was that prisoners would never know whether they were being watched, so they were always potentially under surveillance, and would behave accordingly.
Under this system you can be a watcher yourself, unlike the panopticon prisoners, but the watchers have the same ubiquity and so the end result is still to encourage automatic self-regulation of behaviour in accordance with expected watcher approval.
The conservatives don't want an easy to access way to find lots of porn. They want to keep it tucked out of sight.
Keep? On the Internet, it's out of sight for as long as you deliberately avert your eyes. It's already easy to access. Don't 'the conservatives' (or at least some of them) realise this? After all, it improves your horror story for the moral panic if you can claim (truthfully!) that porn is easily accessed.
Hmm. My prove-you're not-a-script word is 'chastity'.
Given that the chap playing Metroid Prime: Corruption was shown performing a sideways roll, and later hopping up and down (Morph Ball), I think the movement in the videos may have involved some exaggeration.
What's alarming is that I didn't notice until you pointed it out.
I don't think we're part of his base of influence, even by extension, so frankly I hope coverage on gaming sites distracts his attention as much as possible.
That's one of the best aspects of the Internet - to quickly get information from many sources.
Trouble is, one then has to find time to read all this diversely nuanced material; to read it carefully, for preference. And there's still only so much time available.
Seriously, this stoped being funny or shocking about an hour after I heard it...
I had the same experience, except that for me it wasn't an improvement.
and German people are pronouncing w like our v
Now there's an idea: we avoid embarrassment by using German accents when purchasing games.
It sounds like a committee sat down with a list of high-minded bullet points about what they want to communicate and didn't leave until they had something that fit them.
Well, the 'high-minded' audience may be a new nut for the industry to crack...
But I am about to submit their explanation to Private Eye's Pseuds Corner.
I'm not sure I've ever 'identified' with characters in any medium; and if I have it was more likely during the decision-making dialogue of Planescape Torment than in a spatial puzzle-solving/reaction test game. To my mind Lara is a vehicle, and it's nice to drive a flash car. And the games are perfectly playable from this perspective.