German gov't considers jail time for gamers

By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UKPosted Dec 12, 2006 1:57 pm PT

Proposed legislation targets pixelated mayhem and virtual violence; legislators consider acts of cruelty against "human-looking characters" as reason enough to fine, imprison.

Games in Germany already face strict censorship laws--titles such as Gears of War are deemed to be too violent, and the German board of classification (the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbskontrolle) refuses to give them a rating, effectively meaning that the games can be sold only at adults-only retailers.

Nazi symbols are also banned in the country, except for art and educational purposes--so games which use them, including the Wolfenstein series, are also banned from being released in Germany. Even games such as Dead Rising are regarded as crossing a threshold of acceptability since violence towards zombies is considered to be too close to violence towards real people.

Legislation currently being drafted would take these standards a step further. The bill, which was introduced last week by the states of Bavaria and Lower Saxony, proposes a new offence. Those found guilty of "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" could face fines or jail time of up to 12 months--and those it applies to include developers, retailers, and consumers, reports UK newspaper The Guardian.

The proposed legislation comes on the heels of a shooting on November 20 where an 18-year-old student went on a shooting rampage and wounded six people in his school before killing himself. Backers of the bill also point to the 2002 Erfurt massacre where another German student shot 13 people, according to the paper. Both incidents have been blamed in the media on violent games, and much has been written about the two shooters' fascination with games such as Half-Life: Counter-Strike.

The proposed legislation makes the future for German game companies unclear. One company, Far Cry and Crysis developer Crytek, has already made known its plans to relocate to another country should any legislation of this kind be made law.

959 Comments

  • jordoz92

    Posted Aug 27, 2009 3:12 pm PT

    NO WAY!!!!!!!11oneone It's Nazi zombies for reals!!!!! ima grab ma trench gun and go to Orbitz BRB!!!!

  • dudewolf89

    Posted Aug 9, 2008 9:52 pm PT

    Oh noes!! Jack Thompson brainwashed Germany. Our next mission is to go to Germany and eliminate the brainwashed and the boss will be Jack. Now that would be a great game.

  • AgentA-Mi6

    Posted Apr 17, 2008 12:43 am PT

    Wolfstein ftq

  • dragonrul55

    Posted Mar 23, 2008 1:05 pm PT

    So , say they pass this, they'll have a hell of a hard time enforcing it.

  • Icetray86

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 8:28 am PT

    Man, if they put me in jail for playing games.............I don't even want to think about what I would do.

  • Alex_09

    Posted Feb 26, 2008 1:45 pm PT

    I dont care about violence censorship because australia is a little over the top with that stuff too, but I am pretty pissed about swastikas and the like being banned. I can understand Germany trying to prevent history from repeating itself but that doesnt mean they should block out history, and I doubt the next holocaust would start in a country where there are laws preventing the military from leaving its homeland. Every country committed attrocities at one time. EDIT: Also, do you guys know what the situation was when Battlefield 1942 was released, because I remember seeing swastikas in that, but that game is based entirely on historical battles.

  • bjmage16

    Posted Feb 6, 2008 3:38 pm PT

    Germany apparently hasn't learned much in 60+ years.

  • Wolfie600

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 6:23 pm PT

    Unterhaltungssoftware Selbskontrolle .... that shoud be banned !! look at the name and i know some german gosh

  • Lycen

    Posted Sep 8, 2007 5:47 am PT

    wow..... just wow

  • cbathe

    Posted Jun 22, 2007 1:12 pm PT

    I like that Fragmaster 3K said "come on germany, you are better than that."

    clever sunovagun.

  • Fragmaster3000

    Posted Jun 2, 2007 6:38 pm PT

    and I thought the US went crazy... come on Germany, you're better than that.

  • ivar27

    Posted May 1, 2007 2:05 pm PT

    MIllions of people play or have played counterstike. Millions. One guy goes mad and it's the game?? According to this locig, there should be killings in every school every day with all these millions of kids running around all f*cked up by counterstrike.

  • sharier

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 6:36 am PT

    Okay so they presume that violent video game using human like figures prompt violence. I wonder if Hitler used to play video games or the likes-- or did Genghis Khan learn to be a killer after killing a lot in a game first. Such conclusions are too bizarre to support. I killed a lot in video games, enjoyed deaths of human villains in the movies. That did not transform me into a violent person.

  • Sycerica

    Posted Apr 18, 2007 1:37 pm PT

    This is like how America is paying African Americans whose ancestors were our slaves as an apology. Germany is trying to apologize for being the source of thousands being tortured and slaughtered by punishing the thoughts of torturing and slaughtering. its a bullet-proof plan because everybody wins except for....well anyone who doesnt plan on killing a handful of people.

  • Misterybox

    Posted Apr 17, 2007 2:18 pm PT

    Yeah men its a pitty but its true. I live in Germany and I was very lucky to get GoW before they took it out of the market. And I bought Condemned from a England. And I dont know what to do to get Dead Rising. Damn German laws......

  • ynoteel

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 7:03 am PT

    lol if this is true i should be locked up for the next 53,594 years what a load of bull and i go along with what some of you said COME ON GERMANY BRING IT ON AND ARREST ME

  • Char_Zeon

    Posted Apr 2, 2007 9:10 pm PT

    when someone "kills in the name of god" why don't we ban the bible?

  • rokkuman09

    Posted Mar 20, 2007 1:47 pm PT

    Oh my gosh it's really quite frustrating that the German press was talking about Half Life and Counter Strike! They are video games! Really, the people are screwed up and violent before hand they just happen to play video games that have violence in them too. Quit blaming video games, what your doing is saying it's not their fault they did this horrible act of violence on people! Your taking blame off of the murderers and saying oh it's because they play a video game, that's why! Also Half Life yes is violent, but it also has a very deep story and the main character is fighting for a good cause. I went back and played Half Life 1 just for the story after playing Half Life 2. Because the game has such a good science fiction story, and the gameplay is great too! But anyway video games aren't the cause of someones actions, they have a free will. The people willingly decided to go to the school, bring a gun, and shoot a bunch of people. It's not like the video game has brainwashed them and they had no control over what they were doing! They knew exactly what they were doing, quit taking the blame off of murderers.

  • Ausguy posted Mar 19, 2007 5:53 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Ausguy

    Posted Mar 19, 2007 5:53 pm PT (hide)

    Kudos to Germany for growing a pair and taking a solid stance against this kind of junk.

  • jamesnorman

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 2:47 am PT

    using violent games as an escuse for killing in real life is just bullsh*t, ive been playing games like this for over 18 years and never once thought about actually doin it. The people who do are just phsycos who use games as an excuse.

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