Today, a new law came into effect here in Germany: no computer game without 'grading' for which ages it is suited may be sold anymore. This law was passed after a student of a school killed some of his teachers some time ago - someone found a 'shooter' game in his room and the media jumped on it. The thinking behind the new law is roughly this: games get 'graded' by an organisation called USK and then, these games may only be sold to people above the age they've been passed for. Games without USK grading are automatically treated like '18+'. That means they can't even be displayed on the shelves of the stores anymore, but can only be sold at request from 'under the counter'. The effect of this is basically that almost no shops will carry such games at all anymore (as shown from experience with games which were on 'the index' before - with the same effect). The really bad thing about this is that grading by the USK has to be paid for by the copyright holder of the product! No big deal for big companies and their new games, but what about all older games? Those have to be taken from the shelves if the respective company doesn't have it graded. What about smaller, non-German companies? It would hardly be worth it for them to get their game graded in Germany - resulting in the total loss of this market (and people here not being able to buy those games). Again, a stroke of genius from our great government...

They wen't a bit extreme there didn't they, you would think somethnig like what we have in place for all games and music cd's here would sufice. Games have either no sticker (suitable for all ages), A black sticker with a warning message on it (Some unsuitable content but still anyone can purchase it) or a Red 18+ sticker with again a warning about the content.
But really people have to be more messed up then just saying it was the computer game that made them kill people.

Example of the effects of this law: Linuxland took down the games section of their online store, because they sold products of small companies (or even only individuals) there which don't have the money to get their games 'rated'.

And how will this affect, let's say shareware and freeware developers who reside elsewhere? Will the German courts repeat what the Frenchmen did when they sued Yahoo for selling nazi memorabilia?

That remains to be seen. You have to keep in mind this law was written by people who have never in their whole life used the Internet or played a computer game, so they don't take such things into account. It's the same people who planned a law banning all 'adult' content from the Internet before 11 PM!

Edited by Mr Creosote at 16:28 on April, 01st 2003

A Telecom law went into effect in Michigan (where I live) yesterday, that is worded such, that it makes all internet browsers illegal. This in turn makes Windows illegal since IE is integrated into it. Also, you cannot "conceal" any telecom device, such as a cell phone. It's all just dumb stuff.

Hmm... and what is the supposed purpose of this anti-browser law?

About how much does it cost to be graded?

Edited by Da_Goat at 21:08 on April, 01st 2003

That is another thing nobody knows. The USK's homepage has a section for game producers, but it's password protected.

Pure idiocy. What I wonder is when people will quit taking the easy way out by blaming games/tv/music/whatever for their children's problems?

As far as actually getting the un-graded software, how tough are germany's importation laws? Can you simply order the software online (from a site outside of germany, obviously) and have them shipped to you, or go to a nearby country without such foolish laws, buy the software, then bring it home?

Tuss: Browsers are not outlawed. Only disguising your IP address or the origin of any communication is outlawed.

That means, that:
* You cannot use NAT address, and thus each computer in your house has to have a separate Internet connection, with a unique IP number
* You cannot use programs that encode any part of your e-mail messages
* You cannot use devices that hide your phone number on Caller ID devices.

And if anybody was wondering, the bad guy in this case is the MPAA. They claimed that ISPs could not prosecute all Internet pirates because they were hiding their presence by browsing anonymously, so they lobbied the government to enact this law.

The same law is in process of being passed in many other US states.

Oh well, it just looks like one of those laws to add more sentence time when it comes down to prosocuting a pirate. I doubt they'll enforce this law specifically, but I guess this means the end of *67, the thing the telephone company supplies that lets you hide you from Caller ID.

So what types of games are under the 18+ range? And what about sale on the internet? That does seem like a horrible overreaction, as we have people get killed in our schools here about every month, and if anybody blames video games, they get labelled as an extremist facist.

Yes, it's easily possible to order software from abroad.

All which aren't tested by the USK. Other than that, mostly gory shooter games.

I know experienced this new law first hand: Yesterday, I ordered a collection of classic games (see a list of games below). Today, I received a (personal, not automated) e-mail explaining they need to see a copy of my id before they can send it to me.

These games are in the collection (as you can see, they're all completely harmless):
Tiebreak,
Hannibal,
Space Max
Aunt Artic Adventure
Charon V
Dithell In Space
Scorched Tanks
Diamond Caves,
Diamond Caves 2
Maniac Ball,
Master Blaster)
Island of lost hope
Lords of War
Torch2081
Lethal Xcess
Monster Business
Lost on Parrot Island
Barravento
Bomb Mania
Bandit Mania
Technology 2
Winning Post
Beneath a Steel Sky
Antz,
Hilt
Hilt 2
Hideous
Hoi Aga Remix
Ports of Call
Ziriax
Zarathrusta
Fatman
Beneath a Steel Sky
Lure of the Tempress
Sixth Sense Investigations
Maupiti Islands
Tower of Souls
Crystal Dragon
Embryo
XTreme Racing
Wheelspin
Vroom
Formula 1 Manager
Mahjong
Tanglewood
Blade
Obsession Pinball
Tactical Manager 1 and 2

Okay, usually I'd be all like, "Awww, that really stinks" but you know what? You have the ability to get a collection with that many games in it. I just have to say, wow.

So can you - if you're 18 or older It's not as great as it sounds though, because it's just two CDs with the games on them, no boxes, printed manuals or extras.

Anyway, I've just read on another board that FIFA 2002 is banned in Germany, because Oliver Kahn didn't like the way he looked in the game, sued and won a temporary injunction. Is there any truth to this story?

I don't know if the game is actually taken off the shelves, but the story is basically this: Kahn claimed EA didn't have the rights to use his face in the game. EA did buy the rights from some player organisation though. Then there is a blank in my knowledge - it was something about the names being included in the license, but not the faces. The court now had to decide if the face in the game looked 'different enough' to be considered 'unofficial'. Apparantely, the graphics were too good and Kahn won