Philippine Game Law Proposal Could Jail Retailers for a Year
Philippine Game Law Proposal Could Jail Retailers for a Year
July 14, 2008
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A lawmaker in the Philippines has introduced a bill designed to prevent minors from puchasing violent video games.
As reported by the Asian Journal, the measure proposed by Rep. Narciso Santiago (left) could imprison retailers for up to one year for selling mature-themed games to underage buyers.
Santiago cited studies showing increased aggressiveness following violent game play. The lawmaker commented:
[The state has] compelling interests to prevent violent, aggressive, asocial behavior [and] prevent psychological harm to minors who play violent video games, and prevent physical harm to the victims of violent minors, including other minors.... It is also the responsibility of the state to eliminate any societal factors that may inhibit the psychological and neurological development of the youth and facilitate the health development of the youth into well-meaning productive adults.
GP: Our old pal Jack Thompson wrote in a comment to another story that Santiago's bill is patterned after his 2006 legislation from Louisiana. That bill failed miserably under US constitutional law, but made for good theater, nonetheless (see: The Circus Comes to Louisiana)...
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Posted 10/08/08 at 05:15am
gamepolitics: er... pass.
gamepolitics: er... pass.
Posted 10/07/08 at 10:09pm
C. Aaron Browbowski Jr.: @ Dennis: You need to be smoking a dimebag if you want to enjoy games on facebook, and stomach crappy movies at the matinee
C. Aaron Browbowski Jr.: @ Dennis: You need to be smoking a dimebag if you want to enjoy games on facebook, and stomach crappy movies at the matinee
Posted 10/07/08 at 09:00pm
HalfShadow: FACEBOOK sucks. What were you expecting?
HalfShadow: FACEBOOK sucks. What were you expecting?
Posted 10/07/08 at 07:56pm
gamepolitics: is it just me or do those little facebook games all suck?
gamepolitics: is it just me or do those little facebook games all suck?
Posted 10/07/08 at 07:45pm
Alteffor: @JustChris - Some people have an offensive sense of humour. Some people take it a bit too far, and they offend people. It's life. Also, spreading what they do around the internet is not the best response, its what they want.
Alteffor: @JustChris - Some people have an offensive sense of humour. Some people take it a bit too far, and they offend people. It's life. Also, spreading what they do around the internet is not the best response, its what they want.
Posted 10/07/08 at 05:24pm
gamepolitics: ST, there are way too many...
gamepolitics: ST, there are way too many...
Posted 10/07/08 at 04:06pm
JustChris: LittleBigPlanet and 9/11...wow http://www.ripten.com/2008/10/07/jackass-remakes-911-with-littlebigplanet-flys-sackb
JustChris: LittleBigPlanet and 9/11...wow http://www.ripten.com/2008/10/07/jackass-remakes-911-with-littlebigplanet-flys-sackb
Posted 10/07/08 at 03:52pm
sortableturnip: Yeah girl in glasses...ever hear of a Nintendo DS?
sortableturnip: Yeah girl in glasses...ever hear of a Nintendo DS?
Posted 10/07/08 at 03:20pm
Freyar: nobody sasses a girl in glasses.. except when she's being stupid.
Freyar: nobody sasses a girl in glasses.. except when she's being stupid.
Posted 10/07/08 at 02:51pm
sortableturnip: @GP: Any emails/faxes that JT sends
sortableturnip: @GP: Any emails/faxes that JT sends
Posted 10/07/08 at 01:32pm
DarkSaber: lol, guess it was a matter of time! They even madea Doom one! But you can't beat a game of FRAG!
DarkSaber: lol, guess it was a matter of time! They even madea Doom one! But you can't beat a game of FRAG!
Posted 10/07/08 at 01:30pm
gamepolitics: Halo board game showed up here today? Didn't even know there was one.
gamepolitics: Halo board game showed up here today? Didn't even know there was one.
Posted 10/07/08 at 01:30pm
gamepolitics: u mean the ones in the countdown thread? they are verbatim...
gamepolitics: u mean the ones in the countdown thread? they are verbatim...
Posted 10/07/08 at 12:12pm
sortableturnip: GP, can you post JT's emails into the JT thread over at the eca forums...I love a good laugh :D
sortableturnip: GP, can you post JT's emails into the JT thread over at the eca forums...I love a good laugh :D
Posted 10/07/08 at 11:31am
E. Zachary Knight: No, the link is the same
E. Zachary Knight: No, the link is the same
Posted 10/07/08 at 11:18am
gamepolitics: should the link be changed in the article, EZK?
gamepolitics: should the link be changed in the article, EZK?
Posted 10/07/08 at 07:56am
E. Zachary Knight: http://www.ezknight.net/jtdisbar_ext.php
E. Zachary Knight: http://www.ezknight.net/jtdisbar_ext.php
Posted 10/07/08 at 07:56am
E. Zachary Knight: The JT Disbar add-on has been updated to version 0.7.5
E. Zachary Knight: The JT Disbar add-on has been updated to version 0.7.5
Posted 10/07/08 at 07:33am
ZippyDSMlee: Dark Sovereign: the proper reply would be So you want a quick dry rub with cloths on? ba dum dum bish!
ZippyDSMlee: Dark Sovereign: the proper reply would be So you want a quick dry rub with cloths on? ba dum dum bish!
Posted 10/07/08 at 04:58am
gamepolitics: GP is on Twitter. Follow gamepolitics for Twitter updates.
gamepolitics: GP is on Twitter. Follow gamepolitics for Twitter updates.
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
Wjhat is that giant grey blob above GP's comment? Is it supposed to be the article?
Note to the soon-to-be former attorney Jack Thompson: The Philippines do not have the same constitutional rights that the U.S. has.
This.
Some things that may be ok in other countries don't fly in the US.
His attempted comparison between the UK and USA come to mind.
People turning violent as they grow up is more likely when they are VICTIMS or WITNESSES to a dometic crime.
"It is also the responsibility of the state to eliminate any societal factors that may inhibit the psychological and neurological development of the youth"
Sounds like something out of 1984
Because last I checked, the primary affectors of the "psychological and neurological development of the youth" here was the rampant corruption in congress, and the fact that more than a tenth of our people live below the poverty line.
Hey let's send people to prison, just in case.
I am a Filipino, and this much I have to say regarding Santiago's bill:
PUTANG INA.
Sure - expose us to all these half-wit TV shows (I'm talking to YOU, ABS-CBN!), all the crime and murders that happen on a daily basis, and the bombings happening in Mindanao. And then you think THAT is what's corrupting the youth? Try generations of negligence and corruption that sends a message that there is nothing to hope for in our f***ed up country!
For the guys wondering, the Philippine government's lost considerable credibility over the years, and has developed a bad reputation for trying to silence its critics with lawsuits and/or politcal assasinations. For example, the MTRCB, our film ratings board, gave an X rating normally used for porn films to a documentary that was critical of the Arroyo Admnistration.
The House of Representatives, to whom Santiago belongs, is particularly unpopular and is famous for their grandstanding though hardly ever actually resolving important issues.
Uhh... May I ask what Putang Ina means?
I AM A LOST SOUL, CONDEMNED TO HAUNT THE DREAMS OF JOHN BRUCE "JACK" THOMPSON UNTIL HIS CRUSADE AGAINST VIDEO GAMES ENDS. SOMEONE, PLEASE! END MY SUFFERING!
It's Tagalog for "Son of a w***e!" It's our equivalent to "Son of a B***h!"
Ah, thanks.
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I AM DOOMED TO HAUNT JACK THOMPSON'S DREAMS UNTIL HIS CRUSADE AGAINST VIDEO GAMES ENDS.
Mr. Santiago, you have no idea what the hell you're talking about. I'm also a Filipino and have been playing "violent games" both off and online since the advent of Doom. Where am I now? Working and paying my taxes like a good citizen should so are all my friends who I played with. Why don't you go back and do some research on this topic as well as resolve some of the more pressing issues in our country before you do this?
You, Mr. Santiago, are a waste of the tax payers money. It sickens me to know that you get a cut of the taxes I pay for every year.
Interestingly enough, there are only a few "original" game retailers in the philippines since most are sold "under the table". They already have enough trouble trying to get rid of all the pirated copies of software as it is. Malls practically have stores that sell pirated copies out in the open even with the crackdown on pirated software.
Another point, would be interesting if congress actually passes a law since most of the time they fight amongst themselves to get any actual work done
Plus there's the whole economic thing not to mention wide spread prostitution/human trafficking/child prostitution and the whole "sex tourism" thing that's rampant there and the organized crime that controls it and laws that aren't being enforced (police corruption FTL) to try and stop or prevent it. I'd say the Philippines have much bigger problems than violent videogames. But eh, typical politician crap, go for the "easy" stuff, not issues that actually would require work to solve.
I think it's time there were riots again over there. The government needs a good over throwing.
suuuure....
like those anti-pirating laws and drive actually DID anything.. i doubt this will be effective..
PS.. i live in the Philippines...
GP, I found the Bill's official press release from the Philippine House of Representatives website:
http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=2442
Btw, what happened to the Asian Journal link? It's gone.
[The state MUST HAVE] compelling interests to prevent corrupt, apathetical, and just plain evil behavior [and] prevent psychological (and financial) harm to the populace who see their taxes being used for worthless projects like this anti-videogame bill, and prevent physical (and financial) harm to the victims of violently money-hungry politicians, including a conniving little midget named GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO.... It is also the often-forgotten responsibility of the state to eliminate any societal factors that may inhibit the long-standing and hardly-noticed development of eliminating THE SOCIAL CANCER and facilitate the development of the nation into well-meaning, GOD-FEARING, and PATRIOTIC citizens, which is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than BANNING VIDEO GAMES.
THIS ANTI-VIDEOGAME LAW IS VERY REMINISCENT OF THE MARCOS ERA.
SERIOUSLY, THE MEDIA REALLY NEEDS TO STOP SENSATIONALIZING THIS ISSUE (I'M TALKING TO YOU, JESSICA SOHO).
THEY'RE REALLY STARTING TO LOOK STUPID.
This is funny. All this is, is a politician being a politician by trying to look moral. I don't know him, but I'm going to bet he's corrupt, like a lot of the politicians over there. The fact of the matter is, the coppers in the PI won't care about retailers anyways. This law won't be enforced if passed.
Welcome to the Philippine Congress.
Now, this happens everytime some lardass in the Congress*coughFAIL* forgets that he should be doing something better.
Maybe we should jail the parents for failure too? Happy Meal.