Swiss Pass Violent Game Bans, Actual Laws to Follow
Swiss Pass Violent Game Bans, Actual Laws to Follow
March 19, 2010
So much for remaining neutral—a pair of Swiss resolutions dealing with violent videogames have been passed by the country’s National Council.
As detailed last month, the first resolution, proposed by Christian Democratic Party member and National Councillor Norbert Hochreutener, would make it illegal to sell PEGI 16 or 18-rated games to minors, while a second resolution, backed by Social Democrat Evi Allemann, called for a complete ban of violent and adult-themed videogames.
German site Games Markt (translated) notes that the passing of the motions will simply kick off the process of designing the actual legal framework surrounding the two measures.
Alleman’s proposal passed with a 19-12 vote, while it appears Hochreutener’s measure garnered 27 backing votes.
A translated passage from Alleman’s motion offers:
The Federal Council is asked to submit to Parliament a statutory basis, which allows the manufacture, touting, importation, sale and distribution of game programs, to prohibit, in which cruel acts of violence against humans and humanlike creatures for the game success.
|Via MCVUK|
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Posted 07/30/10 at 10:25am
ZippyDSMlee: No lan too but that will be hack in, with 2X maps its as big as SC,so....want more now ;P
ZippyDSMlee: No lan too but that will be hack in, with 2X maps its as big as SC,so....want more now ;P
Posted 07/30/10 at 10:19am
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: @Cheater: Thank you, I´ll try it later. It happened after I installed the new upgrade, btw
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: @Cheater: Thank you, I´ll try it later. It happened after I installed the new upgrade, btw
Posted 07/30/10 at 01:27am
Andrew Eisen: I got hired to sing bass for an a cappella group tomorrow night. I have nine songs to learn. Yikes.
Andrew Eisen: I got hired to sing bass for an a cappella group tomorrow night. I have nine songs to learn. Yikes.
Posted 07/29/10 at 10:53pm
E. Zachary Knight: Zippy, I thought SC2 was only 1/3 of a game? ;)
E. Zachary Knight: Zippy, I thought SC2 was only 1/3 of a game? ;)
Posted 07/29/10 at 08:59pm
ZippyDSMlee: SC2 is god! BOW DOWN TO SC2!
ZippyDSMlee: SC2 is god! BOW DOWN TO SC2!
Posted 07/29/10 at 07:50pm
Cheater87: Garcia that sounds like a A/V problem. Try turning the TV on and off or doing that with the AV changer. Thats how I fix mine.
Cheater87: Garcia that sounds like a A/V problem. Try turning the TV on and off or doing that with the AV changer. Thats how I fix mine.
Posted 07/29/10 at 06:50pm
Andrew Eisen: The urinals now have floor mats!
Andrew Eisen: The urinals now have floor mats!
Posted 07/29/10 at 04:54pm
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: My PS3 is having some kind of failure. The sound is still there but the image is totally out...
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: My PS3 is having some kind of failure. The sound is still there but the image is totally out...
Posted 07/29/10 at 03:39pm
ZippyDSMlee: SC2!!SC2!!!SC2!!!!!!
ZippyDSMlee: SC2!!SC2!!!SC2!!!!!!
Posted 07/28/10 at 02:45pm
beemoh: Farmville creator Zynga closes one of its games, customers who paid for in-game content unimpressed (Link)
beemoh: Farmville creator Zynga closes one of its games, customers who paid for in-game content unimpressed (Link)
Posted 07/28/10 at 09:49am
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He blames the internet, but not his abusive mother.
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He blames the internet, but not his abusive mother.
Posted 07/28/10 at 09:48am
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: Akihabara murderer blames cyber bullying for rampage in 2008
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: Akihabara murderer blames cyber bullying for rampage in 2008
Posted 07/27/10 at 02:49pm
E. Zachary Knight: Holy Awesome Game Trailers Batman. Superman heat visioning people in the face and Jedi using Hadouken. Awesome.
E. Zachary Knight: Holy Awesome Game Trailers Batman. Superman heat visioning people in the face and Jedi using Hadouken. Awesome.
Posted 07/27/10 at 01:36pm
ZippyDSMlee: Ah I didnt see it down there :P
ZippyDSMlee: Ah I didnt see it down there :P
Posted 07/25/10 at 01:51pm
ZippyDSMlee: Cheater87:I do not think they see the need for it its a shame its more needed than E10.....
ZippyDSMlee: Cheater87:I do not think they see the need for it its a shame its more needed than E10.....
Posted 07/24/10 at 08:19pm
Cheater87: Zippy I sent them an email about a 15 age category a year or so ago and they said they had no plans for one at the moment. I'll send another one and see if they respond back again.
Cheater87: Zippy I sent them an email about a 15 age category a year or so ago and they said they had no plans for one at the moment. I'll send another one and see if they respond back again.
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Comments
And there wasn´t anybody to opposse to this?
------------------------------------------------------------ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com
IF not someone better say something.
Saying nothing is worse than doing something and failing.
So it's all right to sell a game depicting cruel actions to non-humanoid entities?
Damn you can't even import. They are going to what Germany tried to do a few years ago IIRC.
It's pretty bad when a Christian Democratic Party member is more reasonable than a Social Democrat. Just wow Switzerland.
It's a slippery slope. First they ban games that are violent, then they can ban games that feature minarets!
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
I wish I could just click "like" around here, like on facebook, instead of actually replying to generate my approval for certain comments.
---
Fangamer
Oh boy just wait till this spills over to other media....
Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! CP/IP laws should not effect the daily life of common people! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
I hope in the end it fail because of gamers and free speech defender protest against this bill.
Well its one thing to restrict voilent games, but theres no way they can trully banned them all together without some back slash.
http://www.magicinkgaming.com/
We better be careful in dealing with Switzerland, we might lose their valuable knife, clock, and cheese technology.
I'm guessing Switzerland is yet another country that doesn't have Free Speech protection hardwired into a constitution of some sort, easily foiling censoring attempts like this one. Have I mentioned how much I love living in the US?
The Swiss Constitution also guarantees Freedom of speech and Freedom of information for every citizen. I reckon it won't be long before this is overturned on that basis
US democracy is by no means perfect. Unlike many European countries you don't have proportional representation, and unlike at least one European country you can't vote your ruling party out at any time if they're screwing the pooch.
Freedom of speech is hardwired into a number of constitutions that have proportional representation and the right to hold an election at any time. Scotland, for example - and the Scots have a system that guarantees healthcare for all. The US is okay, but I wish it had more freedom and a more responsive and representative government.
I'm not saying the US is perfect. I'm just saying that I'm noticing a lot of countries aren't so gung ho about freedom of expression, or have it contitutionally protected in some way. The UK doesn't, Australia. Greece, or Germany either. Yeah, they try to support free speech as much as possible, because it's popular, but it also seems much easier to chip away at those rights in those contries, than in countries where it's a contitutional issue. I was just curious how things were for the Swiss.
Jeez, I forgot I couldn't be proud of being an American in any way, without being seen as an ignorant, nationalist, "Ugly American" stereotype. I'll be more clear in the future.
Free speech does have constitutional protection in Germany. It just doesn't have unlimited protection. Which admittedly isn't much of a protection. (The German constitution also guarantees freedom of TV and radio broadcasts since 1949. It still took three decades and the equivalent of a Supreme Court decision to legalize private TV stations.)
At least in Switzerland anyone can call for a national referendum on any legislature, provided they get 50,000 signatures on a petition within 100 days, so if enough people were against it they they could trigger a referendum. That might be enough to overturn the law, or at very least raise awareness about the issue.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland#Direct_democracy
Switzerland is a pretty awesome place overall, this is just a bad decision by a few people in power.
1) Germany couldn't prevent people from importing these games that Schwitzerland now are trying to ban the Swiss from importing. 2) Germany couldn't do this because they're member of the EU.
3) In the EU, there is a general rule of free trade e.g. free trade of goods and services. As such, Germany can't ban importing what they consider violent games. 4) Swiss have an associaton with EU, I think?. As such, they can't do this either. 5) They can prohibit the sale of 16+ and 18+ games to minors - just as Germany, Finland, and the UK does.
And again, what is is violent game? Is it GTA IV, or is it Mass Effect 2, or is it the Indiana Jones Lego games? And who is to decide this?
Swiss is not part of the EU, because that would align them with EU, breaking their neutrality. So they can ban whatever they want freely in that regard.
criadordejogos.wordpress.com
Germany does have a ban on importing certain games for anything else but purely personal use. This is not in conflict with EU regulations.
I don't think there are enough Swiss gamers in Switzerland to oppose this law. But again here we go in a round about way to ban all violent video games again........
Humanlike creatures?!?!?! What?! They are kidding right? B/c wouldn't that mean zombies and aliens? (Being sarcastic).
"It's better to be hated for who you are, then be loved for who you are not." - Montgomery Gentry
Great post, I look forward to reading more. commercial property law
This is a nice ceramic watch and you can get more ceramic watches here too and all is fine!
So much for remaining neutral—a pair of Swiss resolutions dealing with violent videogames and white ceramic watch have been passed by the country’s National Council.
As said earlier, the first resolution, proposed by Christian Democratic Party member and National Councillor Norbert Hochreutener and white ceramic watches, would make it illegal to sell PEGI 16 or 18-rated games to minors, while a second resolution, backed by Social Democrat Evi Allemann, called for a complete ban of violent and adult-themed videogames.
1) Germany couldn't prevent people from importing these games and the automatic watch that Schwitzerland now are trying to ban the Swiss from importing. 2) Germany and the skeleton watch couldn't do this because they're member of the EU.
In the EU, there is a general rule of free trade e.g. free trade of goods and services such as the mechanical watch. As such, Germany can't ban importing what they consider ceramic watches and violent games. Swiss have an associaton with EU, I think?. As such, they can't do this either.
They can prohibit the sale of 16+ and 18+ games to minors with a 32 lcd tv - just as Germany, Finland, and the UK does. And again, what is is violent game? Is it GTA IV, or is it Mass Effect 2, or is it the Indiana Jones and the 50 inch tv and Lego games? And who is to decide this?