German Videogame Ban Derailed by Internet Petition

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Mstrswrd

Always playing Touhou. Always.
Mar 2, 2008
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If this works, I can't even imgaine the explosion of Internet Petitions.
 

1ronJ4m

New member
Feb 1, 2009
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O man, I feel bad for being half-german right now. Anyway, what's up with their government psychotic rage against video games? Fascism was more than 60 years ago, yet they always fear the rise of that kinda system. Right now, what they are doing is somewhat harsh for a "normal" government.
 

Therumancer

Citation Needed
Nov 28, 2007
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Gfan_00 said:
Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me that Germany is trying to ban games with cruel or un-human acts of violence. Ha. Haha. Germany, I scoff at you trying to make up for your past like that!

No, I kid, I kid.

OT: What the hell? Just because there's one psycho in the bunch doesn't give them the right to ban violent games altogether, does it? Nearly all games that are fun have at least a tiny bit of violence in them.
Actually you shouldn't kid. This is perhaps the most Nazi-like movie Germany has performed in a long time and shows that they haven't ENTIRELY given up their old ways.

Think about it this way, to have gotten as far as it did obviously there must be a decent amount of the population behind it that will cheer for it. I imagine the regulation is not entirely unpopular. What's more if they pass the regulation it gives the goverment a truely amazing amount of power. Just imagine, the goverment being able to seize any computer at any time, or do whatever it wants on the internet in order to search for potentially violent games. If they make a case for games that are SYMBOLIC of men or man-like creatures they could go so far as to include Roguelikes which could be hidden anywhere. Text/Ascii based games are hidden by nerds in almost every computer system ever conceived (mainframes, etc...). Just imagine going after any system that could be potentially concealing an old version of say Nethack. Not to mentiont the abillity to monitor any form of electronic communication including cellphones for potentially violent video games.

Hitler was a very popular leader, he didn't come into power as a tyrant. His party pretty much got there by the people giving them the power one bit at a time and the overwhelming majority loving them for it.

Stop and REALLY think about what this could mean, and as the snowball rolls it's just going to get bigger. Today they have this authority to go after video games. Then they extend it a little more due to things they find while searching for those, then they find something else. Next thing you know you've got German cops with the abillity to virtually control all information in the country.

As I've said before, Hitler is not the guy who comes up and goes "yes my people, let's go kill all the Jews and try and conquer the world while we're at it. Oh and on top of this the master race will be Blonde Haired and Blue eyed, despite the fact that I am neither, this is the ideal shape of humanity and what we should all strive for! Oh and don't forget the shape of the forehead, it should be just-so.. not just because of asctetics but so the properly shaped brain will be able to wield Aryan mind powers!... excuse me, while you carry out my will I need to consulte with my Astologer." That would be the resident of an insane asylum. Hitler is the guy you love who does things one step at a time, and slowly inserts that kind of an agenda so you don't really fully comprehend the big picture until it's there, and by then it seems perfectly natural due to the guy's charisma and cult of personality.

There is no single guy holding that role yet, but you are very much looking at a move right out of the Nazi playbook (the political party).
 

Nimbus

Token Irish Guy
Oct 22, 2008
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First they took China, then they took Australia. They will not take Germany! Here we make our stand!

*Cue dramatic music*
 

the1ultimate

New member
Apr 7, 2009
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I always knew democracy meant people had some power... input... at least some say in legislation.
Maybe one day the internet could be the new democracy...
 

Ziren

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Apr 14, 2009
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HobbesMkii said:
How do they know the signatures came from Germans?
You have to register with full name and location. If your data doesn't check out with those of a German citizen, your vote doesn't count. Not fool-proof, but the best you can do for this form of petition. So don't bother to sign, if you're not actually German.

andrat said:
That would make you ashamed to be a German citizen?
Not a few other things that haven't been looked so well upon by everyone else?
Also, I'm like 1/5 German and I'm glad I don't live there
Okay, I'll bite: What else is so horrible about Germany today that makes you glad not to live here?
 

andrat

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Jan 14, 2009
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Ziren said:
HobbesMkii said:
How do they know the signatures came from Germans?
You have to register with full name and location. If your data doesn't check out with those of a German citizen, your vote doesn't count. Not fool-proof, but the best you can do for this form of petition. So don't bother to sign, if you're not actually German.

andrat said:
That would make you ashamed to be a German citizen?
Not a few other things that haven't been looked so well upon by everyone else?
Also, I'm like 1/5 German and I'm glad I don't live there
Okay, I'll bite: What else is so horrible about Germany today that makes you glad not to live here?
1. Live in Canada already, love it here.
2. No good games.
 

Sonicron

Do the buttwalk!
Mar 11, 2009
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HK_01 said:
How odd that I didn't hear about this. I am German and live in Germany, so how come I missed this?

It's really not that worrying. They've tried that after each school shooting so far, it never worked.

Edit: I am NOT ashamed to be a German citizen, by the way. This is not reflective of the country, only of a certain part of one political party within the government.

Edit 2: Even if they do it it's not going to last long. It would be against the constitution.
Danke, mein Landsmann. Well said.
Those pricks in politics (yay, it rhymes!) need something for people to feel strongly about with the upcoming elections looming over our heads. It'll blow over, as it always does.

Therumancer said:
Actually you shouldn't kid. This is perhaps the most Nazi-like movie Germany has performed in a long time and shows that they haven't ENTIRELY given up their old ways.
Take a valium, dude. ^^
As has been mentioned already, this is but one VERY small branch of ONE of the bigger political parties here. Besides, you seem to forget that we Germans are neither forgetful dolts nor moronic twats... we are well aware of what happened during Hitler's reign, and we recognize an agenda driven by faschism and oppression when we see one. This is nothing more than a small group of old, conservative politicians who don't know how to handle parts of today's culture and will continue looking for ways and excuses to outlaw them just so they don't have to deal with the issue. They'll fail every time, it's right there in our constitution...
It might not be the best idea to yell 'FIRE' every time someone lights a match.
 

Jumplion

New member
Mar 10, 2008
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Therumancer said:
As I've said before, Hitler is not the guy who comes up and goes "yes my people, let's go kill all the Jews and try and conquer the world while we're at it.
Actually, Hitler did say in many of his beginning speeches many hateful things about the Jews, there were many anti-semetic people post-WWI.

Just a little negligee there, but I see where you're getting at.
 

Indeed

New member
Jul 29, 2009
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Nice, at least they pay attention to petitions instead of ignoring it's people and doing what they think it's best.
 

SirCannonFodder

New member
Nov 23, 2007
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Hey, a painter once came to power and killed a few million people, maybe the German government should look into banning painting, seeing as how it figured so much in the psycho's life, and was certainly the main factor behind why he was so screwed up.
 

Jumplion

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Mar 10, 2008
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Zeeky_Santos said:
Jumplion said:
YYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!

I told you guys that the Left 4 Dead 2 petition was a good thing, I fucking called it! I CALLED IT BIOTCHES!! (Depending if this was after the L4D2 thing, but whatever)
what, the Anti-L4D2 or the Pro-L4D2? Which one damn it!?!
The Anti-L4D2 I believe, at least they wanted what was best for the community (despite what people tell you otherwise).
 

HK_01

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Jun 1, 2009
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andrat said:
Ziren said:
1. Live in Canada already, love it here.
2. No good games.
Just so you know, the games on the index aren't actually banned, they just can't be advertised and you won't find them in the stores. It's still perfectly legal to import them(doesn't have to be from far away, you can get all games from Austria and Switzerland).
 

karmapolizei

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Sep 26, 2008
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Undercover said:
Auf Weidersehn, mein freunde (Meine deutchesprechen ist nicht so gut, Ich lerne in der schule fur eine jahr)
Awww, that was really cute :)

On topic though... this makes me yawn so hard it makes my jaw cramp. A ban on violent video games is as likely to take place as a speed limit on the Autobahn, really. Plans to do this are, right now, just the misguided resolution of a political entity that doesn't have much to say in the process of legislation. And even if the Bundestag (which is less the "Lower House" of Parliament but merely ONE of the two houses, roughly equivalent to the House of Representatives in the US) DID pass such a law despite all difficulties that would pose (like, say, drawing the line of what should be banned precisely), I have little doubt the Verfassungsgericht (the highest court in Germany) would shout that law in the kneecaps. So no worries...

... and that petition? We already saw how much good those things do when the Bundestag chose to ignore the petition against internet filters, a petition that just so happend to be the most-signed ever.
 

rabidmidget

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Apr 18, 2008
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this is the reason why i'm choosing how video games dont equal violence for a persuasive speech topic for a school assignment
 

Ambarato

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Jun 5, 2008
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Whoever thought this ban was a good idea is a very bad politician, first of all they'd obviously never had a choldhood with their parents saying tv/rock music was evil and secondly they have no idea how an economy works. Unless they are just doing it to get votes from really hard-lined conservatives.

Oh and there seems to be some people from the UK thinking that'd happen over here, no chance in hell, the video game industry is way too good for the British economy.
 

Dusty Donuts

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Jul 16, 2009
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Gamer Stand, but be careful, one thing leads to another. United Nerd Assosciation* would be pretty scary.



[small] Not sure if it's spelt right [/small]