While attention has been distracted by lawmakers' financial interests in computer games, two state governments in Germany have decided to return to the battle against the content of violent computer games, proposing that creators and players who partake in virtual fisticuffs should face lengthy jail terms
Politicians in Bavaria and Lower Saxony have proposed a new offence that will punish "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" inside games. Early drafts suggest that infringers should face fines or up to 12 months' jail for promoting or enacting in-game violence.
This is taking green blood to a whole new level. I wonder how they'd respond to strategy games like Total Annihilation in which entire armies are wiped out from a bird's eye perspective. Or what about the negative feedback in God games like Black and White, where smacking your little computer people into line is one tactic for keeping them on your side?
Obviously this proposed legislation in its early stages and a reaction to a terrible tragedy, but at this point it raises more questions about the content of computer games than the politicians even realise. What is the boundary between violence and action? Between human, human-like and not-human? Between representation and fantasy? How will they operationalise this? Will ownership result in a fine? (It was just resting in my account!)
