30,000 Germans sign petition against ban on all violent video games
Saturday, 11 Jul 2009 10:00
GTAIV
A petition to stop the ban on all violent video games in Germany has now reached 30,000.
30,000 German residents have now signed a petition on the official German parliament website to stop the ban on the development and sale of violent video games in the country,
Eurogamer.de reports.
In June
we brought you the news that ministers of the interior of all sixteen German federal states agreed to forbid the production and distribution of all video games "where the main part is to realistically play the killing of people or other cruel or un-human acts of violence against humans or manlike characters."
The ban is hoped to come into effect before the country's federal elections on September 27th, but the German public is fighting back.
The
following petition has been signed by 30,000 Germans and growing. If the petition reaches 50,000 a public hearing
must be heard. The petition requests the following:
"The German Bundestag should decide against the decision of the interior minister conference from the 5th of June, that aims for a ban of action computer games. As an adult citizen and a person eligible to vote, I beg you firmly;
To erase the irritating and discriminating term of 'killerspiele' [killer game] from political discussion.
To strengthen the trust of the public in existing national youth protection mechanics.
To improve and warrant the execution of existing laws, that ensure kids and the youth only get access to video games and computer games rating according the USK.
To support parents and educationally responsible persons in the advancement of media competence.
To promote the computer games and video games industry in Germany and especially the training of these promising professions."
Although this
isn't the first time a ban has been requested in Germany, the seriousness of the current attack on the medium is presumably due to the tragic south-west Germany shootings, where 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer killed nine pupils and three teachers.
The shootings were linked to video games including Counter-Strike and Far Cry 2.
A protest march was held in Karlsruhe with an estimated 400 gamers attending, which you can view below. Protests in Cologne, Karlsruhe and Berlin will also take place on July 25th.
Read Gamezine's original story on all violent video games being banned in Germany.