Legal fights on computer games echo round globe

Posted on 11 Nov 2005 at 12:54

Online gamers are coming under attack around the world and its legal cross-hairs that are targeting over-enthusiastic gamers in Malaysia and Michigan.

Malaysian authorities are clamping down on computer gaming in Net cafes in the country over concerns of addictive behaviour, reports the BBC.

The moves were apparently sparked by a teenager being reported missing by his mother, only to be found in a cyber cafe where he had been playing for 48 hours.

Under new regulations set for 2006, cyber cafes will have to obtain a licence for separate gaming areas and these will be required to close at midnight, which is effectively a gaming curfew.

Meanwhile in Michigan a dispute has gone to court over the banning of violent games to children, reports Reuters.

California and Illinois have already passed similar laws, but video game industry groups have managed to obtain a preliminary injunction preventing the state of Michigan from enforcing its new law.
'[Michigan] has been unable to demonstrate the perceived harm it seeks to protect against,' wrote Judge George Caram Steeh in his ruling, according to the news agency.

The Judge also raised concerns over free-speech. 'Plaintiffs have demonstrated that the Act is unlikely to survive strict scrutiny, and that irreparable harm follows from the loss of First Amendment freedoms,' Judge Steeh wrote.

There was recent controversy in the US over the Hot Coffee patch in Grand Theft Auto - with Hilary Clinton among those criticising the video game industry. And the seriousness with which gaming cvan be taken was highlighted this week with news of a virual proprty boom - Virtual island sold for a real profit. Not only was an online game player willing to pay $26,500 for a virtual lump of Project Entropia, but last month a movie director paid $100,000 for a Space Resort in the same game which boasts a '1,000 Apartment complex, Commercial Space Ship Docking, Themed Shopping Mall, and a Mega Stadium for championship sporting events. It also contains a Nightclub with multiple Dance floors, Live Amphitheatre, lounges, and 10 Hunting Biodomes'.

Author: Alun Williams