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Politics Government Entertainment Games

German Minister Seeks Jail Time For FPS Players 383

Posted by Zonk from the all-i-did-was-a-little-fragging dept.
GamePolitics has the somewhat unbelievable news that German Minister of the Interior Gunther Beckstein is seeking jail time for violent game developers, publishers, and players. MSNBC has further coverage of the issue, which has pro gamers in Germany quite worried. From the article: "The draft law, a reaction to a school shooting that shook German public opinion last month, will come before the upper house of parliament next year. But it is already sending shockwaves through the 2m-strong German online gaming community. 'We have among the most drastic censorship rules for games,' said Frank Sliwka, head of the Deutsche E-Sport Bund, an umbrella federation for German online gaming teams. 'Now we are being labelled as a breeding ground for unstable, dysfunctional and violent youngsters.'"
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German Minister Seeks Jail Time For FPS Players More

German Minister Seeks Jail Time For FPS Players

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  • It's all the games' fault! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 07, 2006 @05:34PM (#17153794)
    After all, everyone knows Germany has had absolutely *no* history of violence before video games appeared on the scene.

    *ducks*

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Gertlex ( 722812 )

      After all, everyone knows Germany has had absolutely *no* history of violence before video games appeared on the scene.
       
      *ducks*
      World's fastest invocation of Godwin's Law? :D
      • I've seen faster. Much faster.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Referring to the world wars generally isn't Godwinning something, you have to invoke Hitler directly. And I've seen it done in headlines a number of times, this is plodding by comparison.

      • Re:It's all the games' fault! (Score:5, Funny)

        by hey! ( 33014 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @06:52PM (#17155104) Homepage Journal
        No, the fastest possible application of Godwin's law is for the origingal post in a thread to invoke the Nazis preemptively. Let's call that a G0 post.

        The fastest possible meta Godwin would be in a child response to a G0 post. Let's call that an M1 post. You can't pull a meta-Godwin in a G0 post without triggering the self-referential (wank) exception.

        Sadly, you post is a respectable but undistinguished M2 (grand child) meta-godwin. But then again this post is an H3 hyper-meta-godwin so I can't say anthing. H2 would the fastest theoretically possible hyper-meta. Of course you can't do an H1 because that triggers the meta-self-referential (wank wank) rule.

      • Re:It's all the games' fault! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Lord Kano ( 13027 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @08:28PM (#17156514) Homepage Journal
        World's fastest invocation of Godwin's Law? :D
                ~~=====> - Godwin's Law

                    0 - You
                  _|_
                    |
                  / \

        It's not a rule that can be invoked like "Whoever finishes the TP must install the new roll.", it's a law in the sense of "E=MC^2".

        Let me introduce you to Kano's Law [angelfire.com].
        • The odds of someone using Godwin's Law to shield an idea from criticism is proportional to how much that idea resebles those of the Nazis.


        LK

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Kelson ( 129150 ) *

          It's not a rule that can be invoked like "Whoever finishes the TP must install the new roll.", it's a law in the sense of "E=MC^2".

          Thank you! Ever since I found the original phrasing [catb.org], I've wondered how it mutated to the point that people say that a post invokes Godwin's law rather than demonstrates it. It's sort of like saying that a falling apple invokes the law of gravity, or that the observer invokes it by describing the falling apple.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )
            I think it's perfectly reasonable to invoke Godwin's law. It's not really like E=mc2 OR the TP thing. It's more like a state secret or national security law. For example: discussion proceeds (the information is free) until someone invokes Godwin's law (invokes the state secret law) and then you can't talk about whatever it is anymore.

            • Re:It's all the games' fault! (Score:4, Informative)

              by dangitman ( 862676 ) on Friday December 08, 2006 @02:54AM (#17159420)

              For example: discussion proceeds (the information is free) until someone invokes Godwin's law (invokes the state secret law) and then you can't talk about whatever it is anymore.

              You don't seem to have any idea of what Godwin's Law is. It does not prevent further discussion, or stop information from being "free." It is simply a statement of probability. This is what Godwin's Law says:

              As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

              It says nothing about such comparisons being valid or invalid. It says nothing about discontinuing the discussion, or winning an argument - as so many people mistakenly argue. It just says that lengthy online discussions are more likely to contain comparisons to Nazis than brief discussions.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by Shaper_pmp ( 825142 )
            Of course, even the Jargon File goes on to say:

            "'As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.' There is a tradition in many groups that, once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress. Godwin's Law thus practically guarantees the existence of an upper bound on thread length in those groups..."

            Technically Godwin's Law does no such thing, but the codicil of applica

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by revery ( 456516 )
      There's no need to duck as I think your point is quite valid. The reason people will say it's not valid is because we're better now. We've learned from our mistakes. We as a world are wiser. We've made advancements both scientific and social. We'll never be fooled by elitist propaganda again. We've seen the light. Democracy is our savior. We are all of us, free...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by incom ( 570967 )
      Yep, too much german pride results in violence, AS DOES too much german self-hate, like the cause of that shooting.

  • WOW, more of the same (Score:5, Insightful)

    by zappepcs ( 820751 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @05:35PM (#17153832) Journal
    More clueless people trying to make rules for systems that they have no idea how it works....

    First, Didn't the neo-nazi youths have this title all wrapped up before there were violent games?
    Kidding aside, this is just another stupid knee jerk reaction to social problems that nobody wants to take the blame for.

    When I was a kid, we played with toy guns, king of the hill, kill-the-guy-with-the-ball, and other VIOLENT games...
    It wasn't until they banned 'red rover' that this sort of bad finger pointing started to happen...

    FerChrisSakes - lets blame everyone and everything but the parents and families of violent kids...

    Sheesh

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by RingDev ( 879105 )
      kill-the-guy-with-the-ball

      When I was a kid we called it "Smear the queer" and it had nothing to do with gay people.

      You would think a nation like Germany would have learned the lesson better than any other. Limiting access to media and knowledge in order to 'purify' thoughts never ends well. http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/boo kburn.htm [historyplace.com]

      -Rick

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by thhamm ( 764787 )
      FerChrisSakes - lets blame everyone and everything but the parents and families of violent kids...

      true, and beckstein is an idiot. he's got real paranoia and nobody is taking him really seriously here. er. i hope.

      • Re:WOW, more of the same (Score:4, Informative)

        by Saint Fnordius ( 456567 ) on Friday December 08, 2006 @02:11AM (#17159242) Homepage Journal
        It's also important to remember that Beckstein is the Innenminister for Bavaria, not Germany. It's akin to the attorney general of Texas, not the AG of the USA.

        And yes, Beckstein's a git. It's taking him far too long to realise that he is one of the most unpopular politicians in Bavaria, now that Monica ("my daddy used to OWN this state!") Hohlmeier has been run out of town in disgrace.
    • kill-the-guy-with-the-ball

      Wow. I don't think I played anything half that violent when I was a kid--and I had a Nintendo.

      OK, well, I did have Super Dodgeball, and you did kill little computer men using balls--but then the guy came back two rounds later with brown skin and suddenly he was from India instead of Iceland. Nobody went home with cuts or bruises, either.
    • Reactionary politicians are vain, always trying for news headlines and personal power, never solutions to problems or citizen welfare.

      I wish USA politicians and the public would learn that war is never the right thing to do, but it may be necessary, and then should be ended as quickly and definitively as possible by attacking the politicians (dogmatist, religious, corporatist, ...) first, then cleaning up the devastating mess they made. IOW: Finish them and Finish it, because politicians can always be repla
    • To be fair - I almost cracked someone's ribs playing red rover once. Guy didn't want to move, so I moved him.

      But I can't see that kind of violent outcome in a game of Halo2.
    • First, Didn't the neo-nazi youths have this title all wrapped up before there were violent games?

      Back then, they weren't "neo-nazi", they were actual Nazis, or Hitler Youth [historyplace.com].

      There is some interesting original footage of various fascist (German, Italian, Japanese) youth activities in Capra's Prelude to War [archive.org]. It's eye opening stuff.

  • Reason? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by PieSquared ( 867490 ) <isosceles2006@nosPAm.gmail.com> on Thursday December 07, 2006 @05:36PM (#17153836)
    Can you say publicity stunt? Seriously, gaming in Germany is massive, and nearly every video game is violent in some way. Why don't they ban "tag" while they're at it, a game which encourages *actual* attacking of another human being in the game. I'm not familiar with German law, but I get the feeling this guy isn't elected. Why? Because so many germans play games and would be against it. This would probably be political suicide even in America, a country that seems more inclined to take away people's rights. Now, however, whoever the interior minister works for can point to this (probably) failed bill whenever a school shooting comes up, but then point at someone else whenever the bill is criticised. Some day people are going to realize that the people in school shootings got the plan on *how* to go about doing their crime from a video game *at worst.* The idea *to* do it came from themselves, from deep mental issues probably stemming from their parents or not having enough ways of releasing their anger safely (ever try video games for that?). If they hadn't gotten the plan from a game, they'd get it from a movie, or a book, or even (gasp) come up with their own.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      The U.S. beat them to the banning of tag
      http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15316912/ [msn.com]

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by mikeasu ( 1025283 )
      "Why don't they ban "tag" while they're at it, a game which encourages *actual* attacking of another human being in the game." We're one step ahead of you... http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-06-26-rec ess-bans_x.htm [usatoday.com] http://www.washtimes.com/national/20061018-114713- 2243r.htm [washtimes.com] http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/art icles/2006/10/18/attleboro_elementary_school_bans_ tag/ [boston.com]

    • I get the feeling this guy isn't elected. Why? Because so many germans play games and would be against it. This would probably be political suicide
      This guy is elected...
      By old people.

      • Re:you got it all wrong (Score:4, Insightful)

        by paeanblack ( 191171 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @07:51PM (#17156020)
        This guy is elected...By old people.

        More aptly, this guy is elected by people who bother to vote

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )
          Not entirely. He's more correct than he probably knew he was. Germany has a terminal population problem; the only think keeping their country afloat long-term is immigration. So it's entirely plauseable that "old" people are a statistically larger percentage of the population than the younger - just as it would be the other way around in a healthy civilization.

          At least one good thing can be said about such things: if the trend isn't reversed, at least their society will experience a short age of guaranteed

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hey! ( 33014 )
      I think this argument is an elaboration of the old standby: "nobody would be stupid enough to..." Unfortunately, stupidity is the one commodity of which we can be assured an unlimited supply.

      If you've watched enough quality American entertainment, you'll know that nothing is so hilariously inevitable as somebody saying "Nobody would stupid enought to..." being followed by the precisely act in question.

      See also: "Things couldn't possibly get worse.", and "Mayhem ensues."
    • "The idea *to* do it came from themselves, from deep mental issues probably stemming from their parents or not having enough ways of releasing their anger safely"
      And let's not even think to look at why they have so much anger towards their fellow students in the first place. They probably got the idea of hurting other students from being hurt themselves. Maybe we should look into why these kids feel that they have to go to such extremes. What is the right outlet for the socially ostricized and quitely bul

  • "Logic" (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Daemonstar ( 84116 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @05:40PM (#17153896)
    "It is absolutely beyond any doubt that such killer games desensitise unstable characters and can have a stimulating effect," Mr Beckstein said on Monday.
    Although true, I don't see how banning a game is going to prevent future violence. You can't apply that "logic" to other areas:

    1) Pretty females can have a stimulating effect on sex offenders (known and unknown), so will you ban women from walking in public?

    2) Good tasting food can have a stimulating effect on people with eating disorders, so will you ban good tasting food?

    How about doing something constructive and helping people recognize problems in their kids, providing free help to families with issues, and promiting good family relationships, instead? :P

    • Re:"Logic" (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Quiet_Desperation ( 858215 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @05:52PM (#17154136)

      Pretty females can have a stimulating effect on sex offenders (known and unknown), so will you ban women from walking in public?

      Or make them wear burkas. Might as well. That's where the EU will be in 10 years time anyway. The lovely streetwalkers of Paris will become a thing of the past. :-(

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by grammar fascist ( 239789 )
        The lovely streetwalkers of Paris will become a thing of the past. :-(

        If you had wanted to drive your point home, you might have picked a consequence that was actually bad.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by moerty ( 1030150 )
        Or make them wear burkas. Might as well. That's where the EU will be in 10 years time anyway. The lovely streetwalkers of Paris will become a thing of the past. :-( that's just an ignorant statement, in order for any religion in europe to ever get to the point where they control people's daily lives they'd have to survive multiple bloodbaths. europe isn't all peace and flowers you know, the past 70 years of peace are an anomaly and there have been longer peaces in europe which have degenerated into blood

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by cold fjord ( 826450 )
        Or make them wear burkas. Might as well. That's where the EU will be in 10 years time anyway. The lovely streetwalkers of Paris will become a thing of the past. :-(

        The Veil Controversy [weeklystandard.com]

        For Islamists, the imperative to veil women justifies almost any means. Sometimes they try to buy off resistance. Some French Muslim families, for instance, are paid 500 euros (around $600) per quarter by extremist Muslim organizations just to have their daughters wear the hijab. This has also happened in the United States. In

    • Although true, I don't see how banning a game is going to prevent future violence. You can't apply that "logic" to other areas:

      1) Pretty females can have a stimulating effect on sex offenders (known and unknown), so will you ban women from walking in public?

      You might be on to something. I'll have to see what our friends in Afghanistan -- oh, sorry, I mean Somalia -- think about that idea.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      This is Germany, there aren't any pretty women and the food isn't good. That's why they've evolved such great beer, to drink away their sorrows. ;) I kid, I kid...

    • Re:"Logic" (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Control Group ( 105494 ) * on Thursday December 07, 2006 @06:11PM (#17154436) Homepage
      2) Good tasting food can have a stimulating effect on people with eating disorders, so will you ban good tasting food?

      Yeah - luckily, that couldn't possibly happen, since that would be ridiculous. [nytimes.com]
      • Oh, come on. I'm no epidemiologist, but I'm sure there's stronger evidence for trans fats increasing risk of cardiovascular problems versus the risk of video games causing people to become more violent and possibly hurt another person. If we suddenly discovered that only violent video games were (somehow) causing the incidence of brain cancer to skyrocket, you'd probably see a lot of motions to get them banned. The OP clearly meant to ask if one would ban food that tastes good simply because it might induce

      • Re:"Logic" (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Hektor_Troy ( 262592 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @07:48PM (#17155964)
        And just what does banning trans-fat acids in food have to do with banning good tasting food?

        Such a ban has been in effect in Denmark since 2004, and I'm yet to see any restaurants close over it or any chefs complain that now they can't make their favorite dishes.

        Hell, even McDonalds got on board very quickly. And they've even announced their intentions of extending the restrictions on transfatty acids to all of their European restaurents - all 6,300 of them. Even Kentucky Fried Chicken announced similar goals (they have restaurents in Denmark as well).

        And all that without changing the way food tastes.

        Oh, wait. You were being obtuse, weren't you?

        What next? Going to complain that we don't allow odd things like, say, tar and mercury in your food due to health issues? I mean, people could just steer clear of the foods that contained that kind of stuff, right?
      • ...I don't know where to begin. Trans-fats don't, as far as anyone can really tell, contribute to flavor in any way. They are simply a more hurtful type of fat. More of the question comes into how does one process oils in a way that will not contain or allow removal of trans fats.

        Here is a snippet from the wikipedia article:

        "Because of these facts and concerns, the NAS has concluded there is no safe level of trans fat consumption. There is no adequate level, recommended daily amount or tolerable upper limit

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Lars T. ( 470328 )

      "It is absolutely beyond any doubt that such killer games desensitise unstable characters and can have a stimulating effect," Mr Beckstein said on Monday.

      Although true, I don't see how banning a game is going to prevent future violence. You can't apply that "logic" to other areas:

      1) Pretty females can have a stimulating effect on sex offenders (known and unknown), so will you ban women from walking in public?

      2) Good tasting food can have a stimulating effect on people with eating disorders, so will you ban good tasting food?

      How about doing something constructive and helping people recognize problems in their kids, providing free help to families with issues, and promiting good family relationships, instead? :P

      Your counter-logic fails because it ignores "desensitise unstable characters".

  • ...to have an identity Crysis... [gamespot.com]
  • AFAIK, Germany has no codified freedom of speech clause. Certainly there's quite a bit of censorship -- bans on nazi propaganda, for instance.

    In Germany, if a bill like this passes, it's probably enforceable. Whereas here in the US, it would be challenged on first amendment grounds.
    • Article 5 Freedom of Expression

      (1) Every person shall have the right freely to express and disseminate his opinions in speech, writing, and pictures and to inform himself without hindrance from generally accessible sources. Freedom of the press and freedom of reporting by means of broadcasts and films shall be guaranteed. There shall be no censorship.
      (2) These rights shall find their limits in the provisions of general laws, in provisions for the protection of young persons, and in the right to personal hon

  • The first reaction by government... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...is invariably an over-reaction.

    Surprised? Nope.

  • Sounds silly but ... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by terrymr ( 316118 )
    The USA did ban playing cards online.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Mad Marlin ( 96929 )
      Playing cards online is perfectly legal. Gambling, on the other had, is not.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by terrymr ( 316118 )
        Ever tried to play poker without the rounds of betting ... it becomes pointless very rapidly, the skill in poker is in the betting.
        • No, it becomes pointless because theres no incentive to play seriously in the first place. The game becomes even more boring when you can't actually look at a person's face and look for their "tell".

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by AxelBoldt ( 1490 )
        Gambling, on the other had, is not.
        Gambling in games of skill, like poker or backgammon, is indeed illegal. Gambling in games of chance, like the stock market, remains legal however.

  • What the State Really Wants (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jazman_777 ( 44742 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @05:55PM (#17154182) Homepage
    Is a throughly docile democratized (herd mentality) society. No one must be able to imagine or visualize "solving problems" by using violence, by himself. No one must be able to imagine that there even is a problem. I love this State! More soma, please!

  • Not "German Minister of the Interior" (Score:5, Informative)

    by mseeger ( 40923 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @05:55PM (#17154190)
    Hi,

    he (Beckstein) is not the "German Minister of the Interior" but the one of Bavaria (german: Bayern). Bavaria is the most conservative state in germany, ruled for nearly 60 years by the same party. He has been joined in his attempt by the minister of interior of lower saxony.

    The core of the prolem is the definition of "killer games". Since nearly all major politicians are 60 or older, they have nearly no understanding of the topic. They believe e.g. that Counterstrike is played with a joystick and the goal of the game to be "killing hostages". Usually, hearing them, i'm torn between laughing and crying.

    Regards, Martin

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      They believe e.g. that Counterstrike is played with a joystick and the goal of the game to be "killing hostages".

      What difference would it make if that were actually true?

      It's safe to say they have the correct basic idea of what a game is, though on specific games clearly don't know what they are talking about. But it's not an issue of the specific game content or why they are against game x or game y. Even if CS were all about killing hostages, should it be censored? We would of course say "no", but they say "yes".

      That's the issue that needs to be addressed, because their ignorance of specific games still doesn't exc

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Ihlosi ( 895663 )
      Bavaria is the most conservative state in germany, ruled for nearly 60 years by the same party.

      To you Americans: Think Texas. That's about how Bavaria is compared to Germany.

  • An once of prevention (Score:5, Interesting)

    by hey! ( 33014 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @06:36PM (#17154830) Homepage Journal
    is worth a pound of cure. We all know that.

    But what is seldom appreciated is how often that a pound of prevention turns out to be worth only an ounce of cure. Or less.

    The reason that the "ounce of prevention" strategy works is that it focuses you on simple, reasonable actions that accurately target the concern and produce few side effects. Like putting a lock on your door to prevent burglary. Now you could sit on your front porch and shoot at everybody who comes near your house that you think "looks shifty". There is no doubt a more vigorous preventive measure than locking your doors and widnows, but it isn't more effective.

    It really doesn't matter whether something is done before or after the fact, so much that the action be chosen to produce the results desired, and not much if anything else.

    And seeing as we've already triggered Godwin's law, I may as well raise the example of the Final Solution as an instance of the pound of prevention phenomonon. If people thought that the Jews where using their control of money to ruin the country, why didn't they simply pass a few banking regulation laws? Then nobody could ruin the country that way, Jew or otherwise. The answer is that the pound of prevention phenomon, like road rage, is driven by highly emotionally charged thinking. The kind that makes you act so stupidly that the only way not to die from embarassment is to do something even stupider.

    If you're so concerned with pathologically violent people, why not simply screen for them at various reasonable points? You provide mental health services at school to disturbed kids and training for teachers on how to recognize and deal with them. You screen people who have violent run-ins with other people before they go onto bigger and badder things. You run a public education campaign so people can recognize when their associates and familiy members need help -- maybe a few people will recognize they need help themselves.

    Will this get rid of all violence by disturbed people? No. But it will do a hell of a lot more than banning video games.
  • Gunther Beckstein is seeking jail time for violent game developers, publishers, and players.

    Jack? Jack Thompson? Did you finally piss off and leave us alone, only to change your name and harass another country?

    Sad, really, seeing these pathetic little old men who don't understand the modern world. At least "tubes" sounds harmless enough, but twits with passion about their delusions really need to step down and limit their ranting to yelling at kids to get off their lawns.

  • You know what causes the most school shootings... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Tokerat ( 150341 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @07:43PM (#17155892) Journal
    ...is all the media glamor and shock that is the result of school shootings. These kids want to "make a statement". They're so hurt or outcast and they shoot up their school to lash back and to make the world notice, as if to say "It's that bad here." It's essentially an act of terrorism.

    I'm pretty sure Islamic extremist groups didn't become violent from video games, but because they felt a need to lash out. The behavior is, plain and simple, unchecked immaturity combined with a little knowledge.
    • It also doesn't hurt that school beatings are pretty much ignored.

      It seems to be pretty much the accepted order in American high schools for the jocks to physically threaten and intimidate the other students. It never seems to make the news until one of the smaller guys gets a weapon and starts shooting.

  • FPS Doug (Score:3, Funny)

    by StarvingSE ( 875139 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @07:58PM (#17156106)
    Does this mean that FPS Doug would be made an international criminal???

  • Beckstein NOT germanys Minister of the Interior (Score:5, Informative)

    by euice ( 953774 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @08:35PM (#17156608)

    He is the Minister of Interior of Bavaria, and Bavaria is just one of 16 states (Bundesland) in germany. That's like calling Arnold Schwarzenegger president of the united states.

    And besides that, he isn't even very popular in germany (at least outside bavaria).

    To give you a picture of his political position: The conservatives (CDU) are the largest party in germany at the moment, althouth they are only supported by about 35% across germany.

    In bavaria, things are a lot different. Bavaria is so conservative, that the more moderate CDU is split into two partys. The party in bavaria is called CSU, so the rest of germany does not link the radical positions of the CSU to the conservatives outside bavaria.

    That works incredible well: the CSU dominates bavaria around 60% for decades, with political statements like the above. And Mr. Beckstein is often the one saying the radical statements.

    Shall I mention that Mr. Beckstein is a huge fan of the Bush administration whereas most germans are not?

    • Maybe I should add, that these these statements are not new.

      After the school shoot-out in erfurt 2002 the government introduced an age-rating on video games, although Mr. Beckstein and his political friends demanded the full ban of violent computer games.

      If you want a balanced report on this, read this article [itworldcanada.com]

  • He's actually the Interior Minister of the Free State of Bavaria [wikipedia.org]
    That's like saying he's the Attorney General of Texas, or something.
  • They're banning violent games eh!? Well, I'll show them! Just wait until one of those politicians shows their face in public. I'll put the reticule over their face and just keep clicking until their head explodes! Fear my clicking finger of death!

    But, first what's the command to bring up a reticule IRL? Mine's busted, I think. The graphics are decent, but the server must have wicked lag, 'cos I move really slow. Does anyone know the spawn point for ammo packs? I think I need to walk over one first before I
  • It is absolutely beyond any doubt that such killer games desensitise unstable characters and can have a stimulating effect.

    You want the single most compelling argument that this guy, and every other politician like him, are talking out of their asses?

    Try the U.S. government's own Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics graph for Serious violent crime by perceived age of offender [usdoj.gov].

    Consider that the serious violent crime rate (and murder if you check those numbers too) has dropped pretty much year

  • It's true!! (Score:3, Funny)

    by rlp ( 11898 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @11:41PM (#17158272)
    I've been playing a video game all evening. And I still have a desire to violently knock down ten defenseless pins with a large heavy ball. Sometimes even as many as 91. Though I've successfully managed to restrain the urge to destroy video screens with small flying white objects.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by meringuoid ( 568297 )
      I've been playing a video game all evening. And I still have a desire to violently knock down ten defenseless pins with a large heavy ball. Sometimes even as many as 91. Though I've successfully managed to restrain the urge to destroy video screens with small flying white objects.

      Me, I just have this uncontrollable urge to find a bunch of bunnies and start disco dancing...

  • Some clarification (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Fefe ( 6964 ) on Friday December 08, 2006 @04:45AM (#17159960) Homepage
    The guy is not the German minister of the interior, he is the Bavarian minister of the interior, and he is well known for this stupid publicity stunts. He is always at the forefront of demanding new databases, new surveillance, longer jail time for everything, more police and using the military to do police work. In short: the guy is a nutcase.

    He is doing it to make sure people don't notice all the scandals his administration is involved in, for example they just completely botched a police IT spending bill, wasted millions on new software which does not work. And his law and order state had issues with soccer hooligans.

    In short: the guy is a joke. Don't take him seriously.

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