DRM News

Last month, the Swiss Commission for Legal Affairs passed a resolution making it illegal to sell games rated 16 or 18 on the PEGI system to minors. The next step was for parliament to vote on it. They did so today, and passed the resolution. Okay, not so much a problem with that. That resolution wasn’t alone, however, and the friend it brought along is like that loud and annoying buddy who shows up somewhere that everyone wants to beat in to silence.

The second resolution sent to parliament for a vote was one banning the sale of violent and adult-themed games period. It doesn’t matter how old you are, you can’t buy them. It was also passed.

The Federal Council is asked to submit to Parliament a statutory basis, which allows the manufacture, touting, importation, sale and distribution of game programs, to prohibit, in which cruel acts of violence against humans and humanlike creatures for the game success.

Really think about that passage. That’s a very open statement on which to base the legislation that will now be written up to make these resolutions in to binding law. How far does this end up going? After all, isn’t Mario stomping on Goombahs a cruel act of violence necessary for his progress through the game?

For a bit of perspective, Switzerland is a country which features conscripted militias as part of its national defence plan. All able bodied males are required to serve when they reach the age of majority. The country is covered in bunker complexes and inert minefields that can be switched on if necessary. Every member of the militia is trained to use modern weapons, and given weapons of their own to keep at home. Yet that same person apparently cannot be trusted to play a game with guns in it.

How does that make any sense?