Electronics Retailer Sued for Selling Games

European customer electronics retailer Media Markt was sued by a Swiss politician for selling John Woo’s «Stranglehold». To be more precise, Roland Näf sued the manager of a local branch of Media Markt.

Now, I’ve never played that game myself. But it stands to reason that the graphics and effects aren’t particularly more violent than John Woo’s movies. This politician hasn’t sued cinemas or tv stations for featuring his films nor did he sue Media Markt for selling John Woo DVDs, despite the fact that the law he bases his charges on was specifically written for pictures both moving and static.

Now, the reason Mr. Näf is doing this is that he wants to see how effective this law is when used against video games. He states that Swiss law isn’t strict enough in that respect. Even though the video game industry voluntarily uses a system that prohibits selling overly violent games to minors, kids could still easily get their hands on them, especially since the law doesn’t forbid giving the games to them.

So Mr. Näf wants to ban video games from being produced or sold at all. He wants prohibition. As far as I can remember, prohibition never worked. People just started smuggling forbidden goods. And with games and the internet, “smuggling” games is so much easier than trying to fool customs officers. If people want their games, nothing can stop them.

What Mr. Näf didn’t think about: More and more people are playing games. The community is growing rapidly. And with the Swiss system of government being what it is, prohibiting games just won’t work. Not for long, at least.

Actually, he already tried to change the law but was turned down by the parliament. They said that the law as it is now was good enough and that no connection between video games and violent minors was evident.

Good to know that there are some politicians who actually think about the matter instead of lashing out irrationally.