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German gamers protest government's war on videogames photo

They've had all they can stands, they can't stands no more. German officials have been having a field day in targeting the games industry over the past few years, banning products at whim like capricious Gods. It would seem, however, that Germany is finally starting to go too far, and the seeds of rebellion have been sewn among the country's gaming population.

Things begun with a protest march, where an estimated 400 indignant Germans patrolled Karlsruhe to make their distaste for the government's actions known. This small demonstration is only the beginning, however, with a further three protests scheduled to launch simultaneously on July 25 in Cologne, Karlsruhe and Berlin.

In addition to this, a petition has been formed in the official forum of the Bundestag. Destructoid reader Christian wanted us to spread the word about the petition, and we're more than happy to oblige. If the petition reaches 50000 signatures, the authorities are bound by law to review the situation and discuss it with the people. The petition can be signed right here. If you're a German Destructoid member, we highly recommend that you do this thing. 

Anything, videogames included, can be harmful in the wrong hands. However, the world should not be governed based upon what could happen to the minority, but to the majority. Germany has forgotten this and is currently oppressing the rights of gamers to choose what they can and can't play. It's great to see that German gamers are finally doing something about this, and we wish them all the best.


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32 comments | showing # 1 to 32

DinnertimeNinja's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 20:35
DinnertimeNinja
Go Germany!

Finish the fight!
Cowboy TTop's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 20:39
Cowboy TTop
This is great news to hear, and it makes me proud to see gamers standing up for their rights. Go, german gamers. Power to the people.

Now, if we could just get aussie gamers to do the same, and we can stamp out these game hating beggars, that want to trash our way of life.
Takeshi's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 20:40
Takeshi
This is good news. I would totally do the same if I was German.

Give 'em hell!
Mirax's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 20:58
Mirax
Go german gamers!
Discarded Couch Sandwich's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 20:59
Discarded Couch Sandwich
Justice reigns supreme!!!

I wish them the best of luck in this struggle. Its always great to see the good fight being fought.
CocoJambo's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 21:16
CocoJambo
Get of your asses, you damn Germans! Blitzkrieg those motherfuckers!
TurboKill's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 21:23
TurboKill
Im in full support. Censorship at that level should be a crime against freedom.
I really hope this works & other countries take notice.

This paranoia against games is doing people no good.
Kalmah's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 21:40
Kalmah
Though I'm not German, nor anywhere near Germany, I still feel strongly for their rights and equality with the rest of the world. I will gladly sign for the sake of all the hardcore German gamers out there.
EdgyDude's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 21:55
EdgyDude
After all those insane news about Germany and games i was beginning to wonder if Germans were not humans but mind controlled sheep, glad it's not so, still lemme give my two cents, while protests give a public display of your opinion their effect against fascists governments vary greatly, if you really want to hurt or scare your politicians go for their positions: vote the morons out of them in the next elections, organize an internet campaign or web site pointing out who is setting the dumb laws and how to vote him/her and it's party out, it's amazing how they'll back down when they feel their jobs democratically and legally threatened to get taken from them.
spacecadetjoe's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 22:25
spacecadetjoe
edgydude gots the right idea. Grassroots action moves politicians.
Jon B's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 22:27
Jon B
So... I wonder if I used a German proxy...
Velt's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 22:39
Velt
I cant sign it because im not german.
Im in the EU but I dont think that counts, does it?

Good luck german gamers, please keep us posted.
WarZombie's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 23:17
WarZombie
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE GERMANS, RAGE AGAINST THE MOTHER FUCKING MACHINE.

Seriously though, I hope they can get to those 50,000 sigs to end this stupid censorship bullshit. When people's freedoms are on the line, they gotta fight to get them back. Way to go German gamers, and good luck to you.

P.S.

Can I sign even though I'm not German, or no?
t3chn1k4l's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 23:17
t3chn1k4l
I was born in Germany. Can I sign the petition.
817539's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 23:20
817539
Aren't internet-made petitions not included in laws? I read that somewhere I think. I'm not too sure, although if the forum is ran by the government then I guess it might make it different. Anyways, good luck german gamers.
Chronic Logic's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 23:36
Chronic Logic
Fight Da Powah!
Jack8274's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/08/2009 23:53
Jack8274
ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWAH!
Batthink's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/09/2009 01:22
Batthink
Get signing those petitions. Your gaming future depends on it.
dgschrei's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/09/2009 02:05
dgschrei
OK so let me get some things straight.
-Only German citizens can sign this petition.

-Normal petitions are excluded from this rule. But this is a petition on a server of our parliament the "Bundestag" and therefore counts for this law.

-@EdgyGuy Unfortunately our voting system doesn't work like this. We do vote for individual members of parliament in our electoral districts but we also have to vote a partie's list. Of course all those obnoxious hardliners are on that list. As long as the party gets more than 5% of the votes(which is the mandatory minimum to get into the Bundestag) people on that list will get into the Bundestag. Now just think there were three more small parties in the USA and as long as the GOP gets 5% of the total votes they are in the Congress. In a system like that you can't get rid of the big parties. It's embarassingly flawed. And the sad thing is you Americans helped create it and approved of it after WW2.
Subenu's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/09/2009 02:12
Subenu
Oh, well it's election time in Germany, so this stuff will happen more often.

@dgschrei
Yes, the german election system is flawed, but not as much as you might think. I guess that it still makes a huge difference who you vote for, and gamers can take an influence by doing a vote. If only vote participation in Germany would be higher...
SetoChaos's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/09/2009 05:16
SetoChaos
Good luck Germany =)
Patriot SE's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/09/2009 05:49
Patriot SE
Oh shit Cologne? I'm in Maastricht for the summer, I might have to head over there for the day and see whats up....
Patriot SE's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/09/2009 05:52
Patriot SE
Oh shit Cologne? I'm in Maastricht for the summer, I might have to head over there for the day and see whats up....
greks224's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/09/2009 08:18
greks224
"However, the world should not be governed based upon what could happen to the minority, but to the majority." I'm not trying to take your sentence out of context, but it seems like you're making a huge conjecture about the nature of freedoms in general, instead of limiting it to the effect of uncensored media (specifically video games). For example, should this statement apply to gun rights, minority races, or the poor?

Also, I'm glad Germany has a venue for the public to address grievances, despite the bureaucracy I assume they have to go through in order to do so.
Kaspar's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/09/2009 08:45
Kaspar
Germany's population isn't exactly what one would call small...

It shouldnt be a problem for gamers there to throw off a ~100k+ protest....
ShadowKirby's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/09/2009 09:58
ShadowKirby
So Aussies, when are you doing your protest?
Jon Bloodspray's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/09/2009 11:02
Jon Bloodspray
Sounds similar to the Canadian gov't, the party voting system I mean. Also, I know we can't sign the petition, but is there anything us non-German gamers can do to help?
Shaihya's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/09/2009 11:13
Shaihya
I suppose non-German gamers can only inform whatever German gamer friends they have that haven't heard of this yet to help.

Hopefully this will raise some awareness or at least start a more open minded discussion over media as well, showing opinions other than that "'killer games' make people run amok".

Going to sign this.
Elsa's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/09/2009 11:37
Elsa
It's good to see that the people are finally starting to be much more vocal on this issue!!
Warlock Vaati's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/10/2009 02:54
Warlock Vaati
I already signed it and it felt great to do so.
Come, my compatriots and sign this petition so that German gamers can life in freedom!
PixelMac's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/10/2009 17:47
PixelMac
You may want to know that there was also a petition against internet censorship (of course only against child pornography...).

Over 134.000 people signed it in less than 6 weeks (the 50.000 mark was reached after about 4 days). They all demanded do delete this stuff instead of block it.

Guess what happend.

First thing: Many politicians basically said that all those people support child pornography, demand free access to it and so on.

Second thing: They completely ignored the petition (at least the 2 largest Partys, but for them it doesn't matter what the other partys says.


And now we have a law to block child pornography via DNS manipilation. You can bypass this in just a few seconds.

Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NNG5I6DBm0



This petition will also be completely useless.
unknown user's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/10/2009 19:38
unknown user
This is so wrong...
The DNS blocking of internet pages with child pornography is 1000000bn times more disputable than the absurd producing and vending ban of video games with fictional violence against virtual beings.
That makes even the comparison of the petitions ridiculous!

In addition mentioned "petition against an internet blocking framework" was able to mobilze and to alert the public. As a result many people went through the registering process of the petition page and are now used to the signing procedure and to the petition process itself.

Most gamers are very lethargic beings when it comes to politics. The petition is the first real use of democratic tools against the political dispraise against
gaming and gamers in Germany. The petition is only the beginning. If it doesn't help we will protest, boycott and fight for our freedom!
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