This nonsense in Thailand is going way, way too far. Ever since an idiot kid murdered a cab driver in an attempt to steal his car, Thai officials, as well as people in other parts of the world, have gone absolutely insane thanks to a weak connection with Grand Theft Auto. The latest ludicrous chapter in this farce is a Thai official calling for the prosecution of videogame makers whenever a “copycat” murder is committed:
When a player copycats a crime he or she sees in the game, the game maker should be prosecuted. Prosecutions will automatically force game makers to act more responsibly.
Yes, you heard that correctly. If this nutjob gets his way, it will become illegal to be copied. Now, since this official surely doesn’t want to be a complete hypocrite, he’ll have to do this properly: This would mean that in actual copycat killings, where one person continues the work of a known serial killer, the original murderer will get charged with all the crimes of his copycat as well, thus extending his sentence. Sounds absolutely retarded, doesn’t it? But Thailand should go through with it if it decides to make it a crime to be copied.
Why not, eh? Let’s make the actual killers feel even less responsible for their actions. They’re surely going to become well-adjusted members of society if they’ve been allowed not to feel guilty for the crimes they commit.
I really hope game makers steer clear of Thailand in the future. We’ll see how evil they find videogames when a nice fat chunk of their economy disappears.
