Question of the Day, October 5, 2010

[Andronicus]

I chose "No, works of art should never be banned", although I protest the use of the phrase "work of art". I think it should apply to the medium as a whole; no piece of media should ever be banned. Some games are in incredibly bad taste, a fact I don't contest, but it should be up to each individual to determine if it's relevant to them; if it's genuinely that bad, noone would want it, and it simply wouldn't need to be made. Obviously the proper precautions should be taken as well, such as inforced classifications.

I loathe the idea that somebody else should be given the power to decide what I can or cannot view/read/listen to/eat/touch/buy/do.

 

[Azuaron]

No, no no. It should not be treated as real child porn.

That
Would
Be
Stupid

Real child porn involves the molestation/exploitation/rape of actual children.

Rapeplay involves drawings, computer generated polygons and lights on a screen that look like cartoon children. That's it. There's no harm being committed.

This would be akin to saying GTA should be treated as a snuff film.

The creation of real child porn involves the molestation/exploitation/rape of actual children. Nevertheless, fake child porn is still illegal in most countries. From Wikipedia (because I'm too lazy to track down all the actual laws):

Realistic virtual child pornography is legal in the United States unless it is also judged to be "obscene" under a Miller test: prurient, patently offensive, and lacking serious value. In Germany, it is punishable by up to five years in prison. In the Australian state of Victoria, it is illegal to publish imagery that "describes or depicts a person who is, or appears to be, a minor engaging in sexual activity or depicted in an indecent sexual manner or context".

Despite no molestation/exploitation/rape of actual children, it is still illegal, in many countries, to create/possess virtual child pornography. This is because pedophiles who view child pornography (even simulated) are more likely to molest/exploit/rape actual children than pedophiles who repress those feelings and try to deal with their condition in other, healthier ways. In a similar fashion, RapeLay does the same for people who have rapist feelings, and it even fails the Miller test.

The strange thing about humans is they can tell quite easily the difference between fantasy and reality with violence, and violence in media does not encourage violence in real life. (Yes, I am a psychologist, BS and MS.) Sex in media, on the other hand, has a more complicated relationship. Most people are unwilling to seriously talk about their own sexual urges, and almost no one who has forbidden sexual urges (such as rape and pedophilia) is willing to talk about it. This leads to the closeted viewing of media depicting the forbidden acts, which, in turn, encourages people who might otherwise be able to control their actions to act on their urges.

If NOTHING good and LOTS of bad will result from a game, why should it not be banned?

 

[Sir Prize]

I'm all for the freedom of medians, as long as they are within good taste.

So in other words you aren't for free speech.

Not within the media, but that's mainly because the media doesn't have freedom of speech. I'm fine with people saying what they want but when people make something in poor taste, chances are they have done it on purpose. Most game designs KNOW what they can and can't get away with.

 

[Jesus Phish]

No sorry if you want free speech you have to tolerate people spouting ideas you disagree with, even racism.

I dont care about the biggots on the side of the road or in their white power meetings, but when it's put on a form of media that anyone can access it's a problem.

I also never said I wanted free speech. Free speech is too over zealously protected by people. Just because a game about a racist child rapist, in which you the player rape children while throwing hateful racist insults at them, is banned, doesnt mean "the man" is going to go on a rampage and target Hello Kitty island adventure next because it "gives players an unrealistic view of cats".

Oh yes definitely.

If a game is, for example, is in blatant favour of certain things, such as 'black superiority' or are in fact propaganda for hate, racism, etc, then such products should never be sold.

It saddens me that so many people here (like this guy) are not in favor of free speech.

There's a thing called responsible free speech mate.

Even in America, a country which is supposedly for 'the free', you will get arrested if you purposefully spread racism and hate.

I agree with this man here.

 

[Azuaron]

What's your source on stuff like rapeplay leading to more pedophilia?

I meant RapeLay would encourage rape.

Rape media studies [http://lmgtfy.com/?q=rape+media+studies]
Rape culture studies [http://lmgtfy.com/?q=rape+culture+studies]

Click on Scholarly Articles at the top. Read deeply.

An abbreviation (from Blackwell Reference [http://www.blackwellreference.com/public/tocnode?id=g9780631202899_chunk_g978063120289920_ss1-1]):

"...the portrayal of sexual violence in the media [has] been shown to contribute."

If NOTHING good and LOTS of bad will result from a game, why should it not be banned?

The bad here seems to be mostly speculative, and if some people can't handle it it's not fair to ban it from everyone.

As I mentioned above, I have two psychology degrees, both degrees of science. Everything I've said is backed by research.

And your statement that, "...if some people can't handle it it's not fair to ban it from everyone," is just silly. What if I stole your car? Can't handle it? Not fair to ban auto theft. Or if I lit your house on fire. Can't handle it? Certainly not fair to ban arson just because your can't handle it. Or let's get something that's actually more what you meant. What about libel/slander? Can't handle it? Not fair to ban it, right? Copyright violation? Patent infringement? Your statement, although I'm not sure you intended it this way, is a plea for anarchy.

ETA: This will be my last post on the subject, as I have more work than I can handle at the moment and internet debates [http://xkcd.com/386/] only fuel my unhealthy procrastination.