South Korea's "Shutdown Law" Takes Effect

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

south koreans..

Y U NO PLAY OFFLINE!?!!?1

lol i have a feeling lots of ethernet cables will be bought in SK soon for lan parties across neighborhoods...

for real though, this is a bit...impending, if the parents allow it then obviously the government should piss off in this case.

 

[ResonanceSD]

When Parents Fail, the government steps in. Go Korea!!

 

[spectrenihlus]

Isn't this rather fascist? I mean restricting people's actual rights, to make them do their homework?

All the US states I've lived in have laws banning the sale of liquor in the early morning hours, e.g. 2am - 6am. Is that fascist?

Sure, alcohol and games are not the same, but they do have one important thing in common: some people get irresponsibly addicted to them.

Yes, yes it is. If I decide I want to sell something at 2am the government should not have the power to tell me not to. It's all about free will.

 

[spectrenihlus]

So that means no goldspammer in tradechat between 12 and 6?
HOORAY!

South Korea is not China. low content post filler

 

[4173]

Isn't this rather fascist? I mean restricting people's actual rights, to make them do their homework?

All the US states I've lived in have laws banning the sale of liquor in the early morning hours, e.g. 2am - 6am. Is that fascist?

Sure, alcohol and games are not the same, but they do have one important thing in common: some people get irresponsibly addicted to them.

The laws ban the sale of liquor, not the consumption of liquor. It really depends on just how much of this gaming is going on at cafes or other business.

 

[Nouw]

Good thing I didn't go to Korea this holiday

 

[Danz D Man]

I'm positive they'll find something else to do that isn't gaming, so this solves nothing.

If someone's truly "addicted," which I doubt is the case, they'll find something else. It isn't removing the one temptation, it's removing all of them, which this isn't doing.

It's also a scary violation of rights in my opinion.

 

[spectrenihlus]

So that means no goldspammer in tradechat between 12 and 6?
HOORAY!

South Korea is not China. low content post filler

-icwutudidthar.jpg
-differences between asians
-lol'd hard
lowcontentpostfillerinserthere

Don't make me go all South Park on you.

 

[PinkiePyro]

i can see why they would think this is a good idea but i question how it will be inforced

 

[Zoe Castillo]

im sure this law will be enforced using the Korean governments powers of clairvoyance .

 

[Double A]

I can't argue with their reasoning, but I can argue with how they're accomplishing their goals. Government intervention is very rarely a good answer, and this isn't an exception.

 

[mooncalf]

This just arrived; Law's target demographic completely overlooks Law's existence, too busy gaming.

 

[samsonguy920]

Will be interesting to see if this has any beneficial effects or the kids just find something else to do with their energy.

 

[geierkreisen]

You are aware that on-line gaming "addiction" is actually a serious problem in S. Korea right? A few example being the parents who let their kids starve to death because they were too busy playing games and the kid who pulled the monster marathon of WoW (I think it was WoW anyway) and dropped dead because he barely ate, drank or slept?

But hey don't let facts get in the way of your dismissal of a completely different country and culture, no just carry on shouting "Freedom!" I'm sure they'll pay attention.

So we should have a government body looking over our shoulders at all times to stop us hurting ourselves?

What do you think about extreme sports, or even just skiing or mountain climbing? Far more people die due to pursuit of those hobbies than videogames. I think we should demand permits for them. You can scream 'freedom' all you want, but people shouldn't be able to ever endanger themselves, because the nanny knows best.

As as for this 'different culture stuff', well, it makes no sense. South Koreans are humans, not some mysterious alien race with a different brain setup. Gaming is culturally a bigger deal there, sure. But you can't generalise a whole country and say 'their freedom should be reduced for their own good, because they have a different mindset to us'. That's only a few steps from European colonists deciding to 'civilise' the natives, because they're different and it's for our own good.

People have to be allowed to make their own choices, for better or for worse.

1. In every country with a working health care system, you have to declare if you do extreme sports and your insurance goes high up. Private insurance, on the other hand, doesn't even insure people with known (physical up until now) addiction problems. If you don't want the government to tackle the problem, the market WILL. Everybody needs people able to work.

2. Sleep deprivation is not lethal, but it is life threatening. Kids (generally) need a minimum of eight hours sleep per night to work off stress and lower insulin levels. Kids (and adults) that don't sleep enough get obese and depressed/unconcentrated. I've seen my fair share of hollow eyes each morning in class. It's like teaching wet flabby cardboard.

3. The "Freedom to do stupid things" you Americans go on about is not absolute. Not even in the US. Just ask pro-choice proponents, gay soldiers, and tobacco lobbyists. Different governments distinguish themselves among other things by which kinds of freedom they make accessible (NOT allow) to their citizens. This is how most European states can at the same time be more liberal AND more centralist than the US. And by the way, we in Germany are just now voting the only hard core libertarian party out of all communal and federal governments, because they have reduced themselves to nothing more than a bunch of corporate lickspittles and lust slaves. In a democracy people get what they vote for. Show a little respect for that.

4. Kids are not adults. In most European countries, kids can't be convicted under adult penal law. In all European countries, parents are legally responsible for the well-being of their kids. In ALL countries, corporations and other corporate interest groups are having their way with kids, bringing them in line via advertisement and market research. A government can try to step in and relieve parents from part of the resonsibility of raising their kids (just like school does every morning) without "taking away" kids from their parents.

5. and foremost: Get off your high horse. Democracy has been working before you came up with your Constitution (though a fine work it is). People vote. People change their lives by marking a name they trust with a cross. And people in other countries thankfully have more options to choose from than you and your corporate Punch and Judy show. Among them South Korea.

 

[DracoSuave]

i can see why they would think this is a good idea but i question how it will be inforced

In the case of PSN, it will be hard enforced by PSN itself through parental settings.

In other news, while I don't believe the LAW should move to other countries, the service that it forces PSN and XBox Live to develop SHOULD. Curfew filter for parents for their PS3? Actually... not a bad idea.

 

[Richardplex]

As an ex mmo player, and since this is to combat addiction to mmo's, I agree with the decision. Normally I'd be against this sort of thing, but it's obvious parents aren't doing anything. Besides, the time is 12-6am, that isn't in anyway an unreasonable time for under 16's.

 

[Phisi]

I don't like this that much... My friends and I often have LANs during the school term on weekends because some of us go away during holidays not to mention this is infringing on the civil rights of people but I am more interested in how they are going to enforce this, fine the parent or cafe owner or just tell them not to do it? And can the parent give consent for their child to play if say, they want to finish the Starcraft match that they were playing together in.

 

[emeraldrafael]

I can get behind the idea, but not so much the practice.

Then again, I cnat really think of a better way other than rationing internet on a month to month basis to a household you have to pay for.

...

Thouch I can some MMO companies being pissed about this law, since they may end up hearing complaints that they cant play the game at a certain time and they should have to pay less (though I may be over thinking or over assuming).