DOOM No Longer Considered Harmful To Children In Germany, Allowed Into The Country

from the did-they-allow-wolfenstein? dept

I've heard plenty of things about draconian anti-video game laws in Australia, but I had no idea that Germany had a "Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons," which had effectively banned such dangerous games as DOOM and DOOM2. It's not a total ban, as the game can be sold but with significant limitations, which did effectively ban such games. However, it appears that nearly two decades after DOOM came out, Germany has recognized that maybe DOOM isn't quite so harmful, and it's been removed from the "index" list. It's still being designated as 16+, but that, at least, allows the game to be sold in the country.

In the meantime, I'm fascinated by the idea of a Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons. It's like the official agency of moral panics, where hype and ignorance win out over any form of evidence. What a soulless concept.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: doom, germany, harmful to children


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • icon
    blaktron (profile), 2 Sep 2011 @ 1:28pm

    Department of HomeGame Security.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Sep 2011 @ 1:30pm

    "What a soulless concept"

    Well parents can't protect their own children, that would be to hard. What good is a TV/computer if you can't just plop a child in front of it and let em go nuts? That is why we have such committees, so we don't have to parent when it isn't convenient.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Pitabred (profile), 2 Sep 2011 @ 2:31pm

      Re:

      I find the concept of "protecting" children from experiences odd. You should be giving safe ways to have experiences, not protecting them from experiencing things. Otherwise you're basically kicking a lot of 18 year old emotional toddlers out of the house to sink or swim, and a lot of them will sink.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Sep 2011 @ 1:34pm

    Hmmm

    Is Wolfenstein banned as well?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Thanatossassin (profile), 2 Sep 2011 @ 1:45pm

      Re: Hmmm

      Yep! Return to Castle Wolfenstein as well. I distinctly remember the stern warning when running the demo about the game being illegal in Germany when I was a kid and thought it was due to all of the nazi references.

      This moment would only be so much better if a locked chest was unearthed, with dusty copies of doom on 3.5 diskettes being handed out to bewildered kids.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Sep 2011 @ 1:47pm

      Re: Hmmm

      Yes, but more so on it's imagery. Depictions of swastikas and other Nazi symbols are forbidden in Germany. Apparently the preservation of ostrich mentality trumps free expression.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Sep 2011 @ 1:35pm

    You made an error:

    "I had no idea that Germany had a "Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons," which had effectively banned such dangerous games as DOOM and DOOM2."

    you might want to check on that effectively's effectiveness.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      A Dan (profile), 2 Sep 2011 @ 1:37pm

      Re: You made an error:

      Banned them from being sold legally.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Sep 2011 @ 1:55pm

      Re: You made an error:

      There's literally a link that responds to this point directly in the sentence immediately following the one you quoted which leaves one with the impression that you stopped reading after the very first sentence. The article isn't even that long...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    front load washer smell, 2 Sep 2011 @ 2:06pm

    Doom

    I've played doom and other so called violent video games all my life and it doesn't make me want to commit crime or and violent acts on others.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Sep 2011 @ 2:40pm

    My cousin grew up as an army brat in Lars, Germany. When he was 12, he and his friends were not allowed in the local video arcade (needed to be at least 16), so they ended up spending their free time after school at the peeler bars...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Sep 2011 @ 2:55pm

    It's because of the nazi flag in the game, there are 2 Wolfenstein levels. Germany to this day can't handle the sight of a nazi flag, you can go to jail for the most frivolous reference to anything nazi. Not exactly free speech like their constitution states.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Sep 2011 @ 3:49pm

    Is Amerikkka really so different?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 2 Sep 2011 @ 7:41pm

    Probably have kids of their own and everything.

    DOOM No Longer Considered Harmful To Children In Germany

    Of course it isn't. Those kids are all grown up now.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    techflaws.org (profile), 2 Sep 2011 @ 10:48pm

    Pot, kettle

    In the meantime, I'm fascinated by the idea of a Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons.

    As are Germans by the fact the in the US you can show nipples on TV only when they are cut through with a buzzsaw. Reminds me of "The Big C" I saw yesterday with this dialogue:

    I saw someone sunbathing naked today.
    She was in her backyard, but still, I think,

    what if some kid looked over the fence.


    Imagine the damage done to the kid!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    WysiWyg (profile), 3 Sep 2011 @ 2:21am

    Isn't this why they make the blood green in games released in Germany? Or is that just a myth?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Luna Loof, 3 Sep 2011 @ 6:49am

    Last year an even more idiotic version of the treaty that shall protect children and youths from all things dangerous to their development in media was stopped. It would have made it nearly impossible to even set up a blog or forum under German law, as you would have needed to police all your own entries and comments in advance. They would have to have had tags like: Only if you are at least...6, 12, 16 or 18 attached and you would have to decide that on your own. You also would have had people stop seeing content only for the eyes of people over a certain age. Or it would have been only allowed to show stuff for people over 16 after 11 p.m. (in germany or where?!?).

    The sad thing is that it wasn't stopped because politicians realised that it was completely idiotic, but because in one county there was a political fight after a change of government and so the new government didn't want to be responsible for signing a treaty that the old one had negotiated. Even as their party in other counties has also approved and negotiated it.

    And it is not only forbidden to advertise media on it, but some of the lists may not even be published to prohibit those lists becoming advertisements.

    And it is also the reason, why there are no German porn companies offering porn to watch on the internet as they have to assure that it is not watched by people under 18. And it is not enough to ask for a pasport number or to make people pay with a credit card, but you need personal contact with them!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2011 @ 9:28am

    Guys, I think you are blowing this out of proportions. The BPjS (Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Schriften) is nothing but a rating agency that provides the ratings for TV, Movies and also Videogames, much like other organizations do in America and other countries as well.

    It just seems there is a very different opinion as to what is consideren harmful to kids. In Germany it is very prohibitive to visually kill humans, that's why some games come in a specific German localization, replacing human soldiers with zombies or robots, turning red blood into green fuel.
    On the other hand, German regulations are much laxer when it comes to sexuality, since really little harm can come to somebody by seeing somebody naked (I'm not referring to Porn here), at least not to people who own a mirror and might have looked at themselves at some point.

    The issue about banning Nazi symbols and swastikas is less about an ostrich mentality, we are well aware of them and what they stand for, it is purely designed to make it harder for ignorant people who actually think they were standing for something good and want to relive those days.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.