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Games Your Rights Online Entertainment

Most Linux Games in Germany on Restricted List 27

Posted by timothy from the wie-alt-sind-sie-wirklich dept.
mocm writes "Starting on April 1st (no joke) most Linux Games in Germany are on the restricted list (no public advertising, no display, must be 18 or older to buy). That's because the new law requires an age certificate. Applying for the certificate requires a fee, which would be to much for the small publishers. There is a story in German at Linux Magazin and a statement by the online store Ixsoft, who even applied for a certificate for the game Uplink and have a list of restricted games." So it's not just Command & Conquer.
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Most Linux Games in Germany on Restricted List More

Most Linux Games in Germany on Restricted List

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  • Are there any countries thease days that are remotely livable, sensible laws nice climate (cool :-) and of course widespread broadband??
    probly somewhere around the netherlands im guessing?
    • Near the Netherlands? I thought you said "nice climate"?

      You don't mean Sealand, do you?
    • As a resident of Britain I can recommend... Switzerland and Norway. Both are not EU members, so they are free from requirements to implement DMCA-like laws and seem to be quite nice places to live generally. They seem like the kind of technologically advanced and well organised places that would have widespread broadband. Norway is quite far north and a substantial amount of Switzerland is cool due to high altitude.
  • So this means we can't buy the games which aren't sold?

    Why is this a big deal? Selling most GPL'd games would be illegal anyway if you wanted to make any sort of profit (of course, not all linux games are GPL'd, but those that aren't are usually availible for other platforms, as Uplink is)

    • Re:So what? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Selling most GPL'd games would be illegal anyway if you wanted to make any sort of profit.

      WTF? You can sell GPL stuff for profit. Read the license.

    • Re:So what? (Score:3, Informative)

      by John Hasler ( 414242 )
      > Selling most GPL'd games would be illegal anyway
      > if you wanted to make any sort of profit...

      This is not true. You may sell GPL software for whatever the market will bear. You are merely required to license the software to your customers under the terms of the GPL.

  • Shame (Score:3, Insightful)

    by rf0 ( 159958 ) <rghf@fsck.me.uk> on Monday March 31, 2003 @06:31PM (#5634031) Homepage
    The one area Linux really lags for me is games. I'm sorry to say but Windows does beat Linux here. Even with things like WineX [transgaming.com] things are still to patchy. I'm afraid that this isn't really going to help things.

    Rus
  • Same bullshit you get over here in the US with Anime to some degree.
  • Isn't that about how many commercial games are currently available for Linux?

    Seriously, why does this matter? Chances are more likely than not, the young impressionable kids who are being "protected" by this are using a Windows PC for playing games anyway.

    • Seriously, why does this matter? Chances are more likely than not, the young impressionable kids who are being "protected" by this are using a Windows PC for playing games anyway.

      And using it to play Gta3 no doubt
  • We should definitely embrace this idea, and extend it to books, movies, movies, pictures, sculptures etc.

    Won't submit your work for rating? We'll make sure kids don't be exposed to it by mistake and hurt their tiny little souls.

  • Damn! (Score:2)

    by cjpez ( 148000 )
    How are Germans going to find out about Frozen Bubble without being exposed to the huge volume of Frozen Bubble ads on TV and radio and billboards and.... What was that? Oh.
  • So can shops display linux distro's? (assumming it contains a game, which is most likely does)
    • I just think it'd be funny that if this were the case, then windows would also have to be certified as safe for all ages, since it includes such things as solitaire. Even better if they haven't yet been certified as such, and would have to be stuck in the 18 and over section :)
  • public book burnings while goosestepping morons parade for "Mein Fuhrer" come on now Germany,aren't you part of the free world after all, well aren't you? sorry about the trolling
  • I'm pretty sure neither nethack nor freeciv nor frotz is on the restricted list, so I guess I'm safe ;-)

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