[MUD-Dev] China practically bans online gaming

[Sulka Haro]

At 08:50 +0300 27.5.2004, Sulka Haro wrote:

> Two Finnish online versions of respectable IT magazines are
> claiming that China has banned all online games which don't have a
> written qualification from the cultural ministry of China.

Hi!

The news has reached the English language medias now as
well. There's a lot of articles about this as found by Google.

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3766023.stm

Quoting the BBC article
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3766023.stm) which is listed
at the top:

  "China is tightening controls on online video games.

  It has set up a censorship committee to monitor games following
  the banning of a Swedish game called Hearts of Iron, which
  portrayed Manchuria, Tibet and Xinjiang as independent nations.

  A previous Norwegian game, Project IGI2: Covert Strike, incensed
  officials for its portrayal of the Chinese army.

  The committee is charged with banning content that "could threaten
  national unity", said the state press.

  Future imports

  "Online games with content threatening state security, damaging
  the nation's glory, disturbing social order and infringing on
  other's legitimate rights will also be prohibited," said a Chinese
  Ministry of Culture statement carried by the official Xinhua news
  agency.

  In future only online games that are authorised by the Ministry of
  Culture can be imported.

  Games currently in China must be examined by the committee before
  1 September or the game operators will face punishment the
  statement said."

We live in interesting times. :)

sulka


--

:: Sulka Haro
:: Systems Designer, Sulake Labs
:: sulka.haro at sulake.com :: mobile +358 50 537 2874

Sulake Labs | Unioninkatu 13 | 00130 Helsinki, Finland
http://www.sulake.com | tel +358 9 681 2270 | fax +358 9 681 22722
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