3 ms·

True, movies like Andy Warhols "Frankenstein" and "Dracula" or games like "UT" and "Q3", as well as, until now, "Doom" fall into the first, more common category

by FrojoS 15y ago

True, movies like Andy Warhols "Frankenstein" and "Dracula" or games like "UT" and "Q3", as well as, until now, "Doom" fall into the first, more common category, that you describe. But titles like "Mortal Combat 1-3" and "Castle Wolfenstein" fall into the more restrictive, where sales are completely forbidden.

Argorak 15y ago
If you read my post fully, I also mention the second category. If a court decides that the game, etc. violates laws in itself, they can be fully banned. That happened to Wolfenstein (display of Swastikas) and Mortal Combat as well as some especially brutal movies (prohibitions against excessive display of suffering). Whether you are okay with those things or not, those are standing laws enforced by courts. There is no institution in Germany that can ban a game without a court decision. Also, games that got a rating by the BPJM cannot be indexed retrospectively.
- jrockway 15y ago
  How do they ban a game when you can just import it from another EU country?
  - Argorak 15y ago
    Well, thats a completely different topic :). I for myself live right next to the french border and most media come in international versions nowadays... The ban is usually enforced by confiscating all copies that are in stores. Individuals are not prosecuted. Also, the customs take care that for example british sellers are not selling those goods to germans (and yes, they can be fined). So its not like it is a tight knit net, but it usually makes sure that you don't stumble on that stuff accidentally.
    - jrockway 15y ago
      I thought the EU was a customs union, so there were no customs checks between countries. Hence, the concept of contraband in one country but not in another doesn't really make sense. It's like when Illinois bans fireworks; people just go to Wisconsin and Indiana to buy them, and everyone has them anyway. (Oddly enough, I've flown from the US to the EU without ever being able to go through customs. I landed in HEL, had my passport stamped, and was allowed back into the terminal to wait for my flight to CPH. At CPH, there were also no checks, since it was an EU arrival. Very odd.)
      - joeyh 15y ago
        In my experience, EU borders are very easy to go thru without declaring anything. If you really want to there is IIRC someplace to go at HEL after the passport stamp to do it.. but it's very easy to miss.

by FrojoS 15y ago

Argorak 15y ago

If you read my post fully, I also mention the second category. If a court decides that the game, etc. violates laws in itself, they can be fully banned. That happened to Wolfenstein (display of Swastikas) and Mortal Combat as well as some especially brutal movies (prohibitions against excessive display of suffering). Whether you are okay with those things or not, those are standing laws enforced by courts. There is no institution in Germany that can ban a game without a court decision. Also, games that got a rating by the BPJM cannot be indexed retrospectively.

jrockway 15y ago
How do they ban a game when you can just import it from another EU country?
- Argorak 15y ago
  Well, thats a completely different topic :). I for myself live right next to the french border and most media come in international versions nowadays... The ban is usually enforced by confiscating all copies that are in stores. Individuals are not prosecuted. Also, the customs take care that for example british sellers are not selling those goods to germans (and yes, they can be fined). So its not like it is a tight knit net, but it usually makes sure that you don't stumble on that stuff accidentally.
  - jrockway 15y ago
    I thought the EU was a customs union, so there were no customs checks between countries. Hence, the concept of contraband in one country but not in another doesn't really make sense. It's like when Illinois bans fireworks; people just go to Wisconsin and Indiana to buy them, and everyone has them anyway. (Oddly enough, I've flown from the US to the EU without ever being able to go through customs. I landed in HEL, had my passport stamped, and was allowed back into the terminal to wait for my flight to CPH. At CPH, there were also no checks, since it was an EU arrival. Very odd.)
    - joeyh 15y ago
      In my experience, EU borders are very easy to go thru without declaring anything. If you really want to there is IIRC someplace to go at HEL after the passport stamp to do it.. but it's very easy to miss.