Thailand bans Grand Theft Auto after taxi driver killing

[quaxo]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080805/tc_afp/thailandcrimegamesit_080805140834

BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai authorities banned the Grand Theft Auto computer game on Tuesday, after a disturbed teenager allegedly killed a taxi driver in a copycat crime.

Following news earlier Tuesday that the game's distributor would no longer stock the game, Thai police told AFP they had officially banned it because of "obscene" content.

 "The police are empowered to immediately arrest shopkeepers if they find any GTA (Grand Theft Auto) games on sale," Ruangsak Jaritake, a police spokesman, told AFP.

"GTA is banned mainly because of its obscene content -- under the criminal law article 287 that prohibits reproduction, distribution or possession of such material," he said.

He said the police will work with the Culture Ministry to check that online gaming sites are properly licensed and will block websites which offer violent games.

Any game seller found stocking the game could be sentenced to three years in prison and a fine up to 6,000 baht (180 dollars).

Stricter penalties are in place for online sellers who could receive five years imprisonment and a 100,000 baht (3,000 dollars) fine.

An 18-year-old high school student has been charged with robbery and possession of a weapon, and could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted.

Police said the teenager had become incensed when he could not afford to play the game, which encourages gamers to kill and steal cars in order to accrue points.

The teen was arrested on Sunday after police found the bloody body of a 50-year-old Bangkok taxi driver slumped in his cab.

The Grand Theft Auto computer game series, which has sold about 70 million copies, has come under fire for its graphic depiction of casual violence, drug dealing and prostitution.

The New Era Interactive Media company, the only legal distributor of the games, said earlier Tuesday it would remove the game from sale in Thailand.

"We have stopped selling Grand Theft Auto and inform all legal vendors to withdraw the game from their shelves," the company said in an online statement.

"The company will not import GTA 4 (the next in the series) to distribute in Thailand," it added.

The company also warned people to be careful about the types of computer games they buy and urged friends and relatives of gamers to watch their behaviour closely when playing.

[stevejohnson1958]

I have only one thing to say about those who ban computer/video games because of "copy-cat" crimes...

It's not the game that makes a person do what he/she does...

The person was probably "mentally disturbed" to begin with.  Banning a video game should be the least of their worries.  However...it takes someone with power and probably a college degree to come up with this sort of "brainstorm" before viewing all the facts.

[computeruler]

i have some suprising stats for you

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/05/15/researcher-violent-video-games-do-not-lead-criminal-behavior
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2S32258420070302

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

There was once a case (a long time ago) where Counter Strike was banned somewhere because a teenager went to a park and shot like seven children in the head.
He was later discovered to be an excessive CS player.

Come on. How can you get 7 head shots without ever holding a gun? There has to be some other influence.

[!~*:.Pink Floyd.:*~!]

They banned it over one kid?

He must be hated.

[!~*:.Pink Floyd.:*~!]

ehh whatever
They still have 4chan dont they?

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

That was a long time ago, during the first Counter Strike release.

[quaxo]

What's not mentioned in the article from AFP but was mentioned in the Bangkok Post was that the boy had admitted to committing the crime because he wanted to know what it was like to do things from GTA in real life.

Violent games may not lead to criminal behavior in most children, no. Given the number of games sold (millions) and the number of "copy-cat" activities (few), that is a given without statistics or research to show it. If violent video games leads to violent behavior, there should be kids running around shooting people in the streets, running over people with cars, and blowing #### up.

It doesn't mean it doesn't happen though. Give an unstable mind the right trigger, and a person will do almost anything. Video games are no different than TV and movies, crime novels, or even comic books.

Guns, video games, movies, and comic books don't kill people. People kill people.

[!~*:.Pink Floyd.:*~!]

im gonna try toget World of warcraft banned from the US by burning down random builiding and throwing ice cubes at cars and then say im a lvl 70 Ice/fire mage specced.

[stevejohnson1958]

Wefro...

This one's for you:  http://www.saviourpc.com/forums/index.php/topic,15.0.html

 

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

LOL Nice

[quaxo]

Funny, I just came back from a shopping mall near me and they're still selling the PS2 GTA box set which has all the PS2 GTA games in one package...

[!~*:.Pink Floyd.:*~!]

Wefro...

This one's for you:  http://www.saviourpc.com/forums/index.php/topic,15.0.html

 

Lol!

About using the searchbar got to UG and see how often they make jokes about the search bar.

[Aegis]

Well, I'd like to know where that researcher got his stats that violent crime among the young is down...

City of Chicago Public Schools has over twenty children killed in a year...