Korea prohibits trade of online game items

Interesting article. Be interesting to see where EU falls with this. From reading this I would say that it doesn't fall into either of the categories outlined.

EU is a learning experience if you choose to go that path or you can play for pure entertainment either way I don't think that the Korean laws will prohibit users from "playing EU", but I grant, that is just my interpretation.

 

The law seems to be about curbing item farming e.g. by using bots so EU probably will be ok.

Having said that once a law is passed the bureacrats rarely understand the reasons behind the law and a game like EU may well fall foul to such bureacrats who enforce the law...

 

The be honest, i have always worried that EU would have problems with both civil laws and tax laws, i am still worried about that.

I think EU will have problems with the korean law above. "game providers will be unable to list in-game items in their accounts as property, or handout gift certificates for item purchases. In 2007, the then popular arcade game Sea Story handed out certificates that were quickly exchanged or sold for cash, and the government is concerned that a similar incident may reoccur."

Exchanging peds for money must be similar to "gift certificates" that can be exchange for money in my opinion.

EDIT: Okey it say "Arcade" games for that part, maybe they mean game machines it gaming halls? So maybe not a problem, but still worried about the Swedish law

 

I will just have to counter such biased criticism of gaming by not purchasing Samsung products. Makes absolutely no sense to me. Its because they are concerned about students. Lets just outlaw television and starbucks because both of those also take up the time of students. Sports is also taking up time of students, maybe we should outlaw that too???? Give me a break.

 

I have to disagree. I think you misunderstand their position. From my limited knowledge I get the impression in China and korea people take education very seriously. For example in China the problem they have in education is students studying too much. To such an extent that they loose out on their playtime and childhood. Children often study outside school hours just so that they get good grades. I think in Korea it's similar. You have to bear in mind, there 95% in exams may be considered a failure because it's so competitive. Most study very hard.

Comparing this with England. There is no match. In real life I work in education in England and from my experience it's the complete opposite. There is no pressure on students to do anything. I can go into the details of how that's come about but I'd have to write a book :) Basically in England liberalism, politics and the whole education system are all geared towards watering down requirements in order to get better grades. Many universities complain they cannot tell a good student anymore before allocating places. Think about it, why would that be? well simple answer is the grades don't mean much.

In the western world the situation is similar to England. The system will put pressure on tutors and little to no pressure on students. The system gives a lot of rights to students to such an extent that the balance of power is in their court. This has a negative effect on their education because we are all human and most of us need a bit of pressure to do the "boring" things.

So going back to your original statement :) You have the have to understand where they are coming from. In their culture they will do everything to maintain a situation where students work hard.

Both systems are extremes in a way and as such in my opinion both flawed. Intrestingly both are polar opposites to each other. In my opinion a system in the middle of these two extremes would be better.

 

Hi,

You don't need to start a boycott yet. Wait a bit, there's laws in place already in the E.U. (European Union, I'll use dots for this) as well as in the U.S. that could be similar dangerous to EU - maybe we'll have a hard time to buy new computers soon, without violating boycotts of countries that could possibly hurt EU ...

As he said. There are dangers already.

Let's have a look at:

E.U. and U.S. are actively fighting "money laundering", E.U. even thinks of outlawing anonymous paying systems like UKash and PaysafeCard - and EU is in a bad risk with it's system, especially with the lootable PvP. Most easy to utilize this with some 50 avatars PvP'ing, you could clean quite some thousands $/ EUR a day with a quite low loss. Deposit your dirty money with your "black" avatars, have them travel space at designated places and times, shoot them down using your "white" avatars & loot, withdraw - violá, clean money. Change roles every other day. Perfectly safe, you'll only see a bunch of PvP fiends depositing and withdrawing.
You'll see other countries join the hunt, sooner or later, and EU will not avoid to stay below the radar for all times.

Another thing is "the gambling", that many countries want to keep under their own control. It's big business, and they want their share of the cake. Korea joins the crowd:

Especially U.S. has drastic measures in place already for this. I'd not set foot on U.S. territory would I be a representative of MA, but - well, I'm a certified paranoid ;-)
Regarding the rise of religious fanatics in the U.S. this might get even stranger.
Well, now Korea joins the party, nothing to be seen, walk on ...
I'd not bet a single carrot that E.U. wouldn't join soon, too ...

Then we have systems in place to restrict "useless time spent". China is the leader here, Korea joining now - restricting play times. Wouldn't make me wonder that a Mrs. Bachmann, or, even worse, a Mrs. Palin would make this into a law quite quickly, too.
After all, we are born to get drilled as fast as possible, then to work as hard as possible, then to die quickly when useless - for the greater glory of the country, and for the bigger profits of those few that already are drowning in cash.
I've played SimAnt a lot, I know!

One thing I regard as positive:

A bot restriction in law! Awesomeness!
This is unique, this is a step into another age - whenever have games ever been considered in the law at all? This is something new. Besides the fact that with this MMo's are leaving the shady zone I can't see any negative with this, and even this might be beneficial.

This way, regarding some more jurisdictions, it's quite obvious that MA is playing a hazardous game. They are walking a fine line between allowed and not allowed, try their best to stay below radar, and not to awake sleeping dogs.

There's quite some things in EU that could be quite dangerous. But who cares about a game that only has a few thousand participants from all over the world? Not even Mrs. Palin would be so stupid to base a campaign on a game that nobody knows.
As long as there'd not be an huge marketing campaign, nobody cares.

And this is why we don't get such.

So, buy what you want. Korea didn't do more than other countries. They even introduced a unique thing, a legal opportunity for game companies to hunt botters.
Anything else isn't new. Scrap your iPhone, your PC, and half of your house electronics. And you'll still be supporting countries that are dangerous to EU.

It's not the laws that endanger our investments, it's the stupid politics of MA that helps and advocates money laundering, gambling and wasting your time. They made a game borderlining the laws. They also might recognize the writings on the wall and steer to less troubled waters. But who cares?

Have fun!

PS: I'm not Korean, I'm European.
PPS: I've omitted Russia, I just lack contacts there. But I'm quite sure, something
similar is in law there, too. Приветствую вас, и получайте удовольствие!