Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2011/11/29/sthkorea_gaming_curfew/
Sth Korean gamers suffer joystick curfew shock
Under 16s suffer Cinderella shutdown
Posted in Bootnotes, 29th November 2011 01:00 GMT
A ban restricting all South Korean gamers under 16 from playing online games between midnight and 6am is now in full affect.
South Korea, boasting the fifth largest broadband penetration rate, is the first country to implement the controversial initiative under the Youth Protection Revision bill.
The bill, variously known as the Shutdown Law or Cinderella Law, had been contested but was eventually passed.
At this stage the ban only pertains to PC and console based networked games including Xbox Live, PlayStation and multiplayer dominions such as World of Warcraft.
The government says that within two years networked games using mobile phones will be included in the ban.
The law was devised by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family after a spate of gaming induced social tragedies including a baby dying of neglect due to its gaming addicted parents and teen suicides.
In Australia, pressure has been mounting to include "video game addiction and internet addiction" in the next edition of the Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders, in a bid to get more government funding to treat and study the disorder (between a tabloid on a mission and researchers sniffing money, the push will probably be irresistible).
The Korea Association of the Game Industry said that mandatory shutdown system “allows the government to rule over families. It’s regrettable how the government has branded game publishers as those with ill intentions like those making drugs.” ®