Rape games will be banned in Japan

Visual Novel Community Visual Novel Talk
#341

Feh… that blog post is semi-true. We gaijin aren’t 100% responsible. I agree with that. He’s dead wrong though, that a counter campaign is futile. If you’re just going to sit there and watch eroge get assaulted like this, you’re not winning any points by complain about others doing nothing, when you’re not doing anything either. I think he’s more angry that Japanese sites are blocking foreigners, and how OLF surmised,that Japan may ban the export of eroge (in fact looking at the petitions on some Japanese message boards, they’re exactly suggesting something this). If things don’t change, that seems like the next political move. EN says everyone in the world hates Japanese eroge. There’s no one else in the world arguing that, so then it must be true.

Eroge > Whales :stuck_out_tongue:

Besides… when it comes to eroge Japan’s political landscape is a house divided, unlike whaling where it’s 90% pro.

#342

A ban on exports of Japanese titles no longer seems to be an unreasonable scenario at this point. Politics is all about appearances. That most Westerners probably get Japanese eroge via piracy, and banning exports will likely have no effect on Western consumption, is of no concern to them. Banning exports would however take most of the wind out of the sails of radical feminist groups like Equality Now, as it pushes the issue into the shadows of the black market. At that point they could claim they’ve done their part for the rest of the world; if the world wants to go further, it’s up to them to criminally prosecute the black market users, they’d argue.

But that’s really only half the reason. The other half is that this kind of thinking appeals heavily to Japanese psychology. The Japanese mindset has always been very isolationist (although this is gradually changing). Blaming foreigners for the current media frenzy in Japan is just another way to vent their frustration. It’s easier and more satisfying to blame the whole mess on foreigners than admit that the true battle they must fight is against fellow Japanese.

Hopefully cooler heads will prevail before this scenario has a chance to play out.

#343

JLIST has exactly what we need then:

http://www.jlist.com/PRODUCT/SHIRT-BLACKSHIP

:stuck_out_tongue:

A little hypocritical don’t ya think? When nations like Australia, Canada, and the US have laws even more restrictive than the Japanese when it comes to cartoon porn?

Meh… I’ve sent off my own letters and I’ll do what I can, but if the attitude is just sit around and do nothing, people will get what they deserve. That being the case, I’ll just support a no-export ban on Japanese eroge, since that may be what’s best for Japan (it works for American arms trading). Given that Homeland Security is starting up a powerful Internet monitoring agency, and US law enforcement has discovered the power of obscenity charges (see how they make obscenity equal child rape? It will only get worst…), don’t think piracy will be the ultimate answer for long.

#344

Not at all. Hypocritcal would be blaming the Japanese for not fighting harder against the anti-eroge lobby (when I do little myself; American people does not equal me). I’m not blaming them (at least I’m not blaming them for not defending their hobby); I’m just giving my perspective on the situation. I consider myself apathetic by nature; I generally blame people for emotional / irrational reactions, not failure to react or be proactive.

#345

Heh¬Ö well be aware that if Japan makes the export of eroge illegal, that’s another easy charge witch hunters can slam someone with. It will be contraband to own eroge outside of Japan, because it’s illegal to send it outside their borders. Also downloading something constitutes as “transportation” under current US laws. I’m sure the same applies to other similar nations (I know it does for Australia):

18 U.S.C. §§ 1461, 1462, 1463:

Might I add that obscenity laws [u]ARE[/u] retroactive. Therefore what you already own has to be destroyed.

“More fuel for the fire,” as they say. Might be time to look for a new hobby… I might move to France and crash at OLF’s place. Hope he has room for 3 people. :wink:

#346

Hey guys and gals, the politicians of Japan have begun their ranting. Canned Dogs has summary translations of the events:

http://zepy.momotato.com/2009/06/27/sum … #more-2873

Some of them defend. Some of them accuse.

For those of us who can read Japanese, here’s the original source:

http://source-stat.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2009-06-26-1

Kinda funny how the original target of the feminists were rape games, but lolicon took center stage again. Goes to show that rape and lolicon - saved or banned - will probably be done in the same measure. That “UNICEF Representative” was there too. Also worth noting is how all the professors and criminal experts, point out how censorship has nothing to do with the real problems (basically saying what American researchers have also discovered).

#347

A topless guy is kiddy porn? I guess we’ll have to arrest any parents who take pictures at their sons’ swim competitions. This whole thing is absolutely nuts.

#348

The politicians who calls for bans are rediculous. Someone needs to email some topless kid picture to them so they can all be arrested for child porn charges.

#349

Someone needs to mobilize a campaign to get mothers in Japan in part helping our case. I wish that those politicians spouting off would take a moment to actually listen to and ponder what they are suggesting. Taken to extremes, what is being suggested would turn mothers taking pictures of their children in to criminals. Have a picture of your naked baby playing in the bath? Sorry, you are now considered a pedophile. It is absolutely absurd. Not to mention what Ojamajo mentioned. Probably one of the most absurd things, however, was what one of the “experts” said. Granted, my source is the translated summary, but until someone who has a better understanding of what was actually said can explain, I will continue to have a WTF reaction.

#350

Just found this video. It’s about videogame violence but I think it can be relative to this argument.

http://www.screwattack.com/myvidsdontsuck/Final/TheGameOverThinker

#351

Unfortunately that video is right. The eroge industry will become like the American comic industry in the 50’s. The two self-regulating bodies of eroge already caved in to the demand to ban rape, violence, pregnancy, etc. The Japanese eroge players are not doing anything to protest it either. I guess we’re really too niche for anyone to care.

#352

It is on there site:

?105-0013
??? (Tokyo, Minato-Ku, Hamamatsu-Cho, 1-2-14, Hamamatsu-Cho Youden building 5F)
??? ??? (General Corporation, Executive office of Ethics Organization of Computer Software)
??? ???(?)
??? ???(?)
??? info@sofurin.org

While i’m add it, here is the adres of CSA:

?166-0003?
??? 4-7-1 ???3F (Tokyo, Suginami-Ku, Koueinji-Minami, 4-7-1, Touwa Citicorp Koueinji-Minami 3F)
TEL.03-5929-1455???FAX.03-5929-2177
info@contents-soft.or.jp

#353

With Moonstone (though some foreign IPs are apparently still able to access it), we’re at 3 companies blocking foreign IPs. More, Erogmap (an erogee newsite) is doing the same~

#354

Here’s a short video of Penn Jillette has to say about rape games. I don’t really know who he is, probably just some blogger. But anyways, his arguement makes a lot of sense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ACSsUhFk7I

“Prosecuting thought-crimes is simply wrong”

#355

For some reason I couldn’t find that. Thanks.

#356

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8089811.stm

obscenity case in the UK involving some guy writing nasty torture-murder fic got dropped, yay. and while this article does find a feminist who wants to ban everything, they also quote Feminists Against Censorship. doubleyay.

#357

May not concern many here, but the world’s most populous democracy is fighting a recently proposed law that makes homosexuality criminal. Because… you know… it’s unnatural…

So that this post isn’t off topic, and everyone is mentioning various reading materials, might I suggest checking out [u]Bound and Gagged[/u], by Laura Kipnis, from your local library? No… it’s not an S&M book. :stuck_out_tongue:

#358

From your link, it appears to be the opposite. There’s been a call to repeal a law (currently in effect) that prohibits homosexuality. Which is probably even more ridiculous.

#359

Yea you’re right. I was reading it, thinking it was a recent law. Go figure… a culture that practically wrote the book on sex (Karma Sutra) does a 180 on it.

#360

We have more eroge maker IPs banning foreigners. :cry:

http://www.ciel-soft.com/

http://www.product.co.jp/

Visual Antena even give us an interesting message.

http://www.notcliche.com/lbw/more-eroge … foreigners