Taperman articles

Today, AFP released that Brazil this week imposed a ban on popular role-playing computer games "Counter-Strike" and "EverQuest", claiming they incited violence and were "harmful to consumers' health." If they ban Grand Theft Auto or Manhunt 2 or something, I get with it. Are Counter-Strike and EverQuest violent games? I'm was puzzled. According to the AFP report, both games ( Counter-Strike and EverQuest) allow players, typically teenage boys, to connect online to fantasy worlds where they interact with other players, form groups and carry out joint missions usually involving combat. "Some psychologists have described them as addictive as drugs. A few players have turned professional, earning money from powerful characters they sell, or from the auction of hard-to-win virtual items." The ban was ordered in October 2007 by a Brazilian federal court, but was not immediately implemented. The judge, Carlos Alberto Simoes, ruled that the games encouraged "the subversion of public order, were an attack against the democratic state and the law and against public security." Should Brazil Ban Counter-Strike and EverQuest? What's your opinion?

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