Now It’s Officially Official

CNET Japan reports what was already known to those in the know: Japan’s Ethics Organization of Computer Software has banned the production and sale of sexually violent computer games. Here’s my translation:

Screening Organization Bans Production of Sexually Violent Game Software

Emi KAMINO

2009/06/04 18:27

On June 4, the Ethics Organization of Computer Software (EOCS), to which 235 computer game makers belong, announced that it would ban the production of game software that portrays sexual violence.

The controversy surrounding game software that portrays sexual violence began when software produced by a Yokohama-based game software maker was listed on Amazon.co.uk, without having been approved by the British Board of Film Classification. In February, 2009, the British Parliament began to take issue [with the software]. In response, foreign human rights groups protested, calling for a ban on the sale of the software in question, and increasingly vocal demands for reform began to come from many different sectors.

In this context, the maker voluntarily ceased sale of the software. On May 22, the EOCS asked its members to voluntarily cease the production and sale of sexually violent software, and in recent days they decided as an industry to create a rule banning their production.

The EOCS says they plan to begin working out the details of standards used to define sexually violent software.

So there it is. I’ve already expressed my own opinions on the matter in earlier posts, and frankly I’m tired of arguing about discussing it, but I felt obliged to report on the official announcement. This will probably be my last post on the topic.