From the New York Times:
On Monday, the Ministry of Culture issued a notice banning online games that feature Mafioso kingpins, marauding street gangs or any sort of hooliganism predisposed to organization.
The decree, which promises “severe punishment” for violators but fails to specify the penalties, also prohibits Web sites from including links to Internet games that glorify organized crime.
Such games, the ministry said, “embody antisocial behavior like killing, beating, looting and raping,” and their availability “gravely threatens and distorts the social order and moral standards, easily putting young people under harmful influence.”
By Tuesday, a number of popular games, including “Godfather,” “Gangster” and “Mafioso Hitman,” had been excised from the ether, although scores of other violence-laden games were still available.
See also past posts on online gaming.
