Sex offender? No World of Warcraft for you!

reply to post by DarKPenguiN


What state are you in?

That's just plain ridiculous. Banning people that are on a registered sex offender list (which, IMO, shouldn't exist in the first place) is not the way to go about it. If their intent is to protect underage kids, then make these gaming platforms require that participants be 18 or over.

Come to think of it, don't you have to have a credit card to pay for these games and don't you have to be 18 to have a credit card?

Originally posted by loam
reply to post by DarKPenguiN

 

What state are you in?

Michigan. Great State (although we get a bad rap due to Detroit and Flint).

reply to post by DarKPenguiN




Indeed it does...

I just looked....the offense description is made available. I just pulled some random offender.

www.mipsor.state.mi.us...

I think it is good that someone is watching out for children in the gaming world. However, where are the parents in all this? Shouldn't they be responsible for teaching their children about the dangers of the internet, the type of people to be found there, know WHAT their children are doing online and WHO they are doing it with?

My 10 year old daughter knows that most of the people that call themselves kids on a specific game she plays are probably not kids or may have ulterior motives. She knows how to speak up and she knows where the "block" button is if someone makes her uncomfortable.

Why should the government and gaming companies be responsible for raising YOUR OWN children? What happened to taking responsibility for your own lives and those of the babies you chose to have, keep and protect?

Just my opinion. IDK maybe I am just getting old... or crazy.... probably a little of both!

only game i had heard of people getting in trouble for playing or anything like that was skyrim/oblivion with that weird nude patch installed which with the children in the game ended up amounting to child porno,i guess the world of war craft thing makes sense as in my mind i picture more young people playing that then alot of other games .star and flag op i had never heard about this before

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
Is this actually a law? Or is it an effort by gaming companies? If it's just the companies joining an effort, I don't see any problem, although I do agree that many people who are considered "sex offenders" don't belong on that list...

This is a law passed in New York. And anyone could potentially be marked as a sex offender. Recently, I found out that there is a chance you could be marked a sex offender if you happen to know someone is having sex with an underage (even 17-year old) person and don't do anything about it.

The O.P. is right - sex offenders could be anyone, even someone who pees in public while drunk. Does the punishment fit the crime? Probably not in all cases. And the laws vary drastically by state. Plus, you are labelled a sex offender for life and never get the chance to repay your debt to society.

How would they know anyway?

reply to post by loam


Does it say anything about sex offenders towards underage children or just sex offenders? People make mistakes, the sex drive is our biggest drive and some have had problems with it ranging from squeezing a strangers rear end (you will end up on the sex offenders list if convicted, to rape and everything in between including flashing.

Then the big one pedophilia.

But this is not differentiating between them. This like so many other things are happening because no one thinks anymore, they just react. Reptilians react, people think.

Lol I wonder how many customers Blizzard and these other companies are going to lose over this, ESP if other states do the same thing...loss of revenue isn't a popular thing...

Originally posted by N3k9Ni
Come to think of it, don't you have to have a credit card to pay for these games and don't you have to be 18 to have a credit card?

You dont need a credit card, you can go to a store like your walmart and buy a "game card" that gives you x amount of time in that game (think its 60 days game time although I'm not sure if there are cards with more time included)

Originally posted by loam
reply to post by DarKPenguiN

 

No doubt.

But don't keep me in the dark about what information I may consider as a parent.

When choosing a place to live, I want to know if one of these guys lives next door.

This argument is just so much crap. So you buy a house and two weeks later the sex offender moves in next door. What are you going to do, sell?

Since these people can't get jobs they move a great deal more than other people do. Sometimes they move because of the attitudes of others.

Either prove your 99% comment or withdraw it. There are so many stories, many in this thread, of people being shafted by this stupid system that it makes your 99% figure look as silly as it sounds.

P

Originally posted by loam
reply to post by thisguyrighthere

 

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
That's a fundamental difference in people I've noticed.

People are either okay with sacrificing a few to the mill for the system or they are not.

I am not. One wrongful imprisonment/branding/charge is too many. I have to side with liberty over "safety" every time.

Rubbish.

My support of this has nothing to do with my concern about improving the process.

Under your logic no government process would be possible, as abuse and unintended consequences appear in EVERY government process.

Should we do away with all prosecutions of crime because innocent people occasionally get convicted?

Of course not.

My point is merely this: 99% of the people on the list NEED to be on the list.

Should we fix the 1%? Absolutely. No arguments from me on that one. But good for these companies meanwhile that they are doing something to protect the children who play their games.

I find it interesting you glaze over the fact innocent people get caught up in the system because its a mere 1%...Making an excuse for the system/government as not being "perfect" yet rejecting the excuse of fallibility on the part of actual living breathing human beings.

What if those found involved and responsible for the wrongful accusal, conviction and incarceration of an "innocent" person were prosecuted and convicted for the crime of kidnapping and incarcerating an innocent being??? Should they not be held responsible as well?? are their actions "excusable"?? Or should they be given the same strict punishment as regular people on the street whose fallibility lands them on the wrong end of the "law"...??

There is no government or system without fallible people running it...and that is why the system is fallible...and all who commit crimes should be held responsible for them...whether they be a misguided and ignorant judge, police officer, lawyer, DA, etc...if they end up putting an innocent person behind bars they will trade places with them in order to balance those scales of justice they hold in such high regard...

I guarantee you less people if ANY will be innocently incarcerated if those responsible for upholding that end of the system were held as equally accountable for their actions as those they are persecuting...

Alas that won't happen thought will it...

maybe its clear now why people, such as myself loathe the government in pretty much every conceivable aspect...

It judges from a illegitimate pedestal...

reply to post by loam


Every time I pull up the list, no matter where I find the minority are child sex offenders. A very small minority I must say. So why ban the others for being on the list? Why would they lump the child molesters in with the adult molesters? The entire thing reeks of limiting rights to as many people as they can.

It is just to easy to get a felony these days and too easy to get on the list.

This is all about government control or they would fix it. Don't buy what they are selling.

reply to post by Helious


A pointless action.

I have 5 world of warcraft accounts.

None of them are in my legal name.

This backfires sometimes, but overall I find no reason not to. Even 5 years ago, I figured they would be pushing on less anonymity on these games.

I would be surprised if anyone here disagreed that many so-called "sex offenders" don't deserve the title and shouldn't be on any list. We can tell anecdotal stories all day long about an 18 year old guy and his siz-weeks younger 17 year old girlfriend getting caught, about somebody sexting another, or even outright fraud. It''s the result of an hysterical public and ridiculous interpretations of law. It's a dysfunctional system.

But

Pedophilia is real. We're not talking seventeen year old girls here. We're talking ten year old children, even younger. And these guys cannot be fixed. Talk to any psychologist, any corrections officer, anyone who deals with the hard core pedophiliac and they'll tell you these guys are incurable. They are "highly likely to re-offend." It's not just a matter of them having done the crime and served the time, therefore all is forgiven. Whether it is genetic, or the result of childhood trauma having been abused themselves, or just something wired up wrong, these guys are a menace to society and any children around them. In my state such a "Level 3 offender" can be locked up for life, regardless whether he has served his sentence. After incident after incident society as a whole has decioded to take the stance that society has a right to defend itself against sexual predators. These laws were nor formulated in a back room or a vacuum. They were formulated after intensive public pressure on lawmakers to "do something." just like the wave of gun laws today, exceot there is no Constitutional amendment protecting the rights of the pedophile.

Now, no one has the "right" to play World of Warcraft. The game is a private enterprise that DOES have the "right" to refuse service to anyone. It's just like ATS. You don't have the right to be here and you can be banned for the most trivial of reasons that aren't crimes by any stretch of the imagination. You have mod-cops swarming the place dinging you on language, "manners and decorum," or even the topics you are allowed to post about. Certain subjects are disallowed. If you even say, "Hey, visit my website!" you can have a thread removed for the "crime" of self-promotion. Although many people here dislike some of the "T&Cs" of ATS, few would suggest they don't have the right to enforce them.

It's the same with World of Warcraft. It is apparently a fertile hunting ground for pedophiles and WoW has the right to protect itself from the activity of these people. And yes, I have some sympathy for someone who really shouldn't be on a list like that. On the other hand, perhaps the 22 year old who took a 15 year old girl home with him should have asked a few more questions instead of allowing his hormones to lead him around. Taking a stranger home for a one night stand has all kinds of dangers associated with it. He managed to find one. They call it "jailbait" for a reason.

Most people on those lists deserve to be there. Sorry about the strays, but WoW has every right to kick them off.

Great Idea!!!

Let's get these guys off their computers and take their fix away, then put them out on the streets so that they can get some real action...

Reading through the last few replies, it's clear to me many of you are pretty misinformed on the subject.

First, there is no single uniform registry system in this country. There are in theory 50. Each state has a different process. Moreover, not all registrants are made public. In many cases, states only publish on the most violent or frequent offenders. Many states even make it the responsibility of the offender to register. In other words, there is no automatic registration process. (Pretty freakin' crazy if you ask me.) And almost all of them acquire this problem if the registrant moves to another state, as these registries are generally not shared between the states.

The notion that ANYONE can get on the list is laughable. This is not a widespread problem. Yes, the odd-ball case happens, and I support efforts to improve the process to avoid such travesties of justice.

I also favor limitation of the duration of registration...and oppose harassment of any kind of the registrants.

But all of these issues still do not persuade me that the those who NEED to be on the list shouldn't be on a list.

I'm generally a pretty reasonable guy. But where sex offenders are concerned- particularly perpetrators against children- I have very little (if any) sympathy for this group.

Sue me. It's just my opinion.

My point is this. I don't believe in punishing anyone for life. If they are going to have a registry and going to post your information online, there needs to be a limit and one that is set in stone should you complete all of the terms of your release. Hopefully for child predators, that is a lengthy amount of time with maximum efforts put forth in mental rehabilitation. I don't know how much faith I have in this and I still wouldn't be comfortable with my children next door to a pedophile but my convictions and beliefs tell me that as an American citizen, everyone has rights, even if they have been convicted of a crime. Sometimes it pains me to say it, it really does, but if I'm one thing, it's consistent in my beliefs.

People who have been convicted of sex crimes involving children should not be allowed to be online in chat rooms, in online games or anyplace else that they can engage in questionable behavior until such time as they have completed their required "Time" to society and it has been decided by their social worker or parole officer that it is safe for them to re enter society. If all conditions are met, I feel and flame away...... They should be removed from the list because the debt has been paid.

Others who are guilty of prostitution, public indecency, public urination, having sex in a car or a dive bar bathroom, sexting or those who moon their senior class on a buss should never find themselves on such a list or registry by any stretch of the imagination. Any measure of common sense would tell you that. Go a step further and ban those same people from World of Warcarft, think about that for a second and then you will realize why I authored this thread.

reply to post by loam


That is not laughable at all.The system is corrupt and most of the people on the sex offenders list SHOULD NOT BE on the sex offenders list, you are being ignorant. If you are marked as a sex offender you can not go to the park, can not go by schools, etc and the most important one is can not get a job. I am currently being charged with "Sexual Assault (RAPE)" although I did not do it. These cases happen all the time and are all unique.

To be marked as a sexual offender just for sexting is the stupidest thing I've ever hard. Do you honestly believe someone sexting should be marked as a sexual offender even though they are good people and would not harm a fly? Cases like these happen all the time like I said. Some cases are where an 18 year old is dating a 16 year old (which is normal...it's 2 years apart and their both in high school) and the parents get mad when they brake up and accuse of rape or anything to that extent. You sir are ignorant if you think 99% of the people should be on that list.

The way this works is a girl says a guy raped her even though he didn't and thats all it takes to ruin somebody's life. Have you ever heard of Brian Banks?

www.saveservices.org... www.nydailynews.com...
www.cbssports.com...
brianbanks.org...


False Rape Allegations may be more common than thought: www.foxnews.com...

I don't mean the widely-circulated '1-in-4 women will be raped in their lifetime' but a statistic that suggests '1-in-4 accusations of rape are false.'

Read more: www.foxnews.com...

Here is a girl claiming a false rape and admitting to it in an article: www.falserape.net...

Check out: www.falserape.net... it has tons of info


Here is another that I encourage you to read, this one is extremely sad: www.foxnews.com...

They need to remove the sex offender thing and actually make categories such as Pedophile. Peeing in public (behind a building, etc) should be something like indecent exposure not sex offender, it is not something sexual in any way, it is a need all humans have. They just need to break this stuff down into it's own categories because most of it is all BS.

I myself am innocent and am still currently under investigation over this false allegation. I've already had 2 panic attacks within 2 weeks over this. Alot of emotions ranging from anger to crying to depression and anxiety. Your image is ruined forever.

Please inform yourself before being ignorant. Thanks.