Hmm... what will the WTO say?

Dutch Homosexual Fights to Ban Gay-Shooting Game
By Jana Sanchez

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch gay activist is fighting
to outlaw the import of a U.S. computer game in which
the player can shoot homosexuals, junkies, dogs and
cats.

Henk Krol, editor of the leading Dutch gay newspaper,
has asked prosecutors to start court proceedings and
is lobbying parliamentarians to outlaw the game,
called "Postal 2."

"It is disgusting. In the Netherlands we have
anti-discrimination laws to protect people from
discrimination based on sexual preference and that
makes it easier to do something," Krol told Reuters on
Thursday.

Postal 2, produced by Arizona-based Running with
Scissors, is due to become available in the
Netherlands in late March.

Vince Desi, who runs Running with Scissors, said the
game did not discriminate against homosexuals.

"It's definitely not anti-gay. You know what? It's a
game – get over it," Desi told Reuters by telephone
from Tucson.

Desi said the player can shoot gay people but does not
have to do so, and does not win any points for
shooting anyone.

"In the game, the player plays the role of a character
called The Postal Dude. He lives in a town where there
are all kinds of people, white, black, skinny, fat,
straight and gay. You can play the game in a passive
role without killing anyone," Desi said.

"We are not political," he added.

POSTAL BANNED IN AUSTRALIA

Postal 2 is a new version of the firm's earlier game
"Postal." That game has been banned in Australia, but
Krol said it was widely sold in Dutch toy stores.

The target of that game was to eliminate hostile
elements and unarmed civilians in city streets, parks
and suburbs using a variety of weapons. The player
could exit the game by "committing suicide."

Krol says he is not certain the authorities will be
able to prevent Dutch residents from buying the game
from the company's Web site, but hopes his campaign to
prevent it being sold in toy stores will make buyers
aware of the game's content.

"A lot of these games are being bought by parents and
grandparents and one of our goals is to get people to
understand what they are buying," Krol said.

Desi said he did not believe a ban on selling the game
in the Netherlands would apply to Internet sales.

"I don't think anything would prevent people from
buying it on the Internet," he said.

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