Ubisoft accused of 'International Crime'

[Azazel]

Daniel Golding
06 Aug, 2008
PC News | Anti-war group accuses Ubisoft of violating international law.
GameDaily.com are reporting that Direct Action to Stop the War, a San Francisco anti-war group recently reconvened to mark the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, is accusing Ubisoft and the U.S. Army of breaking international law.

The group claims that America's Army, an openly-acknowledged 'recruitment game', is breaking the UN Optional Protocol on military recruitment for minors, of which the United States is a signatory. The game is rated for teenagers 13 years and older in the United States. In 2006 in Australia, America's Army: Rise of a Soldier for Xbox was rated M (not recommended for persons under 15 years of age, though not legally enforceable) by the OFLC.

In a letter to Laurent Detoc, Ubisoft North America's President, Direct Action said, "The military recruitment of children under the age of 17, however, is a clear violation of international law (the U.N. Optional Protocol). No attempt to recruit children 13-16 is allowed in the United States, pursuant to treaty. It is also important to consider the effects of the game within the context of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Undoubtedly soldiers now recruited through America's Army will serve in these wars. The invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan are violations of international law, and contributing to their continuation through the propagation of the game is, if not a criminal violation, a moral outrage."

Direct Action plans to protest Ubisoft's role in the game, and to ask for a public announcement of the end of Ubisoft and the U.S. Army's involvement in producing such games on August 6, in San Francisco.

Ubisoft has not yet commented on the claims.

Stupid shit like these fuckwits always make me want to go extreme the other way.

[Musashi]

I seriously think that some people in San Francisco exist purely for the excitement of the protest.  Don't get me wrong, I live in the Bay Area.  I also love it here.  But sometimes the mind reels at the shit they try to pull.

When they finally fit everyone neatly into their own personal box, it will be they who scream the loudest to be let out.

[lesion]

I abused the UN Optional Protocol on time-traveling to bring you this follow-up:

Satchmo Bronson
15 May, 2016
Cybox News | Anti-war group protest halted by the invisible hand of time.
Direct Action to Stop the War, a Newfrisco anti-war group, has revealed that they will not be protesting Ubisoft/US Army-developed America's Army.

This news follows yesterday's UN declaration of world peace.  Direct Action's spokesperson Farber Vntergleit said, "There was a delay in 2010 but we were on schedule otherwise.  I'm not sure exactly what happened, but we're still pretty angry."

Since war no longer exists, Direct Action to Stop the War has been evaluating their role in the global village.  "There are plenty of other violent games we can protest--we have our top guys working on finding a new area where we can be politically active six years behind the curve," Vntergleit said.

[MahrinSkel]

This is all based on a deliberate misunderstanding of the word "recruitment", which in the relevant treaties is defined the same as we would "induction", actually arming someone under 16 and placing them into a military organization.  Since the process of promoting military service is performed by "recruiters", and AA is referred to as a "recruiting tool", these dipshits find it useful to pretend they're exactly the same as giving a 13 year old an AK and sending him out to kill people.

--Dave