Good luck trying to catch 'em all in Iran. The country's High Council of Virtual Spaces has officially banned the Pokemon Go app, making Iran the first country to do so.
As for why, High Council of Virtual Spaces wasn't very specific. The BBC reported that the High Council claimed the game caused "security concerns," but it neglected to elaborate on what those were. We have our guesses, though. Pokemon Go can encourage players to get creative with their sleuthing at all hours of the night, which can prove troublesome. Trespassing concerns are prevalent, too—so much so, there's even a class-action lawsuit in the works in the United States centered on that very issue.
It's also possible that Iran wants to stop the "Pokemon effect" of tens (if not hundreds) of people all hanging out in the same area for hours at a time, or even the few cases where Pokemon Go players are robbed or assaulted when walking around Pokestops in particular areas.
According to the BBC, Iran was contemplating a ban last month, but officials were waiting to see whether the country could work with the game's creator, Niantic Labs, over potential restrictions. We're not sure what Iran was considering proposing—whether that meant preventing people from playing the game for too many hours each day or banning playing within particularly sensitive geographic areas, for example. Full story...
Related posts:
As for why, High Council of Virtual Spaces wasn't very specific. The BBC reported that the High Council claimed the game caused "security concerns," but it neglected to elaborate on what those were. We have our guesses, though. Pokemon Go can encourage players to get creative with their sleuthing at all hours of the night, which can prove troublesome. Trespassing concerns are prevalent, too—so much so, there's even a class-action lawsuit in the works in the United States centered on that very issue.
It's also possible that Iran wants to stop the "Pokemon effect" of tens (if not hundreds) of people all hanging out in the same area for hours at a time, or even the few cases where Pokemon Go players are robbed or assaulted when walking around Pokestops in particular areas.
According to the BBC, Iran was contemplating a ban last month, but officials were waiting to see whether the country could work with the game's creator, Niantic Labs, over potential restrictions. We're not sure what Iran was considering proposing—whether that meant preventing people from playing the game for too many hours each day or banning playing within particularly sensitive geographic areas, for example. Full story...
Related posts:
- Pokemon Go: When reality just isn't enough...
- Pokémon MANIA...
- Pokémon Go, the CIA, “totalitarianism” and the future of Surveillance...
- How playing Pokémon Go nearly made me lose my mind...
- Pokémon Go is using your children for walking ad revenue...
- Teacher gives up job 'to become full-time Pokemon Go player'
- Oliver Stone links Pokémon Go to totalitarianism during privacy debate...
- Trained for violence: how video games affect the brain...
- Pokémon Go and the coming zombie apocalypse...
No comments:
Post a Comment