South Korea has abolished its law preventing minors from gaming too late into the night. The "shutdown law," as it was called, banned anyone under 16 from playing games between the hours of midnight and 6 AM.
The law was passed as part of the Youth Protection Revision Act in 2011 following a rash of deaths in the mid-to-late 2000s related to MMO addiction. One man spent 50 hours playing Starcraft at an internet cafe before dying of a heart attack. The law was intended to ensure children get at least six hours of sleep every night.
As reported by Kotaku, both PSN and Xbox followed the law and took their console networks offline for underage players between the hours of midnight and 6 AM. Additionally, fines of up to 10 million won (roughly $8,500) and up to two days jail time were possible if caught violating the law.
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South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced early today that the law would be abolished in favor of a "choice system" that allows parents and children to request gaming permits for certain hours.
“For youths, games are an important leisure activity and communication channel,” said culture minister Hwang Hee (via the Korea Herald). “I hope that the preventive measures can respect the rights of the youths and encourage healthy home education.”
The ministry added that the effectiveness of the ban had been waning in recent years as teenagers spend less time gaming on consoles and computers and more time gaming on phones where the shutdown law did not apply.
"Also children's internet use is mainly for watching video clips or using social media rather than playing games," the ministry added in a statement.
Now the only country with a curfew on gaming for minors is China, which recently implemented a new facial recognition system to prevent kids from bypassing the curfew.
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