German Law to Blame For 18+ Rated Wii U Content Block In Europe

[Viper1]

wfz said:

Viper1 said:

I think you may have mised something.

Nintendo of Europe is bound by German law because it is headquartered there so all its operations in an online capacity are restricted to German law.

Other companies are not HQ'd there so the German law only applies to their sales in Germany.

Yeah, I'm still a bit confused. So...

1) Company A: Based in Germany, has to follow German laws for every country.

2) Company B: Based in UK, only has to follow German laws in Germany.

 

I don't understand that. Why do they have to follow German laws for distribution outside Germany? In the first scenario, it seems like the only law that matters is Germany's, since it's upheld then across all of EU. In the second example, only German laws are enforced in Germany, which makes sense.

They have to abide by the laws of all countries but the coutnry you operate from takes all priority.    So while a customer in the UK may buy a game online, they are still buying it from a German store.   That law applies to the store, not the customer.

With the reverse (PSN, for example), a German citizen would be bound by his local laws while the PSN store is bound by the laws of the UK.

S.T.A.G.E. said:
Nintendo will never step over the line, only third parties will. Germany only needs to worry about Sony and Microsoft if that is their problem.

Ninja Gaiden 3 and Bayonetta 2 might want a word with you.

Sommernacht said:

What sucks here is the application by Nintendo which I am sure could have been handled differently.

Differently how?

hunter_alien said:
Maybe they should move their HQ?

No matter how you put this, its still a fuckup from Nintendos part, and yet another reason why they will always remain behind their competitors, when it comes down to online services.

Move their HQ?  Just pick up several hundred Germans and repost them where?   And at what cost?  You make it sound like it's a simple thing to do.

And how is it a fuck up on their part?  They didn't write or enact the law.   If a major distributor wanted to sell alcohol in Saudi Arabia but the law won't let them, is that somehow the distributor's fuck up?