The German government wants to take more decisive action against online fraud in the future. According to a new draft law, all forms of "illegal and unfair advantage and resulting disadvantage of innocent people" should be banned. This also affects the world of video games.
According to the draft, from 2021 Hacks and cheats punishable in competitive PC games will. Aimbots and the "Infinite amount of money in GTA Online" cheat are specifically mentioned. If all key bodies agree to expand fraud paragraph 263 SCC, the new law could enter into force on April 1, 2021.
However, the exact sentence for gaming fraud is still up for debate, according to Steffen Seibert, spokesman for the federal government. A first penalty catalog speaks of "15 minutes PC ban" for minor offenses such as "throwing" matches. Cheaters with particularly serious crimes, for example "grief plays", ie a combination of aimbot and so-called "shittalking" or "flaming", expect up to "72 years in prison".
Merkel: "I don't feel like it!"
The Federal Government published the entire draft law, which the specialist press already calls the "Git-Gud Initiative" (GG for short), at the same time as a statement by Chancellor Angela Merkel, which is visibly affected by the ongoing wave of cheaters:
"Germany has stood for hard but, above all, honest work for decades, my dear fellow citizens – and that must not, cannot and should not change, especially in the digital age. But I am speaking not only to you as Chancellor, but also as a person I feel like you. I don’t want to deal with unfair cheaters in the end of the day, who just shoot me with a headbuckle from a kilometer away with a headie out of the mountain. That’s dishonorable. We all have one Right to a couple of casual rounds of Warzone or Fortnite in the evening, without malicious fraudsters robbing you and me of the fun. That is why we, as the federal government and I, as an Xbox Live subscriber, are fighting for a fair game culture. "
South Korea is a pioneer in the fight against gaming fraud. The development and distribution of cheat software has been illegal there since the end of 2016.
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How exactly law enforcement is supposed to take place in video games is obviously not yet certain either. The Federal Criminal Police Office could, however, theoretically be expanded to include a "digital cheat tracking department", which would then hunt for fraudsters in particularly relevant games. Numerous large publishers like Ubisoft or Activision, who have been fighting cheaters in their games for years, are enthusiastic about the initiative and have already pledged their support.
