A very interesting story has risen to the top of Reddit today.  A Korean high school student going by the alias of “KoreaUser” (seems legit) has created a post describing a new law Korea is attempting to pass.

The new law would classify video games as addictive substances, just like drugs, alcohol, and smoking products.  With this new found classification, video game companies would be forced to pay 6% of total sales as a tax for “medical purposes”.

Currently, there is a law called “Shutdown” active in Korea, which outlaws teenagers playing video games between 12 AM and 6 AM.

I think that video games can indeed be addicting, but so can anything. People claim that working out is addicting, and I agree with them.  However, are we going to put a sign on every gym that says “WARNING: WORKING OUT MAY BE ADDICTING!”?  Probably not.  Do you think that not playing League of Legends for a week is going to cause withdrawal symptoms like that of alcohol addiction?  I can almost guarantee it will not.  There is also a fine line between addiction and passion, which many people do not understand.  While I may play a video game for 3 hours or more a day, I can almost guarantee that the majority of people also do something they enjoy for that amount of time.  Whether it be watching television, reading a book, blogging, researching, or playing a sport.  Life is about doing things you enjoy, and if you enjoy playing video games, by all means do it.  If they start interfering with your daily life, then yeah, cut back a bit.

I sincerely hope that this law does not pass, as it would be a huge infringement on gaming companies and their fans.

Original Source:  http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1q0k7o/in_korea_gamedrugs_alcohols_smoking/