EU proposal could 'stifle' games 欧盟提议可能“抑制”游戏发展

The future of games development has been called into question after the EU Commission suggested developers provide a two year guarantee.

欧盟建议游戏开发者提供两年保证，游戏发展的未来是个问题。

Tiga say the EU proposal could make developers 'overly cautious'

Commissioners² Viviane Reding and Meglena Kuneva want to expand the EU Sales and Guarantees Directive.

Dr Richard Wilson, head of the video games developers' association Tiga, said a balance between consumers and developers was needed.

"They have to be careful not to stifle³（窒息，抑制） new ideas," he told the BBC.

"Consumers need good quality products - that is only reasonable - but if the legislation is too heavy-handed（严厉的，手辣的） it could make publishers and developers very cautious.

At present, licensed⁴ software is exempt⁶ from EU legislation that forces firms to offer "a minimum 2-year guarantee on tangible⁷（实体的，明白的） movable consumer goods".

"Games takes years to develop and software teams often have to predict what new technology will be in place when the game is actually finished," said Dr Wilson.

"If there is an onus⁸（负担，义务） on developers to have software that is 'near perfect' then it could stifle new ideas as people could end up just playing it safe," he said.

Change

Helen Kearns, spokesperson for Meglena Kuneva, said the commissioners wanted to kick start a dialogue with the software industry.

"The current status quo, where licensed products are exempt from（免除） EU law, is unsatisfactory," she said.

At present, retailers⁹ are not obliged to（不得不） give a refund¹⁰ on a video game that has a bug¹¹ or glitch¹²（小故障，小失误） that prevents a user completing a game. If the proposals become law, this could change as users would have the right "to get a product that works with fair commercial conditions".

Ms Kearns accepted that this assumes honesty on the part of users and that the system could be abused by people playing the game for a few weeks and then taking it back with a fraudulent（欺诈的，不正的） fault.

"On the one hand there is the risk of abuse, but on the other it's not a good enough reason to say basic consumer protection should not apply."

 Meglena Kuneva is the European commissioner¹ for consumer protection

Not good

The Business Software Alliance, which represents many software firms, including Apple and Microsoft, said the proposals - in their current form - would not work.

In a written statement for the BBC, the BSA's director of public policy - Francisco Mingorance, said:

"Digital content is not a tangible good and should not be subject to the same liability（责任，债务） rules as toasters. It is contractually（合同地，契约地） licensed to consumers and not sold.

"These contracts are governed by civil law that provide consumers with multitude of remedies（救济方法） for breach¹³ of contract. We are not aware of any shortcomings of the legal frameworks with respect to digital content."

The proposals would also see an end to regional license⁵ agreements for software sold within the EU and "end the fragmentation of laws on 'private copying'".