Last week, Japan slapped export controls on the new Playstation2 video game made by Sony because the machine is so sophisticated it could be used for military purposes, media said on Sunday.
The state-of-the-art game system, which includes a DVD player and will eventually offer Internet access, is Sony's most profitable product. The console and its eight-megabyte memory card have been designated as "general-purpose products related to conventional weapons" because they contain components that could be used for military devices such as missile guidance systems, Kyodo news agency quoted industry sources as saying.
Playstation2 is the first game console to face export controls under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law, Kyodo said. The law requires the Trade Ministry's approval for the export of restricted products worth more than 50,000 yen ($472). Thus, the export of more than two consoles would be controlled because each is priced at 39,800 yen.
With these new developments having taken place, is it safe to say that technology may be getting a little bit out of hand? It wasn't too long ago that Frogger and Ms. Pacman were the hottest games on the market, offering two-dimensional graphics on systems that would be considered non-existent in today's ever-developing game market. It is amazing that we have come from that era into one where export laws are instituted on game systems that have nuclear technology.
So are we getting in over our heads? Sony doesn't seem to think so. On Monday, they downplayed export controls slapped on PlayStation2 which Japan's authorities fear could be diverted to military use. "We've said since the launch of the Playstation2 that it is an export-controlled product," said Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) spokesman Benjamin Guernsey.
"Underneath the Japanese export regulations, if you have a CPU (computer processing unit) of so much power and memory card technology of this standard you go above set guidelines," he said. "It's not necessarily because they fear it would be diverted to military or terrorist use, it's just that the product goes above certain technological standards which automatically mean it receives an export control license."
However, Japanese authorities believe that the console could be used in missile-guidance systems given its high-quality computer graphics and memory card. The government therefore designated the PlayStation2 (PS2) as a product subject to its Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law, Asahi Shimbun said.
With these fears, the typical stereotyping of Muslims has once again taken the forefront. Some Muslim and Middle Eastern countries have been targeted as dangerous to this type of technology. One country in specific that had been targeted is Iran. Sony's Guernsey commented on the issue, saying, "We don't officially sell the PlayStation 1 in Iran. The distributor who sells it in Iran and the rest of the Gulf is Sony Gulf," implying that if the Iranian government got hold of this game system, the first thing that would be done is use its parts to design nuclear weapons. "At this point we can't rule out the possibility that the PS2 will be sold there but it's not an issue at the moment," he concluded.
The export-control law stipulates a person who wants to take a designated product worth more than 50,000 yen ($470) to a foreign country should get approval from the Trade Minister. Anyone who wants to take two or more PlayStation2s abroad is thus required to get official permission as the consoles are priced at 39,800 yen each. The penalty for violating the law is imprisonment for up to five years or a maximum fine of two million yen.
Perhaps it's time to go to the attic and pull out those old Nintendo and Sega game systems. At least those wouldn't have any problem being sold in the Muslim world. Or would they?
