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"Those new rules include a requirement that minors must receive parental consent to participate. And their winnings will be restricted.
At the same time, professional players will have an official “social status.” That will give them official recognition within France’s byzantine tax and social benefits systems so they can be eligible for things like national health insurance, unemployment, and retirement. The hope is that this will make it easier for people to create more professional teams in France, as well as drawing talent from outside the country."
Source: http://venturebeat.com/2016/05/03/french-government-announces-plans-to-legalize-and-regulate-esports-industry/
Sounds good, i wonder what other countries have this in place already?
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Also to be noted is the creation of the Association France eSports, basically the French KeSPA. Pretty cool to see that.
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Why must winnings be restricted? I am glad esports gets recognition but I fear government will start overregulating like always.
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I hope Fred is part of this!
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From the title, I almost thought esports was illegal in France until now.
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Doesn't "legalizing eSports" imply that it wasn't legal at some point? Obviously, there have been French progamers for years (even famous ones like Stephano). Things that aren't outlawed don't need to be *declared* legal... they just are. Or do they just mean that the government is going to start recognizing eSports as something more serious than just a casual game?
On May 03 2016 23:27 Mafe wrote: From the title, I almost thought esports was illegal in France until now.
Yeah the word "legalize" might not be the right word to use.
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every esport events in france were technically illegals indeed but tolerated by the prefecture
good news, for once we aren't that behind somewhere :D
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On May 03 2016 23:30 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:Doesn't "legalizing eSports" imply that it wasn't legal at some point? Obviously, there have been French progamers for years (even famous ones like Stephano). Things that aren't outlawed don't need to be *declared* legal... they just are. Or do they just mean that the government is going to start recognizing eSports as something more serious than just a casual game? Show nested quote +On May 03 2016 23:27 Mafe wrote: From the title, I almost thought esports was illegal in France until now. Yeah the word "legalize" might not be the right word to use.
On May 03 2016 23:27 Mafe wrote: From the title, I almost thought esports was illegal in France until now. LANs in France were illegal.
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On May 03 2016 23:41 OtherWorld wrote:Show nested quote +On May 03 2016 23:30 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:Doesn't "legalizing eSports" imply that it wasn't legal at some point? Obviously, there have been French progamers for years (even famous ones like Stephano). Things that aren't outlawed don't need to be *declared* legal... they just are. Or do they just mean that the government is going to start recognizing eSports as something more serious than just a casual game? On May 03 2016 23:27 Mafe wrote: From the title, I almost thought esports was illegal in France until now. Yeah the word "legalize" might not be the right word to use. Show nested quote +On May 03 2016 23:27 Mafe wrote: From the title, I almost thought esports was illegal in France until now. LANs in France were illegal.
Oh wow. Why?
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On May 03 2016 23:54 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:Show nested quote +On May 03 2016 23:41 OtherWorld wrote:On May 03 2016 23:30 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:Doesn't "legalizing eSports" imply that it wasn't legal at some point? Obviously, there have been French progamers for years (even famous ones like Stephano). Things that aren't outlawed don't need to be *declared* legal... they just are. Or do they just mean that the government is going to start recognizing eSports as something more serious than just a casual game? On May 03 2016 23:27 Mafe wrote: From the title, I almost thought esports was illegal in France until now. Yeah the word "legalize" might not be the right word to use. On May 03 2016 23:27 Mafe wrote: From the title, I almost thought esports was illegal in France until now. LANs in France were illegal. Oh wow. Why? Because the law was not changed for esport tournaments. It was not legalized but only tolerated.
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What law would that be that would cause esport tournaments to be illegal before? I think I can speak for the average non-French person that we are thoroughly confused by the situation.
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I'm no expert on this, so anyone feel free to correct me, but wasn't it because eSports tournaments were not considered as sports tournaments but as lotteries? And since lotteries in France are generally illegal [as per Code de la sécurité intérieure, L332-1 : "Lotteries of all kinds are prohibited."], with exceptions being allowed...
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On May 03 2016 23:58 andrewlt wrote: What law would that be that would cause esport tournaments to be illegal before? I think I can speak for the average non-French person that we are thoroughly confused by the situation. it is actually said in the article OP linked
"However, until now, esports have technically been considered “lottery schemes” and thus restricted and in some cases prohibited, depending on the structure"
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On May 04 2016 00:03 Makro wrote:Show nested quote +On May 03 2016 23:58 andrewlt wrote: What law would that be that would cause esport tournaments to be illegal before? I think I can speak for the average non-French person that we are thoroughly confused by the situation. it is actually said in the article OP linked "However, until now, esports have technically been considered “lottery schemes” and thus restricted and in some cases prohibited, depending on the structure"
Thank you
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On May 04 2016 00:03 Makro wrote:Show nested quote +On May 03 2016 23:58 andrewlt wrote: What law would that be that would cause esport tournaments to be illegal before? I think I can speak for the average non-French person that we are thoroughly confused by the situation. it is actually said in the article OP linked "However, until now, esports have technically been considered “lottery schemes” and thus restricted and in some cases prohibited, depending on the structure"
Yeah, I saw that. Was there an actual ruling that esports are covered by the law or was it just assumed that esports fall under it but the government will not bother enforcing it?
The reason I'm asking is that in the US, there is a distinction made between games of chance and games of skill. Needless to say, there is a shitshow currently going on about daily fantasy, which is pretty much gambling but its creators are trying to pass it off as a game of skill, which would be legal.
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On May 04 2016 00:27 andrewlt wrote:Show nested quote +On May 04 2016 00:03 Makro wrote:On May 03 2016 23:58 andrewlt wrote: What law would that be that would cause esport tournaments to be illegal before? I think I can speak for the average non-French person that we are thoroughly confused by the situation. it is actually said in the article OP linked "However, until now, esports have technically been considered “lottery schemes” and thus restricted and in some cases prohibited, depending on the structure" Yeah, I saw that. Was there an actual ruling that esports are covered by the law or was it just assumed that esports fall under it but the government will not bother enforcing it? The reason I'm asking is that in the US, there is a distinction made between games of chance and games of skill. Needless to say, there is a shitshow currently going on about daily fantasy, which is pretty much gambling but its creators are trying to pass it off as a game of skill, which would be legal. There was no ruling assimilating eSports to games of luck, but it was assumed that it fell under that category.
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On May 04 2016 02:38 OtherWorld wrote:Show nested quote +On May 04 2016 00:27 andrewlt wrote:On May 04 2016 00:03 Makro wrote:On May 03 2016 23:58 andrewlt wrote: What law would that be that would cause esport tournaments to be illegal before? I think I can speak for the average non-French person that we are thoroughly confused by the situation. it is actually said in the article OP linked "However, until now, esports have technically been considered “lottery schemes” and thus restricted and in some cases prohibited, depending on the structure" Yeah, I saw that. Was there an actual ruling that esports are covered by the law or was it just assumed that esports fall under it but the government will not bother enforcing it? The reason I'm asking is that in the US, there is a distinction made between games of chance and games of skill. Needless to say, there is a shitshow currently going on about daily fantasy, which is pretty much gambling but its creators are trying to pass it off as a game of skill, which would be legal. There was no ruling assimilating eSports to games of luck, but it was assumed that it fell under that category.
French law restricted games as long as money is involved, even if skill-based. See www.legifrance.gouv.fr (in french). - Any "lottery" is forbidden - Any scheme where a price is attributed based on luck or partially based on luck, where the participants have to pay to participate is deemed a "lottery" - Law also applies if game is skill based - Law does not apply to promotional offers - Law does not apply to traditional village "bingo" (as defined by the law) - Law does not apply to games within the scope of carnivals (as defined by the law) - Law does not apply to television/press games (as defined by the law)
The new law (www.assemblee-nationale.fr (in french)) states (article 42) that the lottery restriction will no longer apply to videogames competitions ... and that the government will define within 6 months what "videogame competitions" mean within the legal framework. (Definition for videogame already exists in www.legifrance.gouv.fr)
The newly created organization will be part of those definitions.
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