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The Stop Killing Games initiative has hit a major milestone, but the fight's just begun

The Stop Killing Games initiative has hit a major milestone, but the fight's just begun

Yahooa day ago
A petition to preserve video game access recently achieved an important milestone of one million signatures, but it has two more challenges to overcome before reaching the final level. The "Stop Killing Games" movement reached a million votes earlier this month, meaning the European Union will have to consider adopting legislation addressing this issue. However, the petition first has to deal with the threat of potentially fake signatures and the resistance from major game studios and publishers.
The Stop Killing Games initiative, created by Ross Scott, aims to pass new laws to ensure that video games still run even when developer support ends. The petition was a direct response to when Ubisoft delisted The Crew from online stores, shut down the game's servers in 2024, and revoked licenses from players who bought the game. Scott and other critics felt Ubisoft's actions set a dangerous precedent for gamers who may lose access to their purchased games at a developer's whim.
Even though there are enough signatures to move to the next step, Scott explained in a YouTube video that many of these may have been incorrectly filled out, while others could have been falsely submitted. The movement's founder said, "This is not a change.org petition, this is a government process," adding that "spoofing signatures on it is a crime." To ensure enough legitimate signatures are collected, Scott said that there needs to be at least 10 percent more to cover the potentially invalid ones. As of July 6, the petition has earned more than 1.2 million signatures.
Beyond the signatures, a European advocacy group that includes major gaming studios and publishers like Electronic Arts, Microsoft and Nintendo released a statement opposing the movement.
"Private servers are not always a viable alternative option for players as the protections we put in place to secure players' data, remove illegal content, and combat unsafe community content would not exist and would leave rights holders liable," the statement read. "In addition, many titles are designed from the ground-up to be online-only; in effect, these proposals would curtail developer choice by making these video games prohibitively expensive to create."
In a longer report, the Video Games Europe group said that this initiative would "raise the costs and risks of developing such games," create a "chilling effect on game design" and "act as a disincentive to making such games available in Europe."
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Macron plans law to kill more French wolves

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Playbook PM: Trump turns to tricky treaties
Playbook PM: Trump turns to tricky treaties

Politico

time36 minutes ago

  • Politico

Playbook PM: Trump turns to tricky treaties

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China hits back at EU ban with ‘tit-for-tat' medical device restrictions
China hits back at EU ban with ‘tit-for-tat' medical device restrictions

Yahoo

time40 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

China hits back at EU ban with ‘tit-for-tat' medical device restrictions

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Crucially, the Chinese policy does not include products made in China, a major respite for device companies that have shifted to localise production in the country such as Siemens Healthineers and Philips. Philips' posted 33.3% higher losses for 2024 compared to 2023 in part due to weaker demand in China. The company previously stated that 90% of its sales in China is via local manufacturing, any impact of the announced EU ban will be unveiled in its next earnings release. As of November 2023, the Chinese market represented 15% of global revenue for Siemens Healthineers. A spokesperson for the company said the China restrictions are not expected to have a material impact on its business. Beijing's retaliatory restrictions mark the latest breakdown in life sciences relations with Europe, which have left the medtech industry reeling. GE HealthCare cut its 2024 outlook last year due to China's anti-corruption drive while Roche posted flat diagnostics sales in Q1 2025 due to pricing reforms in the country. Tensions between China and the US have also left the global medtech industry exposed to financial headwinds. Thompson says: 'The EU's drive to get more of an EU component to healthcare will likely drive up costs for the payers, and establishing local manufacture by Chinese firms, with an element of EU material input, might be the mutually beneficial solution. However, with frosty relations with the US, China might be looking to dump medtech products elsewhere at a reduced price.' "China hits back at EU ban with 'tit-for-tat' medical device restrictions" was originally created and published by Medical Device Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

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