Debian-devel-games trolling

A person posing as a new open source contributor, Nils Dagsson Moskopp aka erlehmann,introduced himself on the mailing list debian-devel-games.  Further discussions introduced the idea that a particular work of interactive fiction, "Unteralterbach" should be included in Debian.  Some list members played the game, which has content and plotlines which reportedly include disturbing in-game actions and graphic representations of sex with children. More discussion of this spread to debian-women and debian-legal.

It seems that there was no serious push to include the offensive game. But quite a few people wasted their time and energy having to argue about artistic representations of child abuse on a large open source project, since some list members defended the idea. In some cases, swayed by arguments about free speech, anti-censorship, artistic merit, and attempting to prove they were not prudish, people became co-opted into being participants in a disgusting joke, perpetrators of a needlessly hostile environment to a disturbing degree. The original troll was laying the trail for a long performative mailing list flame war. It is important to note the patterns here in order to recognize them in future.

Links

• Upstream: http://unteralterbach.net
• Harm done by discussion itself:  https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2014/03/msg00066.html

I ask everyone involved to take it into account that
we're hurting actual people that are part of the project just by
having this debate.

• Sam Kuper warns of censorship: https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2014/03/msg00039.html

My point was that if legal (in some jurisdictions) and literary
discussions of abuse are completely excluded from Debian, then an act
of censorship has been performed, which may itself be viewed as a real
- though different - harm.

• Bas Wijnen defends the game and its possible inclusion since Nils is a "well-mannered person". https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2014/03/msg00055.html  
• No serious consideration given to this by Debian core team: https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-games/2014/03/msg00016.html

Origin of the game: https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2014/03/msg00051.html

Bernd And The Mystery Of Underageville is a game by, and for, a
German-language 4chan-style image board, Krautchan.

Trigger warning (rape) - description of game 

https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2014/03/msg00051.html

This is a game where you play a paedophile. The aim is to rape local
little girls, whilst evading the authorities. Success is rewarded with
graphic scenes of sex with children, failure with being thrown in
prison. The sex content is only optional in the sense that you can out
yourself to the authorities and get thrown in jail rather than continue
with the actual game content. Where "game content" consists of a few
hundred drawn images of graphic sex acts with children. "