It has become a worldwide fad game, but Pokemon Go is also getting many people angry.
With people absent-mindedly walking into traffic, driving erratically, or bumping into other pedestrians as they walk with heads down, the latest incident involves a cemetery once again.
This one involves people walking over graves in British Columbia’s Lheidli T’enneh First Nation’s cemetery. It’s located in the central B.C. interior about halfway between the cities of Quesnel and Vanderhoof.
Kym Gouchie was visiting her father’s gravesite there when she saw several people walking around the site over graves.
She and others were angered that the creator of the Pokemon game, Californai-based Niantic (also Nintendo and Pokemon Co.) created a Pokemon game stop in the cemetery without ever asking permission.
Two months ago, Don Bain, Lheidli T’enneh member and executive director of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs wrote to the company complaining, saying, “Players are walking on graves of my community”.
This week Niantic responded that they would remove the game stop, and that the First Nations people should see a change soon
“Callous disregard of property owners” lawsuit
In Aug this year in the neighbouring province of Alberta, a woman has launched a class actions suit against Niantic who placed a Pokemon Gym at her house coordinates. She says people were looking through their windows and doors day and night, and even flew a drone over the property to play the game. Her dogs were barking at night at people lurking around and neighbours were complaining.
Her lawyer said the company had ignored requests to remove the gym location.
The lawsuit claims in part, “”Pokestops and Pokemon Gyms were established by Niantic with the callous disregard of property owners, and without prior consultation with property owners. As a result, the Class generally, and the Plaintiff specifically, have been inundated with hordes of trespassing players intruding and invading their privacy”.
Another suit was filed by an American in New Jersey after people kept knocking on his door asking to get into his back yard to capture a pokemon place there.
Still further east in Ontario, the city of Hamilton has had its fill of the Pokemon game.
This month the city has requested that all of the city’s cemeteries be removed from the game.
City councillors say they have received a number of complaints about people in the cemeteries playing the game.
In nearby Ancaster, a memorial to a dead child was a Pokemon stop where young people gathered causing some distress to the mother and nearby residents. That location was eventually removed.
Other major memorial locations like the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Japan, and the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington have asked to be removed from the app as well.
In a comment to the Associated Press in July, the company’s marketing director said the company is updating the app so it “respects the real world”.
Additional information-sources
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