Illinois is considering "Pidgey's Law," which would fine developers of location-based games who do not remove virtual sites from their games when requested. "Pidgey's Law," which is named after a very common Pokemon found nearly everywhere throughout the game, was proposed after a Pokemon Go developer Niantic placed a Pokestop at the Loyola Dunes Restoration Site. The Pokestop's presence has resulted in more people visiting the area, which puts endangered wildlife at risk. Despite numerous requests to remove the Pokestop from the game, nothing has happened just yet.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
Cassidy said a couple hundred requests to have the Loyola Dunes Pokéstop removed have been filed in the last month, including requests from her office, the Chicago Park District, members of the Loyola Dunes Restoration Group and concerned Pokémon Go players. But they say Niantic has yet to act on any of those requests.
Phillip Davis, a member of the Loyola Dunes Restoration group who has filed several of those requests, said he is frustrated that he has not been able to talk to Niantic about the Pokéstop. But he is hopeful that the legislation could spark action.
“It’s hard to imagine that actual legislation like this won’t get the attention of people at Niantic and put them in a position to do something,” he said.
Niantic offers a form to request for a Pokestop to be removed if the location is deemed inappropriate. Pokemon Go used data from the game Ingress to create the various Pokestops and gyms, which is how locations such as the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Memorial and individual tombstones wound up as locations in the game. People have also had their personal homes be designated as a gym or Pokestop, causing minor annoyance.
While I wrote the other day about how Milwaukee County is attempting to get a permit from Niantic, this is a little different. The Pokestop is located in an area that isn't normally trafficked by people. If they've asked for the Pokestop to be removed, it should be removed.
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