Dutch authorities are taking the US makers of Pokemon Go to court after the company failed to respond to pleas to stop hordes of fans flocking to protected beaches. Since the game was launched in The Netherlands, thousands of fans have been crowding the vast, windswept beaches of Kijkduin where hundreds of the game's most popular cartoon monsters spawn daily.
The smartphone app uses satellite locations, graphics and the phone's camera capabilities to overlay the cartoon monsters onto real-world settings. But the small coastal village of Kijkduin, south of The Hague, has been inundated with players, triggering concern for the protected dunes surrounding the beaches. The authorities now "want to ban these small virtual animals in protected areas and in the streets from 11:00pm to 7:00 am," the municipality said in a statement.
The case will be heard before a court in The Hague on October 11. "Kijkduin will remain an attractive place for Pokemon hunters, but there will be less trouble for the residents and the damage to protected areas will be limited." The Hague authorities have been trying to contact the game's makers Niantic since mid-August but without success.
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