Arizona bill would hold content creators liable

by Ross Miller on Apr 7th 2008 1:30PM

A new Arizona bill aims to take on the entire media industry. House Bill 2660, which passed the state House of Representatives last month, aims to make a person "liable for damages if the person produces, publishes or distributes written, audio, video or digital material" that is deemed "dangerous or obscene." Such wording could apply to books, websites, video games, movies, TV shows and Numa Numa.

While the bill sounds ridiculous to the point of fiction, it is causing many to be concerned -- for example, who decides what is dangerous and obscene? The Video Game Voters Network has issued a call to action over the bill, and representatives for the MPAA and the Arizona Newspaper Associations have taken issue with it.

We at Joystiq aren't too worried. Should the bill pass, it would logically self-destruct, seeing as it is also dangerous and obscene written material.

[Via Game Politics]

Source

Tags: arizona, book-burning, censorship, content, hb-2660, hb2660, law, legal, mpaa

Reader Comments (64)

The first amendment is there to protect against this kind of legislation.

The second amendment is there in case the first amendment fails us.

I see what you did there.

And the third amendment is there to keep soldiers from squatting in our homes.

Well, being an Arizonan (Arizonian?..Argonian?), this is something that would highly effect me, being a freelance photographer/videographer. I don't purposefully make obscene material, but I do what I need to get the point of the piece across.

And yes, the first amendment is there, but nobody seems to give a shit about the second amendment anymore. People take it out of context so much and so far as to say that it only relegates to a 'state militia' and not an individual.

Sometimes I hate the way our government is run. Other times, I'm damn glad I'm an American.

Strange - FYI, people do care about the 2nd, and the Supreme Court has finally listened to a major case on it. The transcript: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/07-290.pdf

Its actually a pretty good read, but I read legal crap all day, so others may disagree.

They are set to decide this issue around June.

Strangebum, even worse is this thought....

Charles Manson was "inspired" by lyrics from The Beatles....

Under this law, the same group of people who financed an advertising campaign which said "Give peace a chance" would be found guilty of inspiring the deaths there.

Good read, Nato. I think the transcripts make it look good for Gun owners. Still going to be a close vote, I think.

"It would logically self-destruct, seeing as it is also dangerous and obscene written material."

Too awesome.

Fuck the constitution, who needs it!?!

Am I right?

Good job Arizona, step in the right direction!

The rest of us need it all though people like former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales are given the power to wipe themselves with the constitution after dropping a deuce.

That being said since this bill could apply to books, and books have traditionally been THE single most protected media (even book stores have special legal exemptions from cooperating with law enforcement granted through courts and legislation) expect this legislation to fail quickly.

and yes I realize you were using sarcasm there but any time I get an opportunity to voice hatred for Alberto Gonzales I can't pass it up. Wow that man was dumb.

Someone save Luigi.

*facepalm*

I apologize for Arizona's lawmakers being idiots. Not everyone here is a stone cold desert moron though.

we coo!?

Oh my god, Luigi's Mansion, totally forgot about that game, it was a launch title for the Gamecube right?

I think so. I recognize all the stuff in the fire... save for the media item(videogame? CD? DVD?)with a black cover. And I can barely see the text... -squint-

My guess from left to right:
MGS3:SUBSISTENCE (obviously I'd get that ;D), LUIGI'S MANSION, ELECTRIC SIX (hilariously good rock CD), and I *think* that's IN FLAMES.

That other one is a book, House of Leaves. Cos, you know, a house made out of leaves would burn, right? Isn't that what the book is about?

*Read book*

Ohhhh...nevermind.

ah, cool. :] thanks for the heads up!

You've got to be kidding me. What is it with election year politics and the need to appeal to the teeny-tiny demographic of illiterate, uneducated conservative voters who hate all media? "Deemed danger or obscene"? Deemed by whom? Damages to who, and for what? Vague and overbroad, it would have no shot but if it we lived in Bizzaro World it would certainly scare the producers of every reality show on MTV and anything that ever aired on the WB. Although in Bizzaro World "Elmo" would be dangerous and obscene... I give up.

Unfortunately this idiocy isn't just a problem with conservatives. Both sides are using games as a political tool for votes.

Yahoo! Games has an article concerning all of the current candidate's views:
http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/play-the-vote/1182822

Hillary is as always thinking of the children:
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/11/20/clinton-and-other-senators-ask-esrb-for-review-over-manhunt-2/
http://www.joystiq.com/2005/11/30/clinton-legislation-goes-to-congress/

If they have any clue about the Constitution or about recent court findings over similar laws, why do lawmakers continue to waste our time and taxpayer money on trying to pass such BS laws? They are just going to be shot down. What a bunch of morons. They are wasting their own time and everyone else's.

So they can look strong on the "protecting the children" issue. Nevermind that they turn up looking weak on "protecting the constitution" issue.

But voters don't care about the constitution. Its way to complicated to understand. But protecting the children? Even total morons have children.

I would love to laugh and say "ha-ha" but I live in California...

In other news, content creators have stopped selling anything in Arizona.

More on the 10pm show.

Death of a Salesman made me kill a salesman yesterday. Time to hold Arthur Miller and the local Playhouse liable.

Haha. You bring up a good point. "Obscene" media has been around ever since egyptians started drawing stone dildos on walls. So what do they think they're trying to accomplish here? Oh right, they're trying to appeal to the head-in-the-sand christo-fascist conservatives who think that GTA is responsible for the downfall of society.

So whens The Decline of Western Civilization: The Bush Years documentary coming out?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1175491/

I read Oliver Stone is rushing to get it finished before the next US president is inaugurated.

Oh, will that ever be trash.

FIRE IN THE DISCO!

In Soviet Arizona, DISCO IN THE FIRE!

FIRE IN THE TACO BELL!

FIRE AT THE GATES OF HELL!

DANGER DANGER!! HIGH VOLTAGE!!

But seriously get these guys into Rock Band NOW!!!

WHEN WE TOUCH!

GO NINJA GO NINJA GO

Arizona was the only state to vote against a holiday for MLK. That should tell you something about the makeup of that state.

Furthermore, John McCain voted against this and now regrets it, like the presidential wanna be bitch he is.

Hey thanks troll, for lumping us Arizonans with that outdated fact. The people who voted against that 15 years ago or so are the ones in office now pulling this stupid legislation.

Fun fact: Arizona defeated a gay marriage ban in 2006's ballot, the first state to do so. We're not all hicks, thanks.

LOL. OK, my apologies to the new generation of Arizonians. Fight the good fight.

I redirect my comments to the legislature of the State of Arizona.

Arizona did, however, pass a law to allow firearms to be carried onto college campuses, a bill which was originally intended, according to Newsweek, to include K-12 education as well

On the plus side, though, Arizona does ignore the stupidity of Daylight Savings Time

If you're going to generalize about anybody Texas is just two states over and they actually deserve it. Sheesh.

House of Leaves! Zampano! You guys seriously need to read some books sometimes... It's a pretty freaky book about this house that's bigger on the inside than the outside, and how it sends the people who live in it crazy.

It was a book that was created out of some internet forums of a guy pretending to be a guy who was writing about a guy. Precursor and inspiration for the Blair Witch.

Never heard of it prior to this article -- but I'll definitely give it a read in the near future.

'Tis an awesome book.

I'm actually reading it now and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes having their heads f***ed with.

Similar pics were posted on the internet in the Fall of 2001, when people sadly discovered that Luigi's Mansion actually -was- the Gamecube's launch title.
I...I was one of those people.... I'm sorry... it still hurts...

OMG, this bill is the best of the bunch in legality but worst in usefulness. Very little media will ever be found to cause imminent action because of the delay between the production of and consuming of the material and any action that may or may not have been caused by the material. Even if Timmy started killing people because he played GTA last year, THAT'S NOT IMMINENT! Imminent acts of terrorism is used when someone is inciting a riot in the street or something similar.

The best this bill has going for it is the definition of obscenity, which is the standard way it is defined. The criminal intent required in A3 will pretty much absolve any publisher of liability.

I wouldn't be surprised if this bill stuck because of the way it is written. Unfortunately for the state, it is pretty useless in policing video games. If it were applied to video game cases, those cases would probably be remanded on appeal.

Also notice that the burden of proof for the claim of "dangerous" is clear and convincing evidence. This burden is below the 'beyond a reasonable doubt' standard required in criminal trials but above that of 'by a preponderance of the evidence' typical of civil proceedings. This suggests that the plaintiff's attorney would need to convince 2/3 of the jury (or 2/3 of the bench) that the material was a cause of the felony or terrorism.

The number of cases in which this would fly seems to be low. If Timmy is tried as an adult at 16 for murder, then his family comes with a civil suit against a video game publisher for liability, how's that going to look?

Anyway, it will probably get struck down on various grounds, especially due to the disconnect between the publisher and the offender. Notice that this bill applies to all forms of media, including newspapers and radio programs. I could see it used against a radio broadcast who says to attack a public figure in the streets, but not for publishers of static material that must be sought and purchased first.

half those lawmakers havnt gotten laid in a pretty long time... Why do we have to suffer for it? I think Gov of New York had it right... lawmakers paying for sex makes them happy, and we don't have to deal with the stick that got left up their butt...

Oh one more fact, if they censor sex, how will anyone know how to make babies let alone perform a Dirty Sanchez?

Stupid christians and their god damned "morality"... Such a load of bullshit.

If you're so upset with morality, why don't you move to a country that doesn't have any?

Oh wait, they all have a standard of morality. I guess you're just fucked then, aren't you.

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Arizona bill would hold content creators liable

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