Utah Governor vetoes video game and movie legislation [update]
by Xav de Matos 
{ Mar 25th 2009 at 8:30PM } 
The legislation (HB 353), authored by Jack Thompson and legislator Mike Morle, recently swept the Utah House of Representatives by a 25 to four margin. According to GamePolitics, Jack Thompson claims the backers of the bill will seek an override of the veto.
In a letter explaining his reasons for the veto, Huntsman says HB 353 would likely "be struck down by the courts as an unconstitutional violation of the Dormant Commerce Clause and/or the First Amendment." Huntsman estimates that a possible "unintended consequence" of passing the legislation would be that the industries most affected could choose to forgo the use of "age appropriate labels on goods and services," because of their voluntary nature -- hurting families in the long run. Huntsman full letter can be read after the break.
Update: Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the ESA has responded to the news in a comment, found after the break.
March 25, 2009
Dear Speaker Clark and President Waddoups,
After careful consideration and study, I have decided to veto HB 353, TRUTH IN ADVERTISING ACT AMENDMENTS, and have transmitted it to the Lieutenant Governor for filing.
While protecting children from inappropriate materials is a laudable goal, the language of this bill is so broad that it likely will be struck down by the courts as an unconstitutional violation of the Dormant Commerce Clause and/or the First Amendment.
The industries most affected by this new requirement indicated that rather than risk being held liable under this bill, they would likely choose to no longer issue age appropriate labels on goods and services. Therefore, the unintended consequence of the bill would be that parents and children would have no labels to guide them in determining the age appropriateness of the goods or service, thereby increasing children's potential exposure to something they or their parents would have otherwise determined was inappropriate under the voluntary labeling system now being recognized and embraced by a significant majority of vendors.
Sincerely,
Jon M. Huntsman, Jr.
Governor
Update: Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the ESA responded to the news saying, "This is an absolute win for families. Utah's parents will benefit from Governor Huntsman's leadership and thoughtfulness on this issue. His decisive action helps caregivers and prevents businesses from being opened to unproductive, wasteful civil litigation and needless expense. Parents can be assured that the strength of the ESRB rating system remains intact and continues to serve as a valuable resource and will continue to effectively serve them."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Udabenshen @ Mar 25th 2009 8:38PM
Gov. Huntsman is a relatively reasonable governor. Its good to see he understands the constitution on at least some level.
BigD145 @ Mar 25th 2009 10:38PM
Are you sure he isn't up for reelection?
Flit @ Mar 25th 2009 11:08PM
Nope, he was just reelected in 2008 by a landslide, and says he won't run again in 2012, most likely because he'll move on to national politics, but that wouldn't be so bad.
Wow, just when I thought Huntsman couldn't be any more awesome (for a Republican.)
Sean @ Mar 26th 2009 5:51AM
Finally someone does something SMART.
Jack Thompson needs to drown himself.
Josh @ Mar 25th 2009 9:05PM
The second sentence ruined your post.
Let's be civil here, shall we?
Reader @ Mar 25th 2009 9:27PM
Maybe you just don't know who Jack Thompson is... This is the guy, among other things, that told Midway to stop selling Mortalk Kombat because the character creator could be used to make someone that looked like him and that this was illegal.
Albanian_Killa @ Mar 26th 2009 12:38AM
@Josh:
You can't be civil when talking about Jack Thompson lol, the little bugger finds a way to always get under gamers' skins. No matter what, getting disbarred and everything, we thought this guy was done. Think again lol
I Al2x I @ Mar 25th 2009 8:41PM
Didn't really think that the bill was necessary...I believe that Thompson just put it out there as a "gateway drug" to get back from his barring from Florida's legislation.
Troy Powers (PSN: TroyPowers) @ Mar 25th 2009 8:43PM
RE-JEC-TIOOOOOON!!!
Peter Moore (XBL-PSN: peacebyanymeans) @ Mar 25th 2009 8:43PM
Good for this guy, he understands the law and actually made good points against the bill in the constitutional sense.
He may morally support it, for all we know, but he didn't let that get in the way of the law or the facts of the possibility of publishers dropping the voluntary rating system to forgo this proposed law.
So yeah, Utah seems to have a pretty smart guy in charge, from this at least, I admit I don't know anything about him.
John @ Mar 25th 2009 11:57PM
I've met Huntsman before, and he seems like a very astute figure. He served a church mission in the same country as me, so we had a good conversation...in Chinese. He's really a good person, and yes, pretty smart. I'd like to see him campaign nationally as well.
LaughingTarget @ Mar 25th 2009 8:44PM
Ooh, I'm starting to like Gov. Huntsman (never heard of him until today, will do more research), he's one of those few bright individuals that understands that the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution is a dormant entity, which means that the only level of Government that can use the commerce clause for regulation is the Federal level and they're not allowed to use it (ie, stripped from states but toothless under the Feds only to the extent that the Federal level can shut down states that try to regulate commerce).
Shame most everyone else doesn't get it.
Diskoboy7 @ Mar 25th 2009 8:44PM
Finally!!
A Republican with a pair!!
The icing on the cake would be this Governor telling Thompson he's not welcome to practice law of any kind, in Utah.
Or welcome, in general....
Duke @ Apr 7th 2009 5:13PM
He isn't welcome to practice law there already, the other states recognize the Florida disbarment. Other than that, the man does have rights to live and work in other fields. That whole constitution thing you know.
CH3BURASHKA @ Mar 25th 2009 8:44PM
Although the current Constitution says that people can't be persecuted for actions that become banned after they've been committed, I'm sure that 20 years in the future, when all 3 branches have been completely infiltrated by the Vidja Gamez party, they will rewrite the Constitution and putt Jack's ass in jail (don't drop the soap Jack!).
Donald @ Mar 25th 2009 9:10PM
You lost me at the soap.
Though I will point out they got Al Capone for tax evasion.
Reader @ Mar 25th 2009 9:28PM
Buttsex, to fill in where you got lost.
Feba @ Mar 25th 2009 8:47PM
Good.
JorgenMan @ Mar 25th 2009 8:48PM
Although I don't live in Utah anymore, I'm still a big fan of Governor Huntsman.
Zertoss @ Mar 25th 2009 8:52PM
Well, I was wrong about this one. And I am glad for that.
Good on Gov. Huntsman...
Hunt, hunt, hunt
He's the Huntsman
"Into action" is his cry
From the forest to the city
He will run there in a jiffy
To sock evil in the eye
Marty Feeb was a poor hunter
Hungry without dough
'Til the day he saved a chunky elf
From being eaten by a crow
The elf rewarded Marty Feeb
With a magic sack of corn
He gained strength and speed and shiny teeth
And as the Huntsman was reborn
Hunt, hunt, hunt
He's the Huntsman
He'll whip the pants off the bad guys
If there's an emergency
Sound the Horn of Urgency
And summon the Huntsman
"Into action" is his cry!
Hunt.
Macroy @ Mar 25th 2009 8:54PM
I was just about to post that.
Zertoss @ Mar 25th 2009 9:04PM
Great minds thing alike.
Next time, type out *@[=g3,8d]\&fbb=-q]/hk%fg and push Delete. You'll be instantly sucked into the Internet and easily beat me or other people to it.
Zertoss @ Mar 25th 2009 9:04PM
THINK alike, dammit!
LaughingTarget @ Mar 25th 2009 9:19PM
I would, but I no longer have a compatible motherboard for The Chip.
Zertoss @ Mar 25th 2009 9:54PM
As long as you've got a processor from Apex Microchips, the code should still work. Engineers rarely take things away from a CPU's instruction set.
So yeah, Pinnacle, Pinnacle II, Pinnacle III, Pinnacle 4, Pinnacle D, all of these should work.
Josh @ Mar 25th 2009 9:02PM
Oh god yes, he is a smart guy. I applaud and thank you, Governer Huntsman.
And..
"This is an absolute win for families."
Yes, yes it is absolute win.
BluntSA @ Mar 25th 2009 9:06PM
When will they learn? It's just stupid and wasteful to try to push this kind of bill.
Good game, Gov'na. Maybe one day Jack and his cronies will learn that there's nothing wrong with the system...
kal326 @ Mar 25th 2009 9:11PM
Wonder if that veto will be still be overturned with the governor's stance. How would you like to be the person that voted to overturn this and the ESRB does go away. Hopefully this gets every other state to tell Jack-ass Thompson to keep his ideas to himself and stop wasting the legislatures time.
Whylekat @ Mar 25th 2009 9:14PM
Jack Johnson's a a loser.
Markez @ Mar 25th 2009 11:23PM
...
Farseer (GDI) @ Mar 26th 2009 2:38AM
Hey, the dude makes a living playing his guitar and singing (and a pretty good living, I'd imagine). I would say that he's definitely talented and certainly insightful at times. What about this makes him a looser?
;)
whylekat @ Mar 26th 2009 8:51AM
I ment this Johnson:
(_)(_)====D~~~
whylekat @ Mar 26th 2009 8:53AM
I ment this Johnson:
(_)(_)====D~~~
Slaziman @ Apr 1st 2009 3:37PM
is that a sword piercing some boobs?
Zanthox @ Mar 25th 2009 9:40PM
Great! I had given it up as lost after the voting and hearing it needed a veto, but I didn't look into the Gov. and I'm so glad to see he pulled through! He has balls to stand up for what is right and that is great. I just hope the media blinded fools don't hang him for it.
Vikes @ Mar 25th 2009 10:13PM
Tis why I voted for him despite my rather staunch Democratic beliefs. He's a very bright, very progressive, and very reasonable man.
Shame he won't be running for another term...
shredhead @ Mar 25th 2009 10:41PM
I like seeing Jack Thompson not getting things his way.
Rax Dakkar @ Mar 26th 2009 12:01AM
I just wanna say... BOOOYAH, I CALLED IT!!!
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/04/utah-game-retail-restriction-bill-passes-house/
Check out my comment, the third from the top.
The Collective @ Mar 26th 2009 12:02AM
I've been living in Salt Lake City, Utah for about 6 years now, and I've gotta say, Hunstman is a great governor. He's got common sense and doesnt let his party affiliation control his actions. Glad to see he rejected this.
When the governor revealed that he backs civil unions and other rights for same-sex couples, the pro-conservative media here had a field day.
Sloar @ Mar 26th 2009 12:46AM
Hey, where's the love? I sent this tip in hours ago!
Sloar @ Mar 26th 2009 12:53AM
And by "hours ago", I mean hours before this "breaking" news article was written.
Kokomadeta @ Mar 26th 2009 12:47AM
I knew my man John Huntsman would come through. I'm a pretty devout Republican, but I actually wasn't too happy with him around the 2008 election, so I voted against him.
Hilary Clinton wanted to fight videogame rights. So did Joe Lieberman. They're both Democrats. Reason #186 why I vote Republican.
RiccochetJ @ Mar 26th 2009 1:07AM
This raises an interesting conundrum. Now that the governor has vetoed the bill, couldn't Jack and company now actively pursue a state (or nationally) enforced age restriction?
There is now a precedent of the MPAA and the ESRB stating that they will willfully and actively remove their voluntary age recommendation if this law passed; which is what they put in place to remove themselves from government regulation in the first place.
For instance, while it is widely accepted that alcohol can be enjoyed in modest quantities (I'll leave what exactly 'modest' means to the rest of you), why is it that in the US the legal age for alcohol consumption is 21? In Alberta Canada (at least the last time I was there) the drinking age is 18. I claim ignorance about Europe but I've heard it can be even lower in some countries (correct me if I'm wrong). Why is there such a discrepancy in age? This would appear to be more subjective than absolute.
My point is that we have seen studies about violent gaming/music/movies and that they will negatively affect our children. Other studies show that results are inconclusive or that there is no effect at all. With such a grey area, what is to stop the government (US) from stepping in and erring on the side of caution? Should it be based on location (as referenced in my previous paragraph) or should it be universal, or at all?
Should, as a lot of people think (including myself), that the responsibility should be in the parents hands, or should we even trust parents at all?
To be honest, whenever I read what Jack has to say, it feels to me that he's saying, "I don't trust you to raise your kids right, so I'm going to do it for you."
Quite frankly, I find that insulting. To my ability to raise a child honestly and properly, let alone to my intelligence.
I would like to hear from those more versed in law (not just US but all countries) than myself to weigh in. Perhaps the Joystiq resident lawyer could speak to this?
t_m @ Mar 26th 2009 5:33AM
"The measure contained protections for retailers who offer training to their employees and the retailers could not have been held accountable for their first two violations"
"then did indeed sell those games to underage customers, then the seller's liability could be increased if an angry parent or some other adult chose to sue. There were no criminal penalties in the bill, "and no video-game stores would be raided," Morley said."
I don't remember this ever being mentioned before.... glad to see the coverage we've been getting has been just as distorted as the anti-game coverage usually is...
Greg Lewis @ Mar 26th 2009 8:33AM
At least someone is reading our constitution!
I remember when back in the day a democrat/liberal would say, "I might not agree with what you're saying, but I'd die for your right to say it!"
And this was said to conservatives. Now you have both parties raping the constitution (or trying) on a daily basis, with liberals saying "you can say whatever you want as long as it's liberal speech" and you have conservatives saying "you can say whatever you want as long as it's conservative speech".
Folks, please read the constitution and read about our founding fathers. We were once a Republic and sadly no one knows what that is anymore. We fled the British Empire because we were getting away from big government. Now we run to it at an alarming rate. And both parties are guilty.
Matt @ Mar 26th 2009 12:34PM
Everyone should email Huntsman and thank him. Because I am sure he will get lots of negative ones.
DJ @ Mar 26th 2009 3:55PM
Gov. Huntsman is awesome. I knew he would veto this B.S. He is also for keeping public lands open for recreational use, like dirtbike riding. He rides dirtbikes so he understands that we riders aren't tirants who want to destroy the environment. He pushed to get the Dew Tour out here in SLC also. It will be sad when he isn't our Governor here in Utah.