Joystiq

Minnesota game law's only recourse is Supreme Court

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-05-09T18:00:00+00:00

GamePolitics reports that the 8th Circuit Court has declined an "en banc" review of the Minnesota "fine the buyer" video game law, meaning the only place left to run for the currently unconstitutional law is the Supreme Court of the United States. Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson hasn't said whether she'd go that far, but if she does pursue it and the justices decided to hear arguments, it would be the first time the Supreme Court dealt with a video game law case .

With the United States Supreme Court's current makeup, a game law case could go pretty badly for the industry. Justice Antonin Scalia has said if a game law banning the sale of mature-rated games to minors ever made it to the docket he would affirm it, but that's not what the Minnesota law is about. The question before the court would be whether Minnesota would have the right to fine a minor $25 for attempting to buy an M- or AO-rated title.

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Mass. legislators considering 'games-as-porn' bill

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-03-17T13:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Politics

Tomorrow the Massachusetts legislature will discuss a bill that would make it illegal for minors to buy video games deemed too violent by the state (not through ESRB ratings such as M or AO). No similar law exists for movies, music or books. House Bill 1423 is dubbed a "games-as-porn" bill because the rationale used to prevent minors from buying violent video games is the same used on porn. The original bill was drafted by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (pictured) with assistance from Jack Thompson and legislative sponsor Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry (D).

GamePolitics points out HB1423 is based on a failed Utah bill and, given the history of other similar bills, it seems odd that Massachusetts would potentially be putting itself (and taxpayer dollars) at risk of repaying the ESA for fighting this bill in court.

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California game law won't be back

Alexander Sliwinski — 2007-08-06T18:55:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture

The California game law which would have restricted anyone under the age of 18 from buying or renting "violent video games" has been effectively terminated. The bill, signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger back in 2005, which was created by politician Leland Yee, had a preliminary injunction put on it while the ESA fought the bill in the courts. Today a judge made the injunction permanent.

The bill follows in the long list of game laws found unconstitutional at this point. Yet, that still doesn't stop more states from attempting to recycle the tired legislation. According to Bo Andersen, president of the Entertainment Merchants Association, "It was inevitable that the federal district court would find the California video game restriction law unconstitutional, as eight similar laws around the country have been overturned in the past six years." Ready kids, here comes the fun part -- how much is California going to have to pay the ESA back for fighting the law? Politicians need to learn that when they push through unconstitutional laws, it's the taxpayer who pay -- literally.

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Rock the vote with legislative measures in 2007

Jared Rea — 2007-02-01T11:05:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture

Like a certain caffeinated beverage prepared from delicious roasted beans, video game legislation was hot in 2006. Whether it was hidden whoopie in your Grand Theft Auto or ambulance chasers run amok, last year saw more games hitting the halls of congress than ever before.

To make sure you're prepared for this years gauntlet of gaming based initiatives, 2old2play has compiled a short list of measures currently being considered in a few scattered states. Measures range from wanting stricter ratings, all the way to fining a sales clerk up to $100 bucks should they not lecture you about the content of your violent video game. Yikes.

You can help out now by contributing to the list with the measures currently being proposed in your state. Regardless, be a real hardcore gamer and educate yourself on something that matters. The enemy patterns in Ikaruga will be will be there when you're done.

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South Korea loosens game censorship

Justin Murray — 2006-12-29T13:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture

Game censorship is a big news item in the past few months. Political types of all walks of life enjoy trying to stifle the medium by passing laws that don't hold up in court in the US and even get through without much of a hitch in Europe. On the other side of the world, one nation is going the opposite direction.

South Korea, which recently proposed an anti-gold farming bill, has pulled censorship on games depicting military action against their northern neighbor. Under the ban, any game that was negative toward North Korea was not permitted for sale in the South, citing they would only inflame the existing tension. However, wiser South Korean lawmakers finally realized video games have little impact on the real world, cut the rule and games like Ghost Recon 2 can now be sold.

Lawmakers from the West take note; South Korea has the right idea. When they're sitting right next to an unstable tin-pot dictator and decide that games aren't going to cause a mass invasion, we should start reassessing this whole "games make people violent" kick. Our only hope is wiser people end up in leadership positions who actually try to solve problems instead of deflecting the responsibility on an unrelated party.

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