Utah Governor Vetoes Bill Restricting Video Game Sales

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 26, 2009 - 10:37am.

Washington - Utah Gov. Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. has vetoed a bill passed by the legislature that would have punished retailers who sold M-rated games or R-rated DVDs to minors, under an amendment to the state's Truth in Advertising statute. "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," Gov. Huntsman wrote in a letter explaining his reasoning for the veto.

"The industries most affected by this new requirement indicated that rather than rise 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..."

"This is an absolute win for families," said Michael Gallagher, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, a trade group of U.S. game publishers.

"[Gov. Huntsman's] decisive action helps caregivers and prevents businesses from being opened to unproductive, wasteful civil litigation and needless expense."

Related Links:
http://www.utah.gov/governor/docs/veto-letter-hb353.pdf (PDF)

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/03/26/reactions-utah-veto

http://snipurl.com/emjp9 (DMW previous coverage)