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Game Industry Sues to Overturn Calif. Ban on Violent Game Sales

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 18, 2005 - 11:34am.
Washington - The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), a video game industry trade group, announced on Tuesday that it has filed a federal lawsuit in California aimed at overturning the ban on the sale of violent video games to minors recently signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "We believe this bill will meet the same fate as virtually identical statutes that federal courts have routinely struck down in recent years," said ESA president Doug Lowenstein. Bans on violent video game sales have been overturned on First Amendment free speech grounds in Washington state, St. Louis County and the city of Indianapolis. "It is not up to any industry or the government to set standards for what kids can see or do; that is the role of parents," added Lowenstein. Also siding with the ESA in filing the lawsuit was the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA), a trade group of video game retailers and rental firms. The new law fines retail clerks who break the ban $1,000, and forces retail chains in California to more prominently display video game ratings in their stores. The governor responded to the lawsuit in a statement. "I will do everything in my power to preserve this new law and I urge the Attorney General to mount a vigorous defense of California's ability to prevent the sale of these games to children," said Schwarzenegger.
tags: Law | Game Industry | Overturn | Calif. Ban | Violent Game Sales |

Illinois Enacts Ban on Violent Game Sales; Game Industry Sues to Overturn

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 25, 2005 - 8:29am.
Aurora, Ill. -- Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Monday signed the Safe Game Illinois Act into law, which prohibits the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors in the state. "For the same reason we don't allow kids to buy pornography, for the same reason we don't allow kids to buy cigarettes, for the same reason we don't allow kids to buy alcohol, we shouldn’t allow them to go to stores and buy violent and sexually explicit video games -- games that teach them to do the very things we put people in jail for," said Blagojevich. In addition to fining retailers who break the ban $1,000, it requires them to create their own parental warning labels to place on game packaging, and post signs explaining the industry's game ratings system in their stores. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the large video game industry trade group, announced on Monday that it will file suit in Illinois to have the law thrown out. "In similar cases in St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Washington State, virtually identical bills were struck down, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees," the ESA said in a statement. The ESA was joined in its complaint by the Video Software Dealers Association, a rental industry trade group, and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. ESA president Doug Lowenstein added, "This law will have a chilling effect on free speech. It will limit First Amendment rights not only for Illinois' residents, but for game developers and publishers, and for retailers who won't know what games can and cannot be sold or rented under this vague new statute."
tags: Law | Ban | Game Industry | Overturn | Violent Game Sales | Illinois |

Senate Passes Resolution to Overturn New FCC Media Ownership Rules

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 17, 2003 - 6:41am.
Washington -- The U.S. Senate has voted to overturn a set of new rules passed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which would relax media ownership rules and allow large media companies to control larger percentages of the media outlets in U.S. markets. Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), who sponsored the resolution to overturn the new FCC rules, called them "a massive cave-in to corporate interests at the expense of the public interest." The vote in the Senate failed to garner the two-thirds vote needed to override a potential veto from the White House; the resolution will now move to the House for debate.
tags: Senate | Overturn | FCC Media | Ownership Rules |