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Courts Block Washington Violent Game Law
Thanks to Reuters/Yahoo for their report that the enforcement of a Washington state law, designed to restrict the sale of violent video games to minors, has been postponed. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik blocked enforcement of the law, set to start July 27th, and to impose fines on anyone selling games to minors depicting violence against 'law enforcement officers', saying: "Plaintiffs have raised serious questions regarding the constitutionality of House Bill 1009 and the balance of hardships tips in their favor." Doug Lowenstein of the IDSA praised the move, praising "..the judge's finding that games are a form of protected speech like music and movies", but the Washington Democrat politician sponsoring the bill suggested that "..any injunction would only be preliminary and that.. the case [will] go to trial." The saga continues..
In other news, sales of Vice City are up 3%.
from the article: "It has very little bearing on the final outcome of the case," Dickerson said.
so there you go. just a bump on the road to a world of games where cops are invincible juggernauts.
Seriously, can we go back to using TV as a scapegoat for the results of bad parenting? It's not like there's anything good on.
What? Screw preventing people from selling video games to minors--what about banning saled of Windows to minors? Surely that's far more damaging than Halo or Half-Life.
Mikey-San
Karma: +Eleventy billion (mostly affected by watching Celebrity Jeopardy)
to impose fines on anyone selling games to minors depicting violence against 'law enforcement officers'
What if that law enforcement officer was tried and convicted of a capital crime?
Yeah, but I am a success story for what games can do. I became a nerd because of games! Now I operate a quarter of a billion dollars in hardware and I'm a guru at work! All started with a FreeBSD box and Quake!
Mortal Kombat I came out, I played it and wondered why everyone was sweating gray liquid. I pondered this for awhile, realized that my sweat was clear, became depressed, sold my Super Nintendo, and cried a little.
Samurai Shodown came out, I played it and became a samurai and scheduled a showdown with Little Bobby from down the street but then the ice cream truck came rumbling down the block and we had to get out of the way. The showdown was not to be.
My life has featured many video games, most of which involved a time commitment so great that at this point in my life I post on Slashdot with the nickname "Acidic_Diarrhea."
Point being, games don't kill people - guns do.
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
play "cop and robbers" anymore, ...
well maybe not ... but "robbers" will not be allowed to run (unless players are 14+ y. old).
Don't you know it is now both immoral and criminal to think beyond the next quarterly report?
The only way violence might carry over into real life is if this law delays the release of Half Life 2.
Can I just take a moment to say that "Balance of Hardships" sounds like some kind of lame attempt at a lawyer-themed RPG, possibly made by SSI around 1985 for the Commodore 64?
taken! (by Davidleeroth) Thanks Bingo Foo!
Hey wouldn't it be better if there was a game that splattered gamers, hackers, junkies, and other politically correct targets. The only shooters were sneaky upwardly mobile polititions? Now that would be a killer game! The ultimate goal would be to gain enough voter brownie points to be elected to congress.
OH THE SHAME I fell off the wagon and use sigs again!
Just remember, when my kid kicks your kids ass, it's gonna be YOUR fault.
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
Kinda like those kids caught with the trenchcoats and guns, led by a guy who called himself "Neo" and said he was "fighting to free mankind." Yup, it was GRAND THEFT AUTO that was behind that one. Although he MAY have gotten his name from that GAME called Enter the Matrix. But definatly NOT the movie. I mean, EVERYBODY knows that movies arn't real, right? Not like those games made of BLOCKY POLYGONS AND PIXILATED SPRITES! Too close to reality, they are!
ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
Because it's a form of entertainment generally associated with the younger generation? Adults are supposed to "grow out of" violent games and stick to watch violent movies... that or just enjoy the old atari classics.
It's BS of course, but a common attitude - even amongst the kids themselves. I remember being laughed at by a bunch of teens on battle.net 'cause I'm 22 and still play warcraft. They quiet down when I inform them that I can still game while holding a job and enjoy the enjoyment of getting laid (is it that unusual around here or just a cliche).
The right of the people to age shall not be infringed...
Quintus malus puer est.