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California Violent Gaming Bills Fail To Advance

Posted by simoniker on from the game-over dept.

Thanks to Reuters/Yahoo for its article discussing the failure to progress of two California violent videogame bills, since they "failed to clear a committee of California's state Assembly, killing them for 2004 unless the committee changes its mind." However, "One bill, which would expand the definition of 'harmful matter to children' to include certain types of violent games, received a favorable 5-1 vote, while the second, regulating how some games are displayed in stores, got a 3-1 vote" - but "both needed 7 votes in favor to be approved." Bill sponsor Leland Yee has released a statement claiming: "I am deeply disturbed that money ruled the day here in Sacramento... Rather than protecting our children and giving our parents a tool to help raise healthy kids, the multi-billion dollar entertainment industry was allowed to shoot down necessary legislation."

4 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. Let's hope that the entertainment industry... by ronfar · · Score: 2, Informative
    ...continues its good work in this regard by "shooting down" Leland Yee, figuratively of course, by helping to make him lose his next election.

    Seriously, some happy news amidst the general gloom these days...

    --
    All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
  2. Re:Just 7 favorable votes? by Goldsmith · · Score: 3, Informative

    As one who is familiar with the California state government committee process, I can say that this is not unusual.

    It's not that the legislators are out on the golf course, but rather that on a "committee day," every committee meets. Not only are legislators members of more than one committee (which might meet concurrantly), but they also have to present the bills they are sponsoring to the other committees. In addition, there are the lobbyists, constituents, and other legislators all trying to meet with them to try and convince them in private to vote a certain way.

    In short, it is utter chaos, and a miricle that anything gets done at all.

  3. Re:What a tool. by NotReallyApathetic · · Score: 2, Informative

    I hope that the rest of the country never follows California's lead in seeming to need to pass legislation simply to combat perceived stupidity. I lived in that state for 5 years and could not believe the Cattle-Herding mentality that politicians there have. It would appear that every glitch in the social system requires a law to fix it. Social discourse is reduced to the screams of the extremists. The state will take care of you - trust it with your life.

  4. Re:what good will the laws do in the end ? by MMaestro · · Score: 2, Informative
    Too may times I have seen parents buy games for their kids that the clerks would not sell them

    Thats nothing, I've seenen parents come in and buy M rated games for their kids without even bringing their kids along. Instead they just call their kid on the phone to confirm its the one they want. On top of that even after being warned by the clerk that its a M rated game and not for kids under the age of 17, they shrug it off and buy it anyway.