Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

ESA to Sue California Over Violent Game Law

Posted by Zonk on from the finally dept.

Advtg writes "In response to last week's bill banning the sale of violent video games (/. coverage), the Entertainment Software Association has announced that they are preparing to sue the State of California. From the article, "The Entertainment Software Association is planning to sue the State of California over the passage of AB1179, a bill that has outlawed the sale of violent video games to minors. President Douglas Lowenstein said that he 'intends to file a lawsuit to strike this law down,' and added that he is 'confident that we will prevail.' The article goes on to show how muddy the law is in comparison to other laws meant to protect minors."

4 of 347 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Clarity is not the common case by hesiod · · Score: 4, Interesting

    > What is "political value as to minors"?

    Could be "Civil Disobedience," as in looking at pictures in protest because they are banned.

    Might not stand up in court though...

  2. I don't see the big deal by Punkrokkr · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The law doesn't say that it will ban the sales of games with just violence in them, but heinous and sexual violence. If parents don't have the sense enough to not let their kids play games with that in them, then I wonder if the government should step in. We are talking about minors here.

    On the other hand, maybe there should be two different levels of minors. Minor minors would be under 12, regular minors would be 12-17. Regular minors could buy these games, minor minors could not.

    --

    There's no emoticon for what I'm feeling! -- CBG, "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes"
  3. In my mind... by GiorgioG · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's the parent's responsibility to say what their kids should and shouldn't buy. If I feel that I can give my kid $50 and know that he's not going to buy something stupid (drugs, etc.) then I trust that he knows right from wrong enough that some violent game won't make him decide to go postal in the real world.

  4. Porn maybe a better parallel by Nerdposeur · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Selling porn to children is something most of us agree is Bad. But porn could be as hard to define as video-game violence. The famous quote is "I know it when I see it."

    Violence is hard to define, if you're trying to separate the "squashing goombas flat in Mario" type from the "setting people on fire and laughing at their cries for help" type. It's going to take some subjective words like "sadistic" and "intentionally causing suffering."

    But if it's hard to define legally, I don't think it's that hard for most people to see that Mario and GTA are totally different things in the hands of a little kid. The question is: can we make it legally clear?