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Judge Throws Out Michigan Violent Games Law

kukyfrope writes "The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) gained another victory today as Judge George Caram Steeh struck down the Michigan law previously attempting to ban the sale of certain games to minors, ruling the law unconstitutional. Judge Steeh is pushing for evidence showing the link between playing violent video games and actual acts of violence committed by players."

9 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. Splendiferous by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Here's to more "activist judges" like this guy.

    Though it's a shame when a judge pointing out that that the government has just passed an illegal law is declared a "victory."

    1. Re:Splendiferous by BoomerSooner · · Score: 5, Funny

      I've got the link and it's indisputable. I played Ultima III on the Apple //e. I ran over a rabbit on the highway in rural New Mexico on accident during Spring Break.

      Ultima III kills rabbits. What's next? We must protect our children (our meaning our children collectively) from deviant game players! Who knows if I ever get time to finish Ultima V someone may die somewhere.

      Stop the senseless killing, ban video games outright. Oh and ban sex to since that creates killers. 100% of people that murder were created by sex, this link is irrefutable.

      Thank you for your time. Have courage, we will make this land great once again.

    2. Re:Splendiferous by Doomstalk · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's not so much activism, as realizing the slippery slope that censorship like this creates. As soon as you declare one medium as exempt from free speech protection, it becomes that much easier to extend the restriction to others.

  2. Best part of the decision by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From TFA:
    [Douglas Lowenstein, President of the ESA, said:] "It is noteworthy that Judge Steeh specifically chastised the state for not doing what we urged them to do from the start, which is to find less restrictive ways to help ensure that parents make sound choices about the games their kids play."
    Translation:
    Parents: we're not going to do your parenting for you. Take some responsibility.
    Hats off to Judge Steeh.
    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:Best part of the decision by LordEd · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How do 10 year olds get to the mall? Where do they get the money?

      Sounds like 2 parent intervention points to me.

    2. Re:Best part of the decision by Tenareth · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Most of these kids just asked their parents to buy the game, and since the parents don't spend 30 seconds finding out what the game is about, they buy it and are shocked when 3 weeks later they find out he's ripping some guys head off in the game.

      --
      This sig is the express property of someone.
  3. "Link" is a loaded term. by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Of course there is a "Link", of course there is a "Relationship". Those are statistical terms. There is a link between having too much money and having an Apple product. Do rounded self-contained white computers cause people to have too much money? (or, to play this role more adequetly) Do they cause people who already have just enough money to enjoy such things to get even more money?

    I'll admit to liking shiny expensive things, but I find that indulging in that desire leaves me with less money, not more.

    HYPER-RAMBLE ACTIVATE

    Though in this case "Money" would translate to "ability to be aggressive", not "desire to be aggressive". There are certainly two factors involved in the "I wish I could afford one of those big-ass monitors" example. And of course it's "desire" not "ability" which any sensible law would be attempting to prevent. The question is: would I be more desirous of bigger, flatter, more-roundeder monitors if I had the seed which I could technically afford? And, more to the point: would it then make me want to try OSX? ( person who likes squishing bugs -> person who likes making pictures of exploding cars appear on a screen -> [magicar transforumu] -> person who likes raping babies and putting bloody nun-heads on the dashboards of the innocent )

    Of course, would I really even want a big rounded monitor if I didnt, deep down, already want to try OSX? And this doesnt take into account that I already use bash, and the possibility of between the time of purchasing a big rounded flat monitor and trying OSX ( that is, decapitating nuns ), I may have met an intriguing and mysterious Mac-using guillotine aficionado (who doesnt even like big monitors).

    Some guy once said "Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics." I'm pretty sure he would have liked San Andreas, too.

    ULTRA-MEGA-RAMBLE XXTREME GO!

    The point is: "Inside Man" sucks. If you want to do random out-of-place commentary, but can't find an example in a real game which is "extreme" enough to get the point accross, then maybe you should adjust your shallow world-view instead of making up one and then pointing to it to say "They're just like that! and isnt that horrible!?"

    in conclusion:
    I was gonna be first-post when I started typing this. I assume not at this point.

    --
    -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
  4. Re:GTA didn't affect me by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There are also some adults who shouldn't be parenting kids. That's the real issue, I think. In today's world, chances are sooner or later a young child will hear someone say "fuck," or surf something R-rated on cable, or click somethng online that will show them boobies, or play a violent game like GTA, or read a banned book... if not at their own house, then at someone else's. The idea should be to educate your kids on what is and isn't appropriate to do in real life from an early age, but what parent wants to actually take that sort of blame nowadays when they can easily find some big company to sue?

  5. Re:GTA didn't affect me by Goatbert · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Unfortunately, this is a frustratingly inaccurate assumption - parents do not monitor a video game as they might a movie or a television program (and many do not even monitor those enough, but that is another topic). I worked in a GameStop (it was actually a Funcoland at that point) during the GTA3/GTA Vice City period and time after time, parent or grandparent would walk up to my counter buying GTA for a kid who was in his early teens or even younger. This was, in fact, my favorite situation because I get to see the look on their face as I explain.

    "Do you realize this is rated M for mature?"
    "Oh, no, I didn't read the label. Why is it rated mature?"
    "Because you can pick up a prositute, pay her for 'service', kill her, take the money you just paid her back, drive around running over innocent people, and then wind down by lighting bums on fire and shooting cops."

    The look on their face was priceless, but it was also incredibly sad that they didn't even go to the trouble of reading the game's packaging. I just don't understand how a parent can be so unconcerned with what their child is doing, and I don't know why they want to punish the entertainment media for lazy parenting.