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Ban On Louisiana Video Game Law Now Permanent
Carl Carlson writes "A Louisiana judge has issued a permanent injunction against a Louisiana law banning the sale of violent video games to minors. The law was crafted by video game dilettante Jack Thompson and took a slightly different approach to the issue of regulating video game sales. Rep. Roy Burrell (R) and Jack Thompson had research that purported to show a causative link between playing violent video games and real-world violence entered into the legislative record in an attempt to buttress the legislation's shaky credentials. In addition, the law adapted the Miller obscenity test to the realm of violent video games."
For our international readers, no the USA has no enforcement of the ESRB ratings system. Some stores on their own have an ID checking policy, and some stores that market to kids just altogether refuse to sell M-rated or AO-rated games, but there is no uniform standard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_test
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Back when Australia had a war-draft, and the drinking age was 21, a number of people complained. The complaint was that young men could be asked by their country to go to a different country, and be shot at, yet when they got home, they couldn't go and have a beer with their mates. The proposition was to raise the draft age to 21, or lower the drinking age to 18.
Young men in Australia have been drinking in pubs from age 18 for a good long while now...
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, however, there is.