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Utah Senate, House Pass Jack Thompson's Game Sales Bill
Ars Technica reports that the Utah State Senate and House have both passed Jack Thompson's proposed legislation that would stiffen penalties for the sale of M-rated games to minors. Oddly, on its trip through the state legislature, amendments rendered it largely ineffective; retailers are in the clear if the employee who sold the game goes through a training program, or if the minor misrepresents his age. It's also possible that the bill could cause some retailers to simply take down their ESRB-related advertising. Thompson's statements about the bill put the focus on advertising, but discussion on the Utah Senate floor had a familiar ring, touching on the story of a Grand Theft Auto player who killed two policemen in 2003. The ESRB wrote an open letter in opposition of the bill, saying it could undo the efforts they've made to popularize their rating system. The bill's sponsors fired back, questioning the industry's overall commitment to ratings, and now it awaits only the governor's signature before becoming law.
STILL listening to Jack Thompson? He's already been certified crazy, disbarred with extreme prejudice (out of a cannon, into the sun) and will probably never practice law ever again.
Besides, we all know Jack Thompson died when Penny Arcade was honored by Washington.
Didn't Jack Thompson die?
must be required to at least pass the 3rd grade?
Even if one video game player killed a cop, that doesn't begin to make things equal to cops who kill with tasers, or cops who accidentally kill innocent civilians because they are too fucking ignorant to make sure they are doing the no-knock raid on the right house.
More fairness in legislation! Yes, the Utah legislators are right on the money for this one. God forbid terrorist game players ever leave the grip of their game consoles.... fucking idiots
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
From skimming a selection of the linked sources, the gist is that they're using a false advertising angle: if a retailer says "we won't sell M-rated games to children" (like most do), and then sells them anyway, they will be fined; however, if a retailer makes no such claim, they'll be unaffected. So the safest choice for a retailer is to simply drop their voluntary policy not to sell M-rated games to minors, to avoid liability in case they ever make a mistake.
Only three GTA players have killed cops? GTA must make people less likely to kill cops. After all, think of all the killing of cops not associated with GTA players.
Hmm, perhaps an occasional game of fake-blow-shit-up would make disaffected youths less likely to really-blow-shit-up? It is all about the kids, right?
You couldn't pay me to live there. The funny thing is that I know some Mormons who feel the same way. I guess Utah Mormon is a bit of a different breed than Mormons from almost everywhere else. It must be the effect of any one group having a majority. They get to be assholes.
I love how state after state try to pass this exact same bad law, only to have it shot down in the courts and they have to pay legal fines.
Great to know they're doing something productive.
'Training programs' sound like a money-maker for the videogame censorship movement.
Utah Senate, House Pass Jack Thompson's Game Sales Bill
Oddly, on its trip through the state legislature, amendments rendered it largely ineffective...
So why do you still complain? They added amendments that make the things you fear not happen. I understand that you don't like Utah, but stop making stuff up just to bash them.
Unfortunately, no. You are probably thinking of Jack Valenti, who died in 2007.
Picture the sales clerk saying OK kid! You must first misrepresent your age before I am allowed to sell you this game!
As a zombie, he must be starving in Utah.
"To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
Your post was off topic. There is no First Amendment issue here.
First Utah gives us Orrin Hatch and the DMCA. Then see attempts to regulate keywords. Now this?
Utah, could you just leave the union and maybe we can replace your star with American Samoa?
The fact that 3 people who have killed police officers played violent video games results in this law? How about this.
All cop killers have breathed oxygen.
Therefore use of oxygen may lead to killing cops.
So they should outlaw breathing oxygen,
Starting in the Utah state house and senate.
Im sure that it will be much more effective in stopping crime. :)
I trust Microsoft as far as I could comfortably spit a dead rat
I'm pretty sure a movie theater isn't legally liable if they let a 16-year-old into an R-rated movie, so this law would go above and beyond the protection that the ratings provide for other media.
Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) is a colorless and odorless chemical compound, also referred to by some as Dihydrogen Oxide, Hydrogen Hydroxide, Hydronium Hydroxide, or simply Hydric acid. Its basis is the highly reactive hydroxyl radical, a species shown to mutate DNA, denature proteins, disrupt cell membranes, and chemically alter critical neurotransmitters. The atomic components of DHMO are found in a number of caustic, explosive and poisonous compounds such as Sulfuric Acid, Nitroglycerine and Ethyl Alcohol.
Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:
Not to mention the fact that DHMO can be connected to almost EVERY murder in the United States! All those people dead because someone was allowing this compound into his or her body.
Just look at some of the uses this deadly chemical is used for:
Jack Thompson must be alive, because I don't remember seeing anything on CNN about an anti-gaming crusader's death being blamed on video games, nor do I remember any recent Congressional hearings investigating weather or not Thompson's death was inspired by the Grand Theft Auto: IV mission where the player must kill an anti-gaming self-proclaimed "moral crusader" attorney, who states, just before the player must kill the man, that "Guns don't kill people. Video games do."
I'll be interested in hearing why the First Amendment suddenly does not apply to regulation of the press in Utah.
What kind of moron would allow legislation proposed by a possible psychotic who's ethics and actions are so out of bounds that he's been permanently disbarred from the profession of lawyer?!?!
This question leaves itself open to some interesting answers...
Hopefully the ESRB will lose its power in the industry and games will be able to flourish as movies did prior to their censorship by the MPAA. Putting a "18+" sticker on a game should be the responsibility of the game designers. Knowing if the game is appropriate for their children or not is a responsibility of the parent. Refusing to stock games with an 18+ sticker as a major retailer, however, only limits the already pretty limited (by technology and marketing) creative potential of game developers.
Explaining to your child why an adult game or movie or program isn't for him or her is surprisingly easy to. "Its not that these games will hurt you or control you or that your not smart enough to understand the material within these games. Its simply that they weren't designed for you. Like watching C-SPAN or the history channel or reading a book on Nietzche instead of a comic book. If you want to play these games, watch some adult television and read some of these books first. Your not missing out on anything."
9 times out of 10, that's the truth too. Honestly, I've enjoyed many "childrens" games just as much as "adult" games. Putting sexual, violent or otherwise inappropriate content into your game doesn't make it a better or worse game. Saying it does it like claiming science fiction settings are better than fantasy settings for roleplaying games...
Ginga no Rekshiya Mata Each page.
While I do not agree with the bill, no game publisher's free speech is being restricted, no game company is being prosecuted by the government for the content of the games. The games are still able to be sold, and while not as damaging as cigarettes, alcohol, guns (yes, in most states you have to be 18 to jump through the hoops solo to get a gun), or porn, an average, voting citizen's access to the games are not restricted and the game company has not been silenced.
First Amendment law requires strict scrutiny. That means the government must, when regulating sales or distribution of material covered by the First Amendment, demonstrate that its proposed law has the minimum necessary effects required to accomplish its goals. Since the goal (regulating commercial press activity) is unconstitutional to begin with, there's no way the law can meet strict scrutiny.
Seriously. Why do you think that, out of dozens of attempts to pass laws like this in various states, absolutely none of them have survived court challenges?
A further question. The First Amendment puts a free press on an equal footing with the free exercise of religion. What do you think might happen if the Utah legislature attempted to dictate the terms under which Mormon literature and religious items could be sold?
I don't understand the uproar over the fact that someone is attempting to enforce the restraints suggested by the ESRB. I suppose you might actually be upset that they are wasting tax dollars... but if that is the case, then say so. (The article seems to notice this, I'm just referring to the replies that I have read so far)
If you have a problem with the idea that a game rated "Mature" might only be appropriate for someone "mature", then consider what the article actually says. The Utah legislature didn't make that call, they are just trying to enforce it.
rtfa?
There are 10 types of people in the world. Those that understand this sig, and those that beat up people who do.
Its Utah what do you expect? They wear special underwear to protect them from the world and remain in touch with "god"
Jack Thompson fits right in with those crazy fucks.
... what do you expect? Rationality?
I preferred the RSAC system, which actually required some thought.
So the question then is this. Who cares??
Five words describe me on a normal day. two words describe me the rest of the time. can you guess?
Since the goal (regulating commercial press activity) is unconstitutional to begin with...
So, you're saying false advertisement laws are unconstitutional...
If you ever get elected, I can finally sell my cancer-curing-dirt-cheap-wonder-drug! Maybe i can even get Billy Mayes to put in a good word.
That's not Interesting, that's Funny!
For those moderators who don't get it, Morcombe, Slant and Honeyplace are a famous solicitor's office in Ankh-Morpork, on the Discworld; Morcombe and Honeyplace are vampires, and Slant's a zombie.
Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities. [...] Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
Liquid DHMO, on the other hand, is safe at up to a concentration level (in human tissue) of at least two thirds.
It also helps us flush toxins from our kidneys, it drives photosynthesis and can be applied to your crops to increase their growth. It also protects your internal stomach wall from being damaged by hydrochloric acid, and has various health benefits (be wary of excessive consumption, though: that may cause hyperfrequent urination).
I think DHMO has benefits that outweigh the disadvantages, and its use should be allowed with governmental regulation.
;-)
"Retailers are in the clear if the employee who sold the game goes through a training program."
I wonder which politicians friend will be given the no-bid contract on administering the "training program"? Should bring in a nice fee... 50% of which can be funneled into back into a campaign fund.
This is clearly off-topic, but the summary has way too many links. I find myself incredibly distracted while attempting to read it.
I'm having a hard time connecting the age-limit restriction and the death of two police officers. Is this to say that if a 35 year-old person were to shoot a police officer, we should restrict violent game sales to only those who are 36 or older? These phony imposed age-limits need to go and let parents decide what is best for our kids instead of the government. My kids (13 and 9) will have a harder time drumming up $50 for the game than they would buying it underage anyways.
The Utah legislature is driven by a well organized grass roots organization called The Eagle Form. Because the state legislature is not politically balanced (somewhere 80% Republican), there are no moderates. At times it seems as though elected representative are fighting to be more conservative than each other. So despite lack of collaborating evidence and being generally uninformed, a minority of ultra conservatives push the legislative agenda. Valuable time is wasted voting on issues such as this.
The sad thing is, the control of the State legislature to regulate the purchase of video games is moving beyond their control. Online purchases and distribution are moving the ability to legislate issues like this into a gray area of law that isn't well defined.
I bike, get your fucking polluting car off the road you are hurting my health with your fumes!
You ride a bike inside the bus?
Trolls do weird things.
You can't take the sky from me...
No genius, I was referring to the argument you made about how your rights end at my lungs. Even the most efficient car produces far more pollution than the biggest nastiest cigar in the world. People like you just want to have a jihad against something you don't do, but are more than happy to destroy the health of others when it is something YOU do.
Wow. Jack Thompson hasn't been ripped to shreds by rabid wolves yet. How... strange. o_O