August 6, 2007
"Shocked."That was the reaction of California State Senator Leland Yee (D, left) to word that a federal judge had ruled the 2005 video game law he sponsored unconstitutional. Said Yee via press release:
I am shocked that the Court struck down this common-sense law. AB 1179 worked to empower parents by giving them the ultimate decision over whether or not their children should be playing in a world of violence and murder.
As written, AB1179 would have blocked the sale of ultraviolent games to those under 18. Offending retailers could have been fined up to $1,000. Said Yee:
The $31 billion video game industry has fought any attempt at regulation every step of the way. They fought efforts to publicize their rating system because they thought it would impact sales, and now they’re again putting their profit margins over the rights of parents and the well-being of children.
The deliberations in this case took over a year, which shows that the ever-growing body of evidence that violent video games are harmful to children is getting harder and harder to ignore. The medical data clearly indicates that these ultra-violent video games have harmful effects on kids, and thus we have a state interest to protect them.
We simply cannot trust the industry to regulate itself. I strongly urge the Governor and the Attorney General to appeal this decision to a higher court and to the Supreme Court if necessary until our children are protected from excessively violent video games.
Comments
I'll keep my constitution the way it is thankyouverymuch.
-mw
Would be refreshing if he did though.
Andrew Eisen
So...what's the ESRB ratings for? You'd have to be blind as a bat not to see those labels emblazoned on the box.
Interesting how the Mr. Yee uses "Ultra Violent" so liberally in his speech...as if he's trying to invoke images of Clockwork Orange.
Which medical report was he referencing, btw?
//and now they’re again putting their profit margins over the rights of parents and the well-being of children.//
Wait, I thought that that was what parenting was all about. They're "giving" them the power? So they didn't have the right to parent their children before?
//We simply cannot allow the industry to regulate itself. I strongly urge the Governor and the Attorney General to appeal this decision to a higher court and to the Supreme Court if necessary until we can bully the wrong people in the name of "justice".//
-Fixed
Things are so predicable these days that we confidantly pull out our unconsitutional hammers all the time...and that's funny and slightly scary at the same time.
And THIS part was also predicable that he wants to continue to fight it.
His reaction killed half my brain cells.
He talks as if the parents don't have any power over decision making for their kids.....Yee scares me.
I worked toy retail for about eight years, including the whole GTA debacle from GTA3 through Hot Coffee. In my experience (limited to the locations I worked) it was the parents buying GTA, RE, Halo, etc for their kids. When we tried to clue them in that these games may not be appropriate (and we did actually try to do this, even at the risk of losing the sale) the normal response was "Oh, he plays worse", or "He plays it at his freind's house, so it's okay". The parents (for the most part) just did not care, but they were the ones that made that ultimate decision, as they had the money.
The reason these bills get overturned is that they are always vague in their definitions of violence... oh, and that pesky first ammendment thing. If they would just say that you have to be 17 to buy M rated games (which you have to be at most retailers anyways), they might get away with it... of course parents would still buy the games for their precious little ones.
They already have that. It's what makes them parents.
The medical data clearly indicates that these ultra-violent video games have harmful effects on kids, and thus we have a state interest to protect them.
Really? You might try showing some of that data to the courts!
I strongly urge the Governor and the Attorney General to appeal this decision to a higher court and to the Supreme Court...
Oh, so do I.
Andrew Eisen