ESA Spends $1.2 Million in Q1 Lobbying Efforts

The videogame industry lobby, the Entertainment Software Association, spent nearly $1.2 million USD during the first quarter of this year to lobby on a variety of issues including the regulation of video game content, First Amendment protection, copyright enforcement and other issues, according to an Associated Press story citing a recent disclosure report. The lobbying effort is up 23 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009, where the ESA spent $980,000.

From January - March of this year the ESA also lobbied on broadband deployment, green cards for skilled foreign workers and the H1-B visa program. The increased efforts probably have a lot to do with the Supreme Court's review later this year of California's Videogame law..

According to the AP, its targets included the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission, the Justice Department, the FBI, Congress and other agencies. OpenSecrets.org lists a total of 16 agencies that the ESA lobbied including the Dept of Commerce, Dept of Homeland Security, Dept of Justice, Dept of State, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, National Security Council, Natl Telecom & Information Admin, Office of US Trade Representative, Patent & Trademark Office, US Copyright Office, US Customs Service, US House of Representatives and the US Senate.

Source: AP