As reported by Brand Republic, the European Parliament is urging its member states to address the issue of gender stereotyping.

The move follows a report by the EP's Women's Rights Committee, which suggests that big business exploits gender stereotypes for financial gain.

Video games and digital media are specifically mentioned by Sweden's Eva-Britt Svensson, author of the report. She writes:

The report shows how a stereotyped, sexist, and often degrading image of women is presented by the new electronic media. The report concludes that the majority of video games constitute one more element in the reproduction of discriminatory stereotypes against women that perpetuate and trivialise abuses against their human rights...

GP: From Lara Croft to the controversial Hitman ad pictured at left, such examples are not difficult to find in the video game space.

The Entertainment Software Association has announced that Ed Desmond, senior vice president of Government Relations, is leaving the video game publishers lobbying group and taking an executive position with the Toy Industry Association.

Desmond, who spent eight years with ESA, was just elevated to his current position in February of this year. ESA CEO Michael Gallagher offered praise:

Any organization is lucky to have such a dedicated and energetic advocate as Ed. His commitment to serving the public affairs needs of our member companies was unparalleled. He will be missed and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

While the ESA said that a search for Desmond's replacement is underway, GP has heard a rumor that Desmond's duties may be assumed by incoming General Counsel Kenneth Doroshow (of RIAA fame). 

UPDATE: An ESA rep tells us that Doroshow will not be taking over Desmond's current responsibilities.
 

Click To Play

On Saturday at PAX, Entertainment Consumers Association president Hal Halpin and Spike TV's Geoff Keighley veered from the typical panel format by offering a "casual conversation."

For the better part of an hour Hal and Geoff discussed a variety of topics of importance to gamers. Hal also took a number of questions from attendees.

We've got the video, and it's worth checking out...

FULL DISCLOSURE DEPT: The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics.

A friend attended the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week. Among the many items he snagged was a pamphlet from the No Child Left Inside Coalition, a group which seeks to foster environmental awareness and activity among young people.

That's all quite commendable. Less praiseworthy, however, is the fact that the group's brochure (obtained by GP) takes a cheap shot at video games in its opening paragraph:

Young people across America are spending more and more time inside - hooked up to video games, computers, and television, instead of learning, playing and exploring outside. The results are profound: increases in childhood obesity, a lack of understanding of the environment and a disconnection from the natural world.

Why some kids don't go outside or don't get enough exercise or are overweight would seem to be very complex social issues involving a myriad of factors, including available recreational opportunities, socioeconomic status, neighborhood safety, parenting, nonstop marketing of high-calorie food and drinks, etc.

Thumbs-down to No Child Left Inside for pointing the finger at video games...

CNN is now reporting that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be John McCain's running mate.

Palin, 44, who has been governor for only two years, appears to have little track record with video games - or much of anything else.

She was a city council person in Wasilla, Alaska from 1992-1996 and was later mayor of that town. She failed in an attempt to become Alaska's Lt. Gov. in 2002, and won the top seat in 2006.

Palin has two sons and three daughters. Her oldest son, age 18, is scheduled to be deployed to Iraq later this yer.

Tim Pawlenty? Mitt Romney? Tom Ridge?

With Republican presidential candidate John McCain's VP choice due later today, these three names have been bandied about in recent days. While Ridge has historically been quiet on video game issues, Pawlenty and Romney (seen with McCain at left)come with major baggage as far as gamers are concerned.

That said, Ridge seems an unlikely choice, since he adds little to the McCain ticket. For one thing, he's older than the other two and McCain would seem to need some youthful balance in a running mate. For another, as former Homeland Security Director, he's too closely associated with the Bush Administration in a time when the electorate craves change. And although he is from a key state, he doesn't seem likely to swing Pennsylvania red in November.

That leaves Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts as potential VP choices. As we said, both have a negative history with video game issues.

Pawlenty signed Minnesota's notorious, 2006 "fine the buyer" legislation into law. The bill, which would have fined underage buyers of M-rated games $25, was quickly overturned by a federal judge. Minnesota also lost a subsequent appeal on that decision. Pawlenty, who has owned up to playing NHL2K5 with his kids, brings youth to the McCain ticket.

For his part, Romney (who apparently thinks torturing real people is okay) made the cartoon violence of video games a theme of his failed 2008 presidential bid. Romney is a favorite of the religious right, a group which is not particularly fond of McCain.

UPDATE: CNN is reporting that Pawlenty is out of the running and is also speculating that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is in the VP mix...

Kotaku reports that Microsoft and the Xbox 360 are waving the video game flag at this week's Democratic National Convention.

Denver-based Kotaku EIC Brian Crecente popped over to the DNC and discovered that Microsoft lobbyists had set up a booth featuring 360s running MLB2K8 during Tuesday's events at Coors Field. Exec Fred Humphries told Crecente:

Where better to talk about families and games then in the living room. We're here to highlight the family settings for the Xbox 360 and talk about ratings. Education is so important when it comes to the Xbox. We are here to tell people about Play Smart, Play Safe... We fully support parents talking to kids.

MS will be making a similar appearance at the upcoming Republican National Convention. As GamePolitics reported last week, Microsoft is partnering with Rock the Vote to help drive voter registration through Xbox Live.

CNet's Declan McCullough reports that Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) has an anti-consumer track record when it comes to technology.

In the past the Democratic VP nominee-apparent has stood with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on copyright issues.

From the Cnet report:

[Biden] has spent most of his Senate career allied with the FBI and copyright holders... ranks toward the bottom of CNET's Technology Voters' Guide, [his] anti-privacy legislation was actually responsible for the creation of PGP [encryption]...

 

Biden became a staunch ally of Hollywood and the recording industry in their efforts to expand copyright law. He sponsored a bill in 2002 that would have make it a federal felony to trick certain types of devices into playing unauthorized music or executing unapproved computer programs...

 

A few months later, Biden signed a letter that urged the Justice Department "to prosecute individuals who intentionally allow mass copying from their computer over peer-to-peer networks." Critics of this approach said that the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America, and not taxpayers, should pay for their own lawsuits...

 

All of which meant that nobody in Washington was surprised when Biden was one of only four U.S. senators invited to a champagne reception in celebration of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act hosted by the MPAA's Jack Valenti, the RIAA, and the Business Software Alliance. (Photos are here.)

McCullough reports that Biden has "steadfastly refused" to answer Cnet's questions on his tech voting record.

GP: It's ironic that Biden has chosen to portray himself as an intellectual property rights champion. He has twice been outed for plagiarizing.

Rich Taylor (left), Senior Vice President of Communications and Research for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which represents the interests of U.S. video game publishers, was interviewed last Thursday on the Big O & Dukes program on Washington, D.C.'s WJKF.

The interview is posted as a podcast in two segments.

Earlier this week GamePolitics reported on Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's announcement that EA Sports would establish a game testing center on the LSU campus.

Today's edition of The Advocate reports that state officials had to sweeten EA's deal to the tune of $750,000 due to last minute competition from another (unnamed) state:

Of the EA deal, Stephen Moret (left), secretary of Louisiana's Department of Economic Development, said:

This is really, really big. This company, without question, is at the very top of the list. EA’s decision to come here would be comparable in the film industry to Pixar or The Walt Disney Company coming to build a studio in Louisiana.

GP: We wonder if the competing state may have been Texas. As GamePolitics previously reported, Texas. Gov. Rick Perry met with EA at E3 in Los Angeles.

As recently as 2006, Louisiana's state government embarrassed itself by hopping into bed with Jack Thompson for an unconstitutional piece of video game legislation that quickly crashed and burned in federal court.

But the worm has seemingly turned with today's announcement that Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal (left) and Electronic Arts have partnered to create a new global quality assurance (QA) center in Baton Rouge. EA will work with Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Department of Economic Development to bring the project to fruition.

Along with Gov. Jindal and other Louisiana officials, EA exec Sharon Knight was on hand for the announcement. Said the Guv:

EA putting the first-of-its-kind video game testing center in the U.S. right here in Baton Rouge is a terrific win for the city and the future of our state. We know our economic development initiatives have to be aggressive, but they must also be innovative, and EA has both of these important attributes.

 

This testing center will create 20 full time jobs, and more than 200 part-time jobs for LSU students who will get paid to play video games. I know this will be a dream job for some kids, but it is also a key part of strengthening our state's economic development so we become the best place in the world to do business and all of our children can stay right here at home to pursue their dreams. This job win is a critical step in creating a digital media economy that will generate even more high-paying high tech jobs and help us compete for even more jobs within EA in the future.

A Lousiana media rep points out that the state's financial incentives for digital media helped seal the deal. EA will be eligible for a tax credit of up to 20%

North Carolina is officially looking into limiting the screen time of children.

Gov. Mike Easley recently signed off on the state budget, a 220-page document in which is buried a $100,000 appropriation to establish a task force on childhood obesity. Group members primarily include representatives from the education and healthcare sectors. From the legislation:

The goals of the strategic plan shall encompass the following framework of initiatives...

 

(6) Developing activities or programs that limit children's screen time, including limits on video games and television.

Video games aren't the only named culprit, of course. Other focuses are providing better nutrition as well more opportunites for children to exercise safely. The task force will report on its findings in 2009.

The situation in Thailand involving a cabbie murder with an alleged GTA connection grows increasingly bizarre...

Yesterday we mentioned a Cnet Asia report that the Thai Ministry of Health (left) had issued a list of 10 violent video games to avoid. You can see it here, in Thai.

Can't read Thai? Me neither. Here's the list in English, as translated by Cnet's Jesada Chandraprasert:

1- GTA

2- Man Hunt

3- Scarface

4- 50 Cent - Bullet Proof

5- 300

6- The Godfather

7- Killer 7

8- Resident Evil 4

9- God of War

10- Hitman

Back in December GamePolitics criticized Detroit Prosecutor Kym Worthy for a.) blaming her city's crime on video games, and b.) issuing an outdated list of violent games to avoid. Here's Worthy's unworthy list:

1. Grand Theft Auto
2. Manhunt
3. Scarface
4. 50 Cent Bulletproof
5. 300 
6. The Godfather
7. Killer-7
8. Resident Evil 4
9. God of War
10. Hitman Blood Money

Notice anything?

They're the same list. The only difference is that Worthy's Hitman Blood Money morphs to Hitman on the Thai Ministry list, while Grand Theft Auto is simply written as GTA. That could be a result of imprecise translation by Chandraprasert.

So, is Thailand turning to Detroit to help solve its crime problem? 

The more likely answer is that Thai bureaucrats are simply grabbing material from the Web in order to support a video game crackdown by the government.

The Entertainment Software Association made a bit of a splash yesterday with news that the state of California had forked over $282,794 to the game publishers' lobbying group.

The money represents legal fees incurred by the video game industry while fighting California's 2005 video game law in U.S. District court. Judge Ronald Whyte ruled the statute unconstitutional in August of 2007.

However, as GamePolitics has reported, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (left) appealed Judge Whyte's decision to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court earlier this year. While it is unlikely that the state will prevail in its effort to keep the video game law on the books, if it does pull an upset, the ESA is required to return the money.

The details of this arrangement are spelled out in a November, 2007 agreement between the ESA and the state, which says, in part:

If, after all appeals have been exhausted or the time for all remaining appeals has expired, plaintiffs [the video game industry] are no longer the prevailing party in this case, the plaintiffs shall pay back the amount stipulated in paragraph 1 within thirty (30) days of the disposition of the final appeal or the expiration of time for all remaining appeals.

It's also interesting to note that the amount paid to the ESA by California was subject to some negotiation. As GamePolitics reported last September, the ESA initially sought $324,840.

Grab a copy of the settlement agreement here.

The Entertainment Software Association, which represents the interests of US game publishers, issued a press release today announcing that it had received a check for $282,794  from the state of California.

The money represents legal fees incurred by the video game industry while contesting California's 2005 video game law. The statute was declared unconstitutional by a U.S. District Court Judge in August, 2007.

Commenting on the payment, ESA CEO Michael Gallagher said:

California deserves more from its legislators than pursuing flawed legislation. State employees are facing pay cuts. California’s services are being scaled back. And, anxiety is rising in Sacramento to find funds. Rather than tackling real problems affecting Californians, they chose to waste time, money and state resources. It is shameful that legislators pursued personal agendas in spite of the facts.

 

Caregivers are not well-served by court battles and legal fees. Rather, they would have been far better off if state officials worked together with our industry to raise awareness about video game ratings and the parental controls available on all new game consoles—both of which help ensure that the games children play are parent-approved.

It is unfortunate that the state is stubbornly pursuing an appeal that is likely to lead to even more court-awarded fees.

You knew it was only a matter of time.

In the wake of reports that a 19-year-old Thai man murdered a cab driver after playing Grand Theft Auto, embattled Miami attorney Jack Thompson has written a menacing e-mail to the top executives of Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the controversial series.

In the e-mail to T2 chairman Strauss Zelnick and CEO Ben Feder (and copied to dozens of other people, including GamePolitics), Thompson writes:

I warned you both that copycat killings by teens would occur upon the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. Now my prediction has come true...

In addition to multiple written warnings, I told you of this coming mayhem in a face-to-face meeting with you, Mr. Zelnick, on Central Park West on May 15, 2007... I am working with authorities now...  as well as other remedies against Take-Two for its reckless worldwide distribution of its murder simulation training products...

 

This is just the latest killing incident prompted by your murder simulators. I aim to make it the last...

PS: The above latest copycat killing will help fuel federal legislation in the United States because of your company’s chronic marketing and sale of its mature-rated video games to minors. You are selling GTA IV, for example, to anyone of any age via the Internet.

A few more details have emerged on the alleged killing of a Bangkok cab driver by 19-year-old Polwat Chinno (left), said by Thai authorities to be "obsessed" with Grand Theft Auto.

The Bangkok Post reports:

The Family Network yesterday called on the Culture Ministry to ban the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) video game franchise after incidences of copycat violence by players.

 

In its statement, the network blamed GTA for at least two violent incidents, including the fatal stabbing of taxi driver Kuan Phokang on Sunday by Polwat Chinno, a 19-year-old student known to be an obsessive player of the game.

GP: It's unclear at this point exactly what type of organization the Family Network is. The group is mentioned at this site.

According to the Family Network manager Wanchai Boonpracha, a shooting at Talad Thai wholesale market in Pathum Thani last year was also copied from one of the games.

 

He said the granting of a licence to the online version of the game by the Office of National Cultural Commission in August last year made it readily available at internet cafes and games arcades, increasing the likelihood of copycat crimes by teenagers.

 

"The Family Network demands the Culture Ministry revokes the licence of GTA and other games with inappropriate violent and sexual content" Mr Wanchai said in the statement.

 

He said that GTA was banned in several countries, including Australia and England.

GP: The GamePolitics coverage of the Pathum Thani market shooting is here. Wanchai Boonpracha is incorrect regarding Australia and England. The game was never banned in the U.K. (perhaps he is thinking of Manhunt 2) and the Australian market received GTA IV with the hooker animations removed.

Amporn Benjapolpitak of the Mental Health Department, doubted that the video game was entirely to blame for Mr Polwat's behaviour.Ms Amporn yesterday interviewed Mr Polwat's friends and teachers at school and found that he had suffered from heightened anxiety.

 

"I don't think excessive playing of the game is the sole cause. There must be other causes too," she said. "His friends told me that [his personality] had changed."

GP: So, perhaps initial reports of a totally together teen made homicidal by GTA were not totally accurate? A second Bangkok Post article contains additional misinformation under the headline Games of Subversion:

The Public Health Ministry, which has monitored the impact of thse games on the mental and physical health of young Thais, yesterday released a list of 10 online games which have been banned in the United States since last year because of their inappropriate content... 

 

They are: Manhunt; Scarface; 50 Cent: Bulletproof; 300: The Video Game; The Godfather; Killer; Resident Evil 4; God of War; Hitman: Blood Money; and Grand Theft Auto.

GP: There has never been a video game banned in the United States.

GamerChip is reporting that the Australian government's ban on Fallout 3 has been lifted following edits to the game for the Australian market.

The site bases their story on information from a pair of game retailers:

...according to EB Games and GAME representatives, Australia will be receiving the game, albeit in a modified format. The new, friendlier version, will have the drug use removed that saw the game banned in the first place. Both EB Games and GAME are currently taking pre-orders for the title. One representative from GAME, contacted this Thursday night... said that he had read on their internal communications only an hour before that Fallout 3 would be released this year.
 

We note, however, that Australia's official censorship body, the Office of Film and Literature Classification, continues to list Fallout 3 as "refused classification" (i.e., banned).

Readers may recall that Australian gamers received a watered-down version of Grand Theft Auto IV after the game's hooker animations were removed to satisfy the OFLC.

At GamePolitics, our coverage of political developments related to video games typically focuses on the United States, the U.K., Canada and Australia. One reason is that there is a lot happening in those places. Another is that, sadly, we have no fluency in other languages.

However, video game content issues are a political hot potato in a number of other countries, Germany among them. So we were pleased to come across an excellent recap of German video game legislation published in English by the Internet Business Law Service: 

In response to the [2006 Emsdetten school] shooting, the German states of Bavaria and Lower Saxony drafted legislation that would fine and possibly jail video game developers who create and market games containing ‘cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters...’

 

The Protection of Young Persons Act (PYPA) is a German legislation that protects youth... from the influence of inappropriate movies, games, and certain public places, including gaming places and those selling alcohol. The Act was enacted in 2002... establishes that video games or any other games cannot be publicly accessible to children or adolescents unless they are cleared and labeled for their appropriate age group by the supreme state authority...

Games have been banned and confiscated in Germany:

The County Court in Munich decided to confiscate all versions of "Manhunt" in July 2004... Other games, including... "Dead Rising," were placed in the Index and confiscated by a Hamburg County Court decision of June 2007...

The German experience in World War II apparently is driving some of the concerns over violent video games:

Nonviolence and pacifism form the cornerstone of the modern German society, where the memories of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich are still vivid... A major cultural and moral dilemma in Germany is how to reconcile its determination to apply the lessons of the past to educating and protecting its youth, while remaining a free and open society.