http://www.gamespy.com/articles/117/1179206p1.html
U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down California's Violent Video Game Law
The United States Supreme Court ruled today that California cannot restrict the sale of violent video games to minors. In a seven to two vote, the justices deemed California's law infringed upon First Amendment rights and put the state in a position where it would have the authority to restrict the ideas to which people are exposed.
The ruling on Brown vs. the Entertainment Merchants Association put an end to California's six-year-long effort to make it a crime for retailers to sell or rent video games loosely defined as "violent" to anyone under the age of 18.
"Video games qualify for First Amendment protection," the justices stated in their opinion. "Like protected books, plays, and movies, they communicate ideas through familiar literary devices and features distinctive to the medium. And the basic principles of freedom of speech do not vary with a new and different communication medium."
"This country has no tradition of specially restricting children's access to depictions of violence. And California's claim that 'interactive' video games present special problems, in that the playe rparticipates in the violent action on screen and determines its outcome, is unpersuasive."
Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the majority, which included Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Samuel Alito, and John Roberts. Justices Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer filed dissenting opinions.
"The practices and beliefs of the founding generation establish that 'the freedom of speech,' as originally understood, does not include a right to speak to minors (or a right of minors to access speech) without going through the minors' parents or guardians," Thomas wrote.
Read the full SCOTUS ruling in PDF form.
"We are thrilled by today's news," said Jennifer Mercurio, VP & General Counsel of the Entertainment Consumers Association. "We had hoped that we would see this decision, and it's been a long time coming. That being said, there will probably be one or two legislators who attempt to test these new parameters, and the ECA will continue to fight for the rights of entertainment consumers."
California state Senator Leland Yee, co-author of the original legislation, responded to the ruling with harsh words for the Supreme Court.
"Unfortunately, the majority of the Supreme Court once again put the interests of corporate America before the interests of our children," Yee said in a statement. "As a result of their decision, Wal-Mart and the video game industry will continue to make billions of dollars at the expense of our kids' mental health and the safety of our community. It is simply wrong that the video game industry can be allowed to put their profit margins over the rights of parents and the well-being of children."
What the? I thought California was full of damn dirty hippies. What the were they doing passing this law in the first place?
Can't say I can speak intelligently to the legal aspects of it, but it sounds like a win for the idea that if you don't want your kids to play violent video games then it's your job as a parent to act like, well, a parent.
This
Violence is everywhere around us, so it's up to the parents to do their job
This is just a travesty. Ever since Mortal Kombat came out, the murder rates skyrocketed! These games are teaching our children to be killers!
It's common knowledge that Counter-Strike caused the War on Terror.
booo more kids on COD
I realize your post is (hopefully) sarcasm, but check this out.....
http://www.gamespy.com/articles/117/1178004p1.html
In the video games and violence debate, the steadily declining crime rate in the United States has often been cited by gamers as evidence gaming does not, as some would lead you to believe, turn youths into violent killers. Now a group of professors has added a level of validity to the correlation, publishing the results of their research in which they conclusively state, "violent video games lead to decreases in violent crime."
A BBC article en led "U.S. Crime Figures: Why the Drop?" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13799616) cites 10 possible reasons why, over the past 20 years, FBI figures show a consistent drop in murder and robbery rates. Among those reasons is the study by University of Texas at Arlington and Baylor University professors and the Centre for European Economic Research, "Understanding the Effects of Violent Video Games on Violent Crime."
"Regulation of the video game industry is usually predicated on the notion that the industry has large and negative social costs through games' effect on aggression," the study states. "Many researchers have argued that these games may also have caused extreme violence, such as school shootings, because laboratory evidence has found an abundance of evidence linking gameplay to aggression. Yet few studies before this one had examined the impact of these games on crime."
By looking at the sales volume of violent video games on a weekly basis and comparing those sales to weekly aggregate violent crime incidents from the National Incident Based Reporting System, the researchers found that the number of criminal incidents recorded by law enforcement actually decreased in conjunction with violent video game sales.
The researchers concede that playing violent video games may increase levels of aggression, but because of the "voluntary incapacitation" of gamers playing these violent les, they are not outside engaging in activities that could lead to violent crimes.
"Our results are consistent with two opposing effects. First, they support the behavioral effects as in the psychological studies. Second, they suggest a larger voluntary incapacitation effect in which playing either violent or non-violent games decrease crimes. Overall, violent video games lead to decreases in violent crime."
The full research report by Scott Cunningham, Benjamin Engelstatter, and Michael Ward is available in PDF form.
Left up right down left up x,x r1
Does anyone know a lot about xbox 360? If so I have a question and if you could meet me in the chat asap I would appreciate it.
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