
Video game legislation which seemed to be sailing through the Indiana State Senate has apparently run aground.
Earlier this week
GamePolitics reported that SB0238, which would have given the ESRB ratings the force of law in the Hoosier State, was approved by committee and on its way to the Senate floor.
However, the
Munster Times reports that the bill, co-sponsored by Senators David Ford (R) and Vi Simpson (D, left) has been put on hold over First Amendment concerns. Ford told the newspaper that he hoped a study committee could revise the measure so as to pass constitutional muster.
Despite the setback for her bill, Simpson (left) said legislative concerns over video game violence are not going away:
Eventually we're going to have to deal with it.
Comments
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And had spoken three hours, before any one guessed
What the pig was supposed to have done.
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(Long before the indictment was read),
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One word that the others had said.
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That statute is obsolete quite!
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To have aided, but scarcely abetted:
While the charge of Insolvency fails, it is clear,
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It was spent with the toils of the day:
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Too nervous to utter a word:
When it rose to its feet, there was silence like night,
And the fall of a pin might be heard.
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The Jury all cheered, though the Judge said he feared
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But the Snark, though a little aghast,
As the lawyer to whom the defense was entrusted,
Went bellowing on to the last.
Yea, your gonna have to deal with the ECA too.
deal with?? Media burning? baning the sale of media because you dislike it and thus can legislate it?
I will say this yet again you fools need to understand you can never legislate violence without adjusting law and if you adjust the law anymore this will no longer be the USA,what you can do is walk with the industry and retailers and create fines and punishments within the retail industry to keep Mature rated games out of the hands of minors.
youll be singing a different tune when your state is thousands of dollars poorer.
Thank you. Come Again,
Siftr.
Oh my gosh. You mean they're not just shovelling it through as fast as possible, no matter the consequences?
Methinks they're finally starting to learn.
Maybe the study committee will be smart enough to actually LISTEN to constitutional experts this time...
By "it", I assume Ms. Simpson is referring to that pesky "reality".
And you'll have to deal with legal fees when you find out, oops, violation of First Amendment, that's the end, the bill is dead!
Either way, there's no way it can pass this "constitutional muster."
Personally, I'd like to thank Mr Winter of the PTC, his opinion piece in the Indianapolis Star earlier this week generated such a massively negative response online, not just from Americans in general, but a great many of the posters were in Indiana itself, which was really good to see people taking an interest. So my applause to the people of Indiana. My favourite statement was :-
"It is no exaggeration to say that video games can help create killers."
Of course it is an exaggeration. Watching a "how to do it" video is not the same as watching a "why do it" video.
As a non-member of the Parents Television Council in Indiana I am calling for the defeat of SB 238.'
I wonder if the legislators read the paper? I can't help thinking that Mr Winters, rather than helping the PTC's little crusade, probably helped prove it's arrogance all the more clearly?
Deal with what?
The fact that video games are a valid art form and deserve the same constitutional protection as movies/books/music?
The fact that there is no research proving that games are harmful to children?
The fact that you are out of touch with today's media to the extent that you deem it responsible for societal ills that existed long before video games did?
Or perhaps she is talking about the legal bill the state will have to pay. Money that should have gone toward schools, educating parents regarding the rating system, or toward law enforcement (ie. ACTUALLY protecting children) will go into the pockets of the video game industry's lawyers. Eventually they're going to have to deal with that.
Not, of course, that this is a new realization to them; they've known all along, but want to have their cake and eat it. By submitting the legislation, they get the "protect the children" popularity, and for putting it on hold, they get the "respect the constitution" popularity.
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