Requiring that the ESRB show ratings BY LAW would also give them the power to force the ESRB to do other things, like play through every game in full.  That, of course, would be the kind of thing to grind videogame development and release to a halt.  As for requiring parental controls, they do already have it, and the 16 member council thing will do absolutely jack shit, save sit around on their ass and say "Videogames are bad".

It doesn't matter that all the demands of this bill are already (more or less) in existence in the real world. The only thing they hope to accomplish with this is to get elected again this November. The bill is unconstitutional and un-enforceable. The only conceivable purpose of the bill is political.

As you say, I am sure they all just want to claim they've done something, even though at best it will waste the time of those 16 people, and quite likely will also waste $500K - $1M in taxpayer money when the ESA takes them to court to get the law overturned.

If I lived in NY, I'd be writing my reps. I am sure it wouldn't do any more good there than it did when I wrote my reps in my state about the unconstitutional anti-game laws they passed here, but at least I had the peace of mind knowing that they knew that I knew they were all completely full of shit.

As a fellow Michigander, I find your view disappointingly insular, if not short-sighted. I tend to believe in the importance of the principle as well as the practical however, so maybe that explains the differences in our perspective. In any case, if it's anything like the way that unconstitutional anti-game laws were passed in our state, it won't even get as far as "crippling" software sales in NY. It won't have any effect on them at all, in fact. Remember?

If the NY legislature is actually arrogant enough to pass this vanity law, it will instantly be challenged by the game industry and not allowed to take effect until reviewed by a judge. That judge will then eventually proclaim the law un-enforceable and/or unconstitutional, and almost certainly award the industry compensation for any expenses incurred in the legal challenge, straight out of the state treasury. And all the while, before during and after, retailers in the state of New York will continue to sell games exactly as they have, exactly as they do everywhere else in the country.

In other words, in practice, this law wouldn't even temporarily affect the way games are sold in NY. And what's worse, most (if not all) the representatives who are voting in favor of the law already know this! The bill has nothing to do with protecting anyone from anything. It has everything to do with legislators taking the opportunity to spend another $500K-$1M of taxpayer money to advertise their sensitivity to family values issues in an election year.

as a NY'er i agree, we should.

but know what would really end out whoas?

get rid of that damned city and its island, sell'em off to jersey or something. They ruin EVERYTHING for the rest of this state. the politicions will find them jobs, money, homes, and all that, while anything else in this state dies a slow death. Both Rochester and Buffalo (near me not where i am) are going to hell with the economy.

i recall once that they said unemployment was up 16%, then Clinton did a sudden campaign in the area (a rarity we ever get to see any non-local polititian) and magicly unemployment was down and employment was up.... only 2 weeks after the initial report? wtfh? meanwhile buffalos being all but evacuated, with rochester is slowly following stead right behind them. My area in the country is becomming a war zone with the people leaving those cities, and for the first time in my 24 years living here we actually have crime worth reporting!

for the over 20 years we had NO violent crime involving someone being shot dead on purpose (hunting accidents aren't being counted by me) and suddenly its like every other damned day you hear of some guy being shot dead for drug money or something dumber than that.

i think whats worse, isn't the fact our muck land (really good farm land) isn't "dissappearing" so much as its being overthrown by the local governments to build more buisness buildings we don't need (half the nearby city is bloody empty and has a LOT of buildings right there prime for buisness) but the farmers are also being forced to sell out to the newcommers so they can build homes they'll never finish and/or abandon/be foreclosed within a year. it's sickening to think the state gov is even worried about video games at all.  i blame clinton for a majority of it too, she's spent more of our tax money on investigating violent crimes in CALIFORNIA, than she ever did fixing anything in this state (unless it was in the big city itself)

The ECA owns GP. So take this article as a call from the ECA for all New Yorkers to complain to your representatives.

Also, they have issued a call for this particular legislation before. You could also get in touch with one of the four New york Chapters for help in fighting this.

The ECA is doing something, but it is up to the members to really follow through on it.

E. Zachary Knight
www.editorialgames.com
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA Myspace Page

It is unconstitutional because it restricts expression in games whose creators did not pay the ESRB to rate. It is un-enforceable because it doesn't sufficiently define "console," "game," or the difference between a "game" and other types of software. I understand where you are coming from, but I am not scared of laws like these anymore. Just sad and disgusted.