Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) yesterday introduced a bill in the United States Senate which would:
...prohibit the distribution or sale of video games that do not have age-based content rating labels [and] prohibit the sale or rental of video games with adult content ratings to minors...
The full text of the bill, S.3315 is not yet available on the Senate's legislative website. Thus far the bill has no co-sponsers. The measure has been referred to the Senate's Committe on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
GamePolitics has received unconfirmed word that Wicker's bill is the Senate version of the Video Games Rating Enforcement Act introduced in the House by Reps. Jim Matheson (D-UT) and Lee Terry (R-KS) earlier this year.
Wicker, a longtime Congressman, was appointed to his Senate seat by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on New Year's Eve to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Sen. Trent Lott. Perhaps not surprisingly, Wicker is running for election. He must face Mississippi voters in November in a special election to fill out the rest of Trent Lott's term.
Comments
Re: U.S. Senator Introduces Video Game Rating Legislation
You're right, I completely missed that. This makes this even worse. Dear god...the video game industry needs to really band together and combat this immediately...
Re: U.S. Senator Introduces Video Game Rating Legislation
Yeah, but they look very busy screwing up the E3...
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Re: U.S. Senator Introduces Video Game Rating Legislation
Hey, if this gets passed, I think the ESA, ECA, EVERYBODY will put everything on hold and take this to the supreme court. They've tried it with movies, right? And it was shown that the MPAA is doing a good enough job. Surely the same will be done with this. I bet there will be other rights groups besides game-related ones that'll want this shut down, and it WILL be shut down. If it isn't...well....maybe we can get all the gamers (or really, anyone that CARES about their rights) to move to a certain area and secede from the U.S.
Re: U.S. Senator Introduces Video Game Rating Legislation
All together now: Proposing unconstitutional laws should be an impeachable offense.
Re: U.S. Senator Introduces Video Game Rating Legislation
Screw that.
Make it treason. And no, I'm not saying it tongue in cheek.
Re: U.S. Senator Introduces Video Game Rating Legislation
Ah but no law in unconstitutional until declared so by an appropriate court.
The courts do not issue "advisory opinions" so there is no way to tell if a law in unconstitutional until it is signed into law, enforced, and challenged. Even though this law APPEARS unconstitutional, something as small as a single word change could convince the right judge (or justices as the case may be) that it is distinguished from a previous, invalid law.
Plus, members of Congress are protected by the Constitutional "Speech and debate" clause. Actions and words stated on the floor cannot be used as the basis of private suits or impeachment.
Re: U.S. Senator Introduces Video Game Rating Legislation
You're right, of course.
I intended my comment as a tongue-in-cheek statement, but I do think it's a shame that congresscriters can get away with this sort of thing. People such as these have no respect for the Bill of Rights. They make laws restricting freeedom of speech, some because they're shopping for votes, others because they honestly wish to prohibit certain kinds of speech and will do their best to draft their laws in such a way that it accomplishes their goals of censorship without technically being found unconstitutional.
Re: U.S. Senator Introduces Video Game Rating Legislation
They should just summarily lose their jobs when they suggest blatantly illegal laws.
If I proposed a design change at work that was clearly illegal, I'd lose my job. If I tried to push my illegal design change through, I'd lose my job and my professional license, and probably my freedom.
Why are lawmakers held to a lesser standard than engineers?
Re: U.S. Senator Introduces Video Game Rating Legislation
THis is the type of cascade that the NY game law can lead to, if it isn't already.