In a July 1 opinion piece in First Things, Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput wrote that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on the California video game violence law (Brown v. EMA) is "wrong," and will add "poison" the country's future.

Chaput also wrote that the court's ruling "extends and elevates the individual’s right to free expression – or in this case, a corporation’s right to make a healthy profit - at the expense of family sovereignty, the natural rights of parents and the intent of the Constitution’s authors."

Chaput went on to write that the ruling overlooked the government's duty to protect "human dignity and the common good."

"A law which respects mothers and fathers trying to make good choices for their family does just that," he wrote.

Only in video games and sci-fi movies would we expect our worlds (communications, electronics - basically all the modern trappings of our society) to come to a crashing halt due to either a natural or weapons-based Electromagnetic pulse caused by a major solar storm or an A-bomb. Sure, it all sounds like the backdrop from a Call of Duty or Medal of Honor game (or one of those crazy History Channel specials on 2012), but some politicians are taking the threat seriously. USA Today has a fascinating article on the subject. We cover the parts we like.

An Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a massive burst of atmospheric electricity. Whether powered by geomagnetic storms, nuclear blasts, or a new generation of weapons supposedly developed by military types around the world, the result equals burned out power lines and electrical equipment - a society without power.

You may have read earlier this week that Burst.net, a Scranton, Pa.-based Web hosting service, took Blogetery.com, a blog hosting service that features some 73,000 or so blogs, offline earlier this month over claims that one (or more?) of the sites was hosting materials used by "al-Qaeda operatives." Joe Marr, chief technology officer of Burst.net told C|Net that "it took the site offline after FBI agents alleged the blogging platform was being used by al-Qaeda operatives to distribute recruiting materials and to offer bomb-making tips."

Today Burst.net said that it had zipped up Blogetery.com's data and will give it back to its owner, but it will no longer host the site. Marr also said the al-Qaeda materials and some copyright infringing files were removed. The transfer was due to occur later in the day.

If you illegally download software or music, your mom will be wrestled to the ground and arrested by a SWAT team - for cooking pasta.

That's just one of the apparent messages in a modern-day update of 1992's Don't Copy That Floppy.

The Software & Information Industry Association, which created the video, explains (sort of) in its YouTube description of the video:

Check out the trailer...anti-piracy hero MC Double Def DP will return in the summer of 2009 to drop some more knowledge on would-be pirates in the sequel to 1992's "Don't Copy That Floppy! Brought to you by SIIA (formerly SPA)

Via: ZeroPaid

Q: What do you get when you cross a media sensation with a guy who loves to see his name in print?

A: A letter from Jack Thompson to Sarah Palin.

Facing imminent disbarment, the Miami attorney has written to the Republican vice-presidential candidate, urging her to take a stand against violent video games. And, of course, offering his own services in that regard.

In a letter to America's best-known hockey mom, Thompson writes:

The McCain-Palin campaign, with all respect, is missing the boat on this issue. I strongly urge your campaign to tell American parents that if elected you will present to Congress a bill that prevents the sale of adult games to kids while fully protecting the First Amendment. 

 

I have this crucial, constitutional legislation drafted and ready to go.  You will see voters flock to your proposal.  The American entertainment industry’s assault upon our children and our values must stop, and you are the person to stop it. 

Thompson's previous attempt at "this crucial, constitutional legislation," however, was declared unconstitutional in stinging language by a federal judge in Louisiana. Utah's Republican attorney general also dismissed a Thompson-drafted bill as a violation of the First Amendment. State legislatures in Delaware and Massachusetts have likewise passed on Thompson's proposal.

Full text of the letter after the jump... 

In Georgia, Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor is now making a bid for the top job. The Democrat is running TV spots promising to legislate video games.

It's the second ad we've seen in the last 24 hours that seems to equate the threat of violent video games with that posed by online predators. The other is from Ed Perlmutter (see following article) from Colorado.

By way of Kotaku comes word of a campaign commercial promising video game legislation.

The office-seeker is Democrat Ed Perlmutter, who is running for a seat with Colorado's Congressional delegation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5OMwviF8IU