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Somewhere in Florida, Jack Thompson is smiling

When it comes to children and video games, the government (and lawyers) seem to want at least one foot in the door regarding legislation. Florida attorney Jack Thompson has been lobbying for reform in the industry for years and has gone after game developers and even the jolly good fellas over at Penny Arcade. Now, it appears that Louisiana lawmakers want to add some more legislation to the table concerning children and video games.

The Louisiana House committee has passed a new bill that would set stiff penalties on retailers found guilty of selling M-rated video games to minors. Fines would range from $100 to $2,000. For more serious violations, up to a 12 month prison sentence could be instituted. It was not stated what constitutes a minor or major violation, but one must guess that it possibly centers around the number of repeat violations. gamesindustry.biz reports:

The bill was passed unanimously by a vote of 102-0, with Republican representative Danny Martiny claiming that the validity of the bill in terms of First Amendment protection was "for the courts to decide."

But as stated by officials for the ESA, the bill is unlikely to hold water in court as similar moves by California, Illinois, Michigan, Utah and others have all miserably failed.

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More Work for ACLU
By TomZ on 5/18/2006 3:37:51 PM , Rating: 1
Sounds like another "to-do" item for the ACLU. I'm personally glad we have organizations like them around to help keep government from stepping over the line.




RE: More Work for ACLU
By ksherman on 5/18/2006 3:43:36 PM , Rating: 2
well, then who is going to enforce the rules of the game ratings? If a game recieves an M rating, and yet STILL gets sold to kids, there needs to be some kind of enforcment.

And dont say the parents are to blame, cuz thats crap. Its not all THAT hard to prevent your parents from knowing that you bought/did something...


RE: More Work for ACLU
By DigitalFreak on 5/18/2006 4:10:30 PM , Rating: 4
Then you are a pretty shitty parent, and should be sterilized to prevent you from having more children that you can't control or take care of.

'Nuff said, damn it.


RE: More Work for ACLU
By Shining Arcanine on 5/18/2006 5:00:41 PM , Rating: 3
If you are going to demean yourself, please do it offline. You do not need to make a public service announcement of it.


RE: More Work for ACLU
By Wwhat on 5/19/2006 9:31:15 AM , Rating: 2
Take your own advise


RE: More Work for ACLU
By TomZ on 5/18/2006 4:15:27 PM , Rating: 4
Your question presupposes that someone is responsible for enforcing the ratings system, which is not correct.

The government can't do it because of the First Amendment. This is pretty clear.

Yes, of course parents need to take responsibility at two levels:

1. If your kids buy games that you don't feel are appropriate, you need to be in a position to be aware of this and take the appropriate action.

2. If you realize that a local retailer is selling games to underage kids, then you need to get in contact with the store manager and let them know your views.

This is all you can do. It is not a perfect system. But it doesn't need to be perfect, since the potential impact of a younger kid getting hold of such a game is relatively minor. I mean, if kids can sneak a violent game into the house, what else is or could be going on that the parents are not aware of?

Finally, I would point to the movie industry as an example of a ratings system that basically works and has worked for many years. This is an entirely voluntary system worked out by that industry. Again, not 100% effective, but mostly effective with no government involvement.


RE: More Work for ACLU
By igloo15 on 5/18/2006 4:53:02 PM , Rating: 2
How exactly does a kid buy a game without the parent knowing. The first time a kid can drive is 16 and 16 years olds are not really the problem the problem is 13,14, and 15 years olds getting these games. So how are these kids gonna get to a store buy a game and come back without the parent knowing. Seems like shitty parenting to me.


RE: More Work for ACLU
By littlebitstrouds on 5/18/2006 5:01:44 PM , Rating: 2
It's called a city... Wake up not everyone lives in middle America.

quote:
So how are these kids gonna get to a store buy a game and come back without the parent knowing. Seems like shitty parenting to me.


What did you pop out of your mother at a ripe old age of 18? You're telling me that you never got away with anything as a kid? And you're saying that if I did... my parents are "shitty" parents because I did? Well excuss me but you have no right to call them "shitty." They were great parents and I have great morals because of it, but I, and every kid have gotten away with some things because that's life.


RE: More Work for ACLU
By toyota on 5/18/2006 8:52:41 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
How exactly does a kid buy a game without the parent knowing. The first time a kid can drive is 16 and 16 years olds are not really the problem the problem is 13,14, and 15 years olds getting these games. So how are these kids gonna get to a store buy a game and come back without the parent knowing. Seems like shitty parenting to me.
well you must be one stupid parent if thats what you believe. maybe when little Johnny does something wrong the police will let you know what a "shitty parent" you are.


RE: More Work for ACLU
By rushfan2006 on 5/19/2006 9:21:10 AM , Rating: 2
Why is this stuff so hard for some folks to grasp, they make this big huge to-do about it and its really simple. Its called having open and honest communication between parent and child. Should go down like this "Child: Hey Dad, saw this awesome game I'd like to get but there is lots of violence in it, but the store says this new law prevents them from selling the game to me. Parent:Well describe what the game is about {insert personal views in here..like if you are against games depicting cop killing, etc.}. child: {explains game}. Parent: Oh that's fine. We can go and pick it up tonight if you want. [this is something called trust]. Child: Cool. Thanks Dad(or Mom)."

And that's pretty much the end of it. Its called respecting each other, being responsible and talking casually about it. No big deal here folks.

The above example is how my brother deals with his 15 year old for buying games. Works well.



RE: More Work for ACLU
By Shining Arcanine on 5/18/2006 4:59:21 PM , Rating: 2
Generally, the ACLU is the one who has the government step over the line. Tens of millions are now dead in the United States, much less the entire world and every murder was done with their support and blessing.

P.S. The state government in Florida is not putting restrictions on what people can do but to who retailers can sell what. That is hardly stepping over the line, or do you mean to tell me that you are also against the bans on marijuna and underage alcohol sales in the United States?


RE: More Work for ACLU
By littlebitstrouds on 5/18/2006 5:05:08 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
That is hardly stepping over the line, or do you mean to tell me that you are also against the bans on marijuna and underage alcohol sales in the United States?


^ That is the point. I am shocked so many people have something wrong with program. THEY'RE KEEPING VIOLENT AND LUDE GAMES OUT OF THE REACH OF CHILDREN. You guys argue like they're taking your cookies away. Jesus do you want it to be possible for your kid to see that crap? I certainly don't.


RE: More Work for ACLU
By TomZ on 5/18/2006 5:55:43 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Generally, the ACLU is the one who has the government step over the line. Tens of millions are now dead in the United States, much less the entire world and every murder was done with their support and blessing.

What are you saying, that ACLU is reponsible for the deaths of tens of millions of Americans? Huh?


RE: More Work for ACLU
By Devil Bunny on 5/18/2006 6:11:12 PM , Rating: 2
What he meant to say was that while all these organizations are bitching about small things, there are alot worse things going on out there that they could focus on. Im not saying that putting a regulation on what age you can buy certain video games is a small thing. Its a controversial subject that many people fight over, personally Im for it.


RE: More Work for ACLU
By TomZ on 5/18/2006 8:03:44 PM , Rating: 2
I couldn't agree more - the government should focus on what is crucial - eliminating poverty, building a strong economy, defending our country, helping all citizens get health care, etc. - and the government should stop wasting time and money on things like trying to regulate the video game industry.


RE: More Work for ACLU
By toyota on 5/18/2006 9:55:59 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
I couldn't agree more - the government should focus on what is crucial - eliminating poverty
the ONLY way to eliminate poverty is to eliminate the people in poverty. the more you feed the poor the more poor you will have to feed. the poorest people in the world are the ones that reproduce the most.


RE: More Work for ACLU
By wiiz3rd on 5/19/2006 3:04:37 PM , Rating: 2
If you eliminate all the poor, that makes you that next poor. Should we eliminate you as well?


RE: More Work for ACLU
By littlebitstrouds on 5/19/2006 11:22:49 AM , Rating: 1
Why do people bring up this arguement? It's like saying, sorry your dad is an alcholic but at least he's not beating you. We're not going to deal with you until we fix the dads that beat their kids... You don't ignore one problem because there are worse. You try and fix them all in whatever capacity you can. Sorry but next time you are robbed we'll ignore it completely because we nee ALL our policemen at a murder case. I could go on and on but I hope you get the point.


Not going to be viable
By peternelson on 5/19/2006 1:40:25 AM , Rating: 2
Even if passed, I don't see how this will prevent young people gaining access to this material.

Maturity varies with individual not just age.

In any case restricting the retailer from selling items will simply mean their older brother can go and purchase it then give it as a birthday present. Or even the parent can still buy it for "family use". Some parents have very different ideas on what is acceptable material for kids. I could see it only serving to inflate black market prices for the games and making them more desirable.

Are you going to mandate that every PS/2 has to have a locked safe where the "mature" games must be kept. So when someone plays on your console they have access to your stack of game disks EXCEPT the ones you locked away? The issue of access isn't really in the control of the stores, but at the point of gaming.

I don't think this proposal can succeed either on a legal basis or on the basis that it will be impotent legislation in terms of actually keeping material restricted.

The content ratings are there to provide an indication of the kind of content before buying or playing the game.

You decide whether you want to watch/play and whether that material is appropriate for you (with parental guidance if necessary in making that choice). If someone decides they want to play something I think it is very difficult indeed to prevent this happening. eg friends could swap disks or put them in the mail.




RE: Not going to be viable
By littlebitstrouds on 5/19/2006 11:26:43 AM , Rating: 1
I want to sell your 13 year old kid cigarettes to smoke while you're taking a nap or running to the store and when you find out it was this one store owner who just didn't care because it's your kids right to smoke, I wanna see if you still write this crap


RE: Not going to be viable
By Tupolev22m on 5/19/2006 1:05:47 PM , Rating: 2
It's not your kids right to smoke because they don't make decisions about their health, thats your affair. However, it should be your responsibility to make sure they can't play this without your approval, not the courts responsibility to censor what can be sold to the. Also, video games don't cause cancer, and despite what you think, limiting exposure to video games doesn't blind children to the realities of the world.