Utah Committee Passes 'Games As Porn' Bill
Miscellaneous Forums/General Discussion/Utah Committee Passes 'Games As Porn' Bill
Duh. Idiots.
According to a story reported in local paper Daily Herald and highlighted by website GamePolitics, a Utah House committee has passed, in committee form, Republican David Hogue’s bill to make it a felony to knowingly exhibit or sell violent video games to minors, by a 7-2 vote. The bill will now proceed to the Utah House of Representatives, where it will be debated in more detail.
The bill has twice failed the same vote, when Hogue tried to have violent video games defined as obscene. It appears to have succeeded this time after the removal of references to other media, to focus purely on video games.
Controversially, the bill made no reference to existing ESA ratings, but merely described violent games as those that are "patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors”, amongst other equally ambiguous descriptions. Oddly the bill exempts games based on historical wars, but not automatically those based on current or futuristic ones, from such categorization.
The bill applies to both retailers and those “trying to influence a minor”, suggesting the preposterous notion of an older teenager being arrested for encouraging a younger friend to by a Mature rated game. Hogue has welcomed the new result, commenting that: "It's more than a message bill…This is a bill that identifies the effects that different media has on our children."
The ESA have responded quickly to the news, with spokesman Scott Sabey saying, "This bill is not needed. More importantly, the bill will be challenged as unconstitutional. To plug violence into an obscenity statute won't work."
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=8175 *Patriotic self*
While I disagree with the whole notion, it is the mushy subjectiveness to the whole thing that puts it into over-the-top insanity.
Heh I read topic as bill for porn in games, making it a law to have some porn in games or else game is illigal.
I think that such a bill shouldn't be passed. Creators of such games really need to think about who is gonna be playing their games, and choose act in a responsible way. Also the retailers should also act is a responsible way, and choose not to sell such games to minors. And finally parents should also pay attention to the games their children are playing and not let them play such games.
The whole GTA San Andreas thing has really brought up alot of problems for Rockstar Games. This game is extremely violent and you can unlock porn aspects of the game with a patch you can download form the internet. Rockstar decided to not have the porn in the game, but messed up by not actually removing the code, and thought just by locking it up, that it would be enough. Now they are being sued by at least 2 different people over it.
I found it to be a very fun game to play, but I am also 34, I won't let my 9 year old play the game, or watch me play it.
That right there reminds of a big part of the problem with these controversies. The people who are against games don't actually know anything about games and thus don't see anything wrong with squashing them, while the people on the side of games don't have kids and thus don't get what the problem is. No wonder no progress is being made.
What was wrong with parents ensuring that the kids abide by the ESA ratings in the first place?
To drag up some stuff I said in another topic, I try to abide by the ratings for my 4 (nearly 5) year old son. I play console games with him that are 3+ and the odd 11/12 game if it's only really got that rating because it would be too hard or something. But I don't play more violent games or games with scarey cut scenes in front of him. I was saying that anyway, kids can be scare by non-obvious stuff, just little things. I made a mistake recently and was playing Broken Sword: Dragon something on the PS2, it's a 12, and the start was fine, then it goes to Paris and the room is dark and there is creepy music and a noise from behind a door. This scared him so I stopped playing. That night, he had a nightmare and came running into my bedroom crying. The atmosphere scared him, and his mind made up stuff behind the door. It wasn't anything specifically violent or horrible that he saw. This is the point I was trying to make in the other thread, but was getting flamed about kids are tougher than you think etc. Yes in some ways, but not in others, you've just got to be careful. He's seen me playing Call of Duty etc, and although violent, there is no real gore (unlike soldier of fortune) and he says stuff like "shoot them in the head dad" and laughs when you shoot them in the legs and the hobble and groan etc. I don't play these games with him, he's just wandered in on me playing them and I stop, but basically he isn't worried by them. It's really hard to tell what will worry a kid or not.
"patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors”
I find Republican politicians offensive and unsuitable for human beings (never mind children). Lets ban the GOP!
Hogue has welcomed the new result, commenting that: "It's more than a message bill…This is a bill that identifies the effects that different media has on our children."
What kind of rubbish is that? That's not even intelligible. First of all, bills do not indentify any effects anything has on something else. That would be scientific studies. The only message this bill is sending is that if you have enough stupid @#!*ing morons on your side, you can get even the most insane, rediculous, unintelligible, ill-concieved, absurd, irrational bull@#!* passed as a law.
What was wrong with parents ensuring that the kids abide by the ESA ratings in the first place?
Because these Republican @#!*wits son't know what the word 'Responsability' means. These are the kind of morons who honestly believe that fear of god is the only reason people behave halfway decently.
Remember 3000 years ago when Aristotle reasoned that "I have gained this by philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law."? That's pretty much the primal train of thought these rightwing religious nutjobs are stuck in.
these Republican @#!*wits
Do note that many of the most outspoken media decency folks are Dems. This isn't about partisan politics.
Regretably I'd have to call both Repubs and Dems all twits, sorry. They are both pretty much right wing compared to UK options, mind you UK options aren't great either!
This isn't going to last long, especially with the argument of it being unconstitutional. Then again, the Patriot Act somehow survived.
Do note that many of the most outspoken media decency folks are Dems.
Well the only one that comes to mind is Hillary Clinton - and well she really isn't one to talk about decency and 'traditional family values'.
This isn't about partisan politics.
From what I understand, neither is being a member of a political party.
What I don't understand is, why do supposedly different political parties, cater to the same special interest groups?
Well the only one that comes to mind is Hillary Clinton
This was a pet issue for both Gore (Tipper more than Al, but still) and Lieberman.
Lieberman is a Democrat by name only.
Anyway, I think it's quite clear that decency is the last thing these people care about.
According to the bill, it's okay for a game about the Vietnam War (Soldiers high on LSD and Cocaine, killing babies and burning down villages), to be sold to kids, where as a game depicting a guy who jumps on the heads of others to get their coins is not.
I think even Grey Alien would let his kid play Mario64, before letting him relive the My Lai Massacre in glorious 3D.
Since when is Mario64 an M rated game?
I did let him play Mario Sunshine and he loves it, but I think thats a 3+ which means anyone that can hold a controller.
Since when is Mario64 an M rated game?
The bill is not limited to 'M rated games'. The bill specificly ignores ESRB ratings. It's a 'blanket bill' for all violent games (except appearently, those based on real attrocities).
The fact that Mario64 isn't rated M, doesn't mean jumping on peoples heads to get their money isn't an act of violence. In fact I'm pretty sure a judge would call that agrevated assault.
I did let him play Mario Sunshine and he loves it, but I think thats a 3+ which means anyone that can hold a controller.
Again, the bill doesn't care how or who has rated the game. The bill cares that it's violent (and preferably fictional).
In fact going by the
ESRBs ratings this bill would make you a criminal, if you sold or made available all 'T' rated games, and some 'E' rated games to a minor (18 years old in Utah IIRC). In fact anything a judge would deem "patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors".
Well, you are making some pretty reactionary assumptions about what judges would deem offensive. That is of course the whole problem with the bill; whatever the judge hearing the case happens not to like will get you thrown in jail?!