Judge Halts Implementation Of CA Violent Game Bill
Source: Gamasutra
According
to an ESA statement, in a ruling issued late on December 21, 2005,
Judge Ronald Whyte, United States District Judge for the United States
District Court for the Northern District of California, handed down a
preliminary injunction halting the implementation of California’s law,
publically backed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, that would
restrict video game sales and require the unconstitutional and
subjective labeling of video games.
Under the terms of AB1179,
which would have come into effect on January 1, 2006, customers
purchasing games with the label would be required to show ID; retailers
who either did not check for ID or did not show the labels will be
liable for a $1,000 fine per infraction.
As a direct result of
the suit filed by the ESA and VSDA in October regarding the AB1179 law,
Judge Whyte wrote that "games are protected by the First Amendment and
that plaintiffs are likely to prevail in their argument that the Act
violates the First Amendment." This is the second initially successful
ESA court challenge in recent weeks, following similar events in
Illinois earlier in December.
In addition, according to the ESA,
Judge Whyte cited other rulings which found that the research does not
establish a causal link between violent video games and violent
behavior, does not assess the significance of any link, nor does it
compare video games to other forms of media violence to which minors
are exposed. He writes, “This court anticipates that [the State] here
may face similar problems proving the California legislature made
‘reasonable inferences based on substantial evidence.’”
Douglas
Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association, issued
this statement in response: “We are extremely pleased by today’s
announcement. We deeply respect the concerns of the Governor and the
Legislature that gave rise to the law. For the sixth time in five
years, Federal Courts have now blocked or struck down these state and
local laws seeking to regulate the sale of games to minors based on
their content, and none have upheld such statutes. It is therefore time
to look past legislation and litigation in favor of cooperative efforts
to accomplish the common goal of ensuring that parents use the tools
available to control the games their kids play.
“We believe that
between the ESRB ratings, parental education, and now with the
announcement that all next generation consoles will have parental
controls, there is a wealth of ways that those concerned can ensure
that children do not have access to inappropriate games. In sum, we
believe a combination of parental choice and parental control is the
legal, sensible, and most importantly, effective way to help parents
keep inappropriate video games from children, and we dedicate ourselves
to working with all parties to accomplish this goal.”
Others
involved in the bill, including AB1179 author and sponsor Leland Yee
and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who signed the bill into
law earlier this year, have yet to comment on this judicial decision.