Soldato
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'Games as Porn' Legislation Tried Out Again In Massachusetts
Politicians aware that legislation has failed nine times previously.
By Mark Whiting, 03/17/2008
There's a certain formulaic nature to this kind of story that increasingly makes the business of tracking failed unconstitutional videogame legislation a copy-and-paste affair.
This week politicians in Massachusetts are attempting to do what Utah and Louisiana have failed to do: pass laws placing violent video games into the same legal category as hardcore pornography, thereby making it possible to considerably restrict their sales.
The culprit this time around is House Bill 1423, a piece of legislation drafted by Democrat Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry and supported by Boston's mayor, Thomas Menino. The bill itself has its first official hearing in Tuesday's legislative meeting. If enacted, it would give the brown paper bag treatment to certain video games sold within the state's borders, restricting their legal sale to those 18+ on account of their inherently "harmful to minors" nature.
In the bill's wording, "[A game is] harmful to minors if it is obscene or, if taken as a whole, it depicts violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community, so as to appeal predominantly to the morbid interest in violence of minors; is patently contrary to prevailing standards of adults in the county where the offense was committed [...] and lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value."
According to GamePolitics, Mayor Menino is completely aware that this exact type of legislation has failed twice in the past, with the state of Louisiana actually on the hook for payments to the court in compensation for wasting everybody's time back in 2006. For gamers at least it probably explains things somewhat to know that Everybody's Favorite Lawyer is (naturally) involved in the case as one of the consultants helping draft the bill's wording. Rep. Forry might want to bone up on her history though -- Thompson was also a co-author of the previous two state bills that managed to get themselves declared unconstitutional and thrown out of court.
Knowing that no less that nine similar cases have gone before US courts and failed within the last five years, why would Massachusetts politicians believe they can get away with HB1423 this time around? Could it be because whether or not constitutional challenges shoot the law down on sight (which is almost assured), the stunt campaigning for such a law presents an easy shot at the cameras without actually inciting genuine controversy? After all, the only people who would conceivably get upset over a farce like this would probably be gamers anyway and those sorts of people don't actually vote, right? Right?
How stupid ??? Or is it just me ??
'Games as Porn' Legislation Tried Out Again In Massachusetts
Politicians aware that legislation has failed nine times previously.
By Mark Whiting, 03/17/2008
There's a certain formulaic nature to this kind of story that increasingly makes the business of tracking failed unconstitutional videogame legislation a copy-and-paste affair.
This week politicians in Massachusetts are attempting to do what Utah and Louisiana have failed to do: pass laws placing violent video games into the same legal category as hardcore pornography, thereby making it possible to considerably restrict their sales.
The culprit this time around is House Bill 1423, a piece of legislation drafted by Democrat Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry and supported by Boston's mayor, Thomas Menino. The bill itself has its first official hearing in Tuesday's legislative meeting. If enacted, it would give the brown paper bag treatment to certain video games sold within the state's borders, restricting their legal sale to those 18+ on account of their inherently "harmful to minors" nature.
In the bill's wording, "[A game is] harmful to minors if it is obscene or, if taken as a whole, it depicts violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community, so as to appeal predominantly to the morbid interest in violence of minors; is patently contrary to prevailing standards of adults in the county where the offense was committed [...] and lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value."
According to GamePolitics, Mayor Menino is completely aware that this exact type of legislation has failed twice in the past, with the state of Louisiana actually on the hook for payments to the court in compensation for wasting everybody's time back in 2006. For gamers at least it probably explains things somewhat to know that Everybody's Favorite Lawyer is (naturally) involved in the case as one of the consultants helping draft the bill's wording. Rep. Forry might want to bone up on her history though -- Thompson was also a co-author of the previous two state bills that managed to get themselves declared unconstitutional and thrown out of court.
Knowing that no less that nine similar cases have gone before US courts and failed within the last five years, why would Massachusetts politicians believe they can get away with HB1423 this time around? Could it be because whether or not constitutional challenges shoot the law down on sight (which is almost assured), the stunt campaigning for such a law presents an easy shot at the cameras without actually inciting genuine controversy? After all, the only people who would conceivably get upset over a farce like this would probably be gamers anyway and those sorts of people don't actually vote, right? Right?
How stupid ??? Or is it just me ??
