Why can I not let my son play GTA:SA again?
Video Game Industry To Sue To Overturn Unconstitutional Oklahoma Video Game Law
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Stacey Wade
202-223-2400 or swade@theesa.com
Washington, D.C. (June 23, 2006) -- The computer and video gameindustry filed suit today in Oklahoma, asking that the state’s newvideo game law be overturned, the Entertainment Software Association(ESA) announced. Similar laws have been ruled as unconstitutional bysix federal courts in five years, all rejecting the unpersuasive claimsmade by states that violent video games cause aggression.
“Legislators have sold parents a bill of goods for politicalexpediency,” said Doug Lowenstein, president of the ESA, the tradegroup representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. “They knowthe bill will be struck down, they know it’s based on bad science, andthey know it won’t help parents do their jobs. What they won’t tellvoters: we just picked your pocket to the tune of a half milliondollars, the amount the state will have to reimburse the ESA after theinevitable decision is made to strike down the law.”
The law criminalizes the sale or distribution of violent video games tominors, even by their own parents. By subjecting a parent to criminalliability for providing a video game to their child, the state ofOklahoma is the first in the country to pass a law that takes theunprecedented step of telling parents that the government knows betterthan they what games their children should play.
"Parents, not local police offices, should decide what games aresuitable for their children," said Lowenstein. "We stand ready to workwith parents to provide them with information about the EntertainmentSoftware Ratings system, which has been called the most comprehensiverating system for any entertainment medium in the country, in order tohelp parents make informed choices about the games their children play."
“The law’s definitions are so vague and imprecise that no video gameretailer could ever know whether a particular video game is covered bythe restrictions,” said Bo Andersen, president of the EntertainmentMerchants Association, the not-for-profit international tradeassociation for the retailers and distributors of console and computervideo games and DVDs. “No retail clerk should suffer the ignominy of acriminal record where no reasonable person could determine whether aparticular video game may legally be sold or rented to a minor.”
Lowenstein said the ESA is disappointed that the legislature opted toenact the bill rather than pursue constitutional and effective ways towork cooperatively with industry, retailers, government, parent groups,and health groups to educate parents about the ESRB ratings and contentdescriptors and the parental controls available in all next generationconsoles.
The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business andpublic affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games forvideo game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and theInternet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent ofthe $7 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2005, andbillions more in export sales of entertainment software. For moreinformation about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com.
Our tax dollars hard at work protecting our children from us.