Games and the Law

January 22, 2003

Two interesting things came to the surface today. The first is that there is a bill in legislation to make the sale of mature games a federal offense. The details are at this CNN article. Aside from being somewhat hypocritical, this bill seems to be completely unwarranted. First, is there any federal punishment for the sale of porn or R-rated movies to minors? I'm not positive, but assuming there is not, this is just absurd. Second, what will the government accomplish by doing this? If this bill is intended to help parents protect their children, then why don't they let the parents make some of the decision? I know that I don't always agree with ratings or think certain pieces of art are worth exposing a young person to mature themes. And in regards to the hypocricy, our government is offering up violent games to our youth in order to raise enlistment rates in the army. Real smooth.

In a win for videogames, the Supreme Court has refused to hear a case blaming entertainment for the murder of three girls in Kentucky. This case had been floating around since 1997 and the parents of the girls were seeking $33 million in damages. It's nice to know that the courts have decided that art cannot be blamed for the violent actions of people.

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