New game bill may turn retailers into felons |
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According to a report by GamePolitics, a new bill has been proposed by the Democratic side of New York's legislature. This report comes after the fact that another bill was passed earlier by the legislature of the same state, spearheaded by the Republicans of the Senate, specifically Senator Andrew Lanza.But probably the most significant issue that this news has raised is that if a retailer happens to sell or rent any game to inappropriately aged minors, that same retailer would be committing a felony - a class E felony. An excerpt of the proposal goes:
1.) selling or renting to a minor a game which includes “depraved violence and indecent images” would be a class E felony under the state penal code
The bill refers to "depraved" as depictions of "rape, dismemberment, physical torture, mutilation or evisceration of a human being." The proposed bill, called A08696, goes further to iterate that each new game console should integrate a parental control mechanism. It defines this mechanism as:
Â…a mechanism, device or control system that allows an owner, through the use of a personal identification number, password or similar technology, to prevent the display of video games, or portions thereof containing certain contentÂ…
And that's not all. According to a section of the proposal, the state attorney general will be granted the authority to petition the court for an injunction blocking further sales of any console not meeting this requirement. And yes, it's specifically targeted at consoles, not PCs or handhelds.
The proposal also suggests the formation of a council, dubbed "Advisory Council on Interactive Media and Youth Violence," to monitor and evaluate research on interactive media, "violent behavior among children," and review the ESRB system. Furthermore, it says:
4.) The measure contains a severability clause, which states that if any portion of the proposed law is found to be unconstitutional, such a ruling would not invalidate the other sections.
This new bill was proposed by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol and co-sponsored by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer. There are even talks that the new proposal is currently favored by Governor Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat. And if he does pass and sign the law in the state, it will go into effect in 120 days.
Via Game Politics
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Comments [refresh]
go for it.
And too think there are real maniacs out there running free, the prisons are over run and yet they still want to slap this on a person selling a video game. Shouldn't the parents of kids be put in prison for letting the kids play the game. Also shouldn't the Minor also face charges for attempting to buy the video game? Last time I looked it was against the law for someone to buy and sell drugs and both parties would be sent to jail if caught. So i think there are a lot of loop holes and things that are not being looked at in the big scheme of things.
Jack Thompson needs to go get laid.
you start blaiming things on parents next thing you know they ain't buying you sh*it...
you can all complain all you want but keep the parents out of it cause if these blows up and headlines such as "PARENTS TO BLAME FOR...." starts appearing...
there goes your game console...
WHAT THE HECK LET'S BLOW THIS THING UP!!!! COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT ALL THEM KIDS ONLINE ANYWAY!!!
that it's always easy to point fingers on parents (people who we all know doesn't really want anything else but the best) that it has become stupid.
i was a kid once and honestly i wouldn't blame my parents for things THAT I GET AWAY with...
for the retailers, console makers, game developers... there's nothing wrong about trying to be more responsible in your money-earning endeavors...
I guess NY Democrats enjoy giving money to the Gaming industry. Maybe they should just fork over the legal fees now for the unconstitutiona l ruling the courts will pass after NY is sued again.
I agree with this bill. Kids cant get into R rated movies alone, cant buy R rated DVDs, and shouldnt be allowed to buy an M rated game. It really is the parents responsibility on what their kids do and do not have access to, but it is also the responsibility of the sales clerks not to sell it to them in the first place.
You dont sell a kid alcohol for fear of jail time, and a violent video game should be the same.
I don't know what it's like in the States but here in Britain a 12 year old cannot walk up to a game retailer and buy a Mature rated game...exactly the same as they can't go into a higher certificate movie or drive a damn car for crying out loud. They can't even buy a game over the net because it requires a Debit/Credit Card that your not legally allowed at that age...so this really makes no difference.
It does come down to the parents...if their willing to buy that game for their child then their almost certainly willing to provide the code to allow the child to play it. Or even better...who's planning on setting up this parental control code? Nowaday's most "irresponsible" parents (which are the ones who were talking about here) wouldn't have the first clue how to setup a console so it's more than likely the 12 year old who's actually creating the password...perhaps he's doing it to save his parents innocence so their not affected by the scenes of depravity.
Honestly this is a face saving gesture nothing else...it's like trying to block a 10 year old from seeing Porn on the net...sure you can set up blocks but if he's determined he'll get to it anyway.
the ESRB is not law!! Its a suggestion to parents!! And there gonna charge a FELONY if a 13 year old gets his hands on Gears of War on the store. They might as well charge a felony assault, thats more dangerous than selling "M" rated video games to a young teen I swear.... this society has gone into the toilet.
When these kids grow up and reality of life sets in without these experiences, they are going to be wimps and have communist ideas like Jack Thompson. We need an asteroid to hit this Earth to give people a reality check. Life is not all about tulips and lolly pops.
"goes further to iterate that each new game console should integrate a parental control mechanism"
Right, and the PSP, Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3 definitely have Parental controls built in already.
Do these people even know what systems they're talking about?
They'll probably reply: "Uh... the Super Nintendo?"
I'm okay with this though, but I just had to point that stupidity out. xD
I can't believe you dont understand sarcasim. I think this is the biggest waste of New Yorkers tax dollars. They will be better off if they instituted some sort of fine like in what the ABC does with alcohol and serving a minor.
I bet anything that Jack Thompson is behind this. He's as stubborn as Sigma. No matter how many times you pwn him, he'll manage to come back.
I know i was back then.
...The bill says that selling a game with inappropriate violence to a minor would be a FELONY. --That's right: same thing as if someone commits murder: a FELONY. This is just ridiculous and out-of-hand. Just because some parents are so tuned-out or so accomodating to their children that they DON'T CARE that their children buy games, movies, albums, etc. that are inappropriate, doesn't mean that the store employee or owner should get a FELONY record just because they thought the kid looked old enough and didn't card the govt stooge that day. It is not an American principle to litigate that which we cannot control (except maybe in the last 30-50yrs). It is quite a ridiculous notion to say that selling alcohol is the same thing as selling a game.
iF i was a still kid today i'd wanna play the brutalist bestselling games there were, woulnd t you?
F_U_C_K The ESRB
F_U_C_K The ESRB