Minnesota's "Fine the Buyer" game law appealed today |
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First, a recap. For those who may not remember, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed bill HF 1298 into law June of last year. This law states that any underage (18 and below) citizen who purchases a game with an ESRB rating of "M" will be fined a sum of US$ 25. As remembered, the law was met with heavy criticism from the likes of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).Fast forwarding to today, the legal battles over this matter have yet to subside, as the United States 8th Circuit Court will be hearing arguments today over a District Court ruling that the new law is unconstitutional.
Consider this an update on one of the more successful game-related laws we have run into as of late, even if it does leave a sour taste for some of us. On the other hand, the law have some sense - kids aren't supposed to to be getting their hands on M-rated games in the first place, while retailers are strongly encouraged to enforce ESRB's ratings...often under strong incentives. For now, we'll just have to wait and see where the arguments will go.
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Comments [refresh]
I mean, yeah, it's an odd concept. The person being fined is a minor, so therefore the parents are (technically) responsible for paying the fine. It's not a huge fine, which is good, and it's enough to make the parents go "No, I'm not the one who bought something their not supposed to, you pay for it with your allowance/whatever." In the event the parents DO pay, they'll start to understand WHY their kids should have to buy the game with their kids.
My question is, how do you enforce this? The teller calls the cops on a kid after he makes the purchase? 'cause the parents could say "We bought it for him"...
*...they'll start to understand WHY their kids should have to buy the game with them around.
Meaning parents have to buy the games with the kids to ensure there's at least some concious effort to make this an experience with at least little responsibility attatched.
I live in Minnesota and when I heard about this, I just knew Pawlenty was dumb... I knew it would get repealed as well because of the other laws in other states getting repealed. It's funny though cuz my friends under 17 have bought M games and no one has said anything...