Wow, I wouldn't expect this from the Nanny state CA. Good. I don't like government acting as a parent, especially the inept one in Sacramento.
Similar laws have been struck down in every state they've come up in, and legislators keep trying to pass essentially the same ones only to get it struck down again.
You would think that legislators would figure out by now that laws like this are always struck down as unconstitutional, but I guess most of them are too stupid to figure it out.
They pass these laws to give their constituents the appearance that they care and as such it's a good tactic to ensure re-election. What's pathetic is the general public's lack of understanding of the Constitution and their constant desire for the Government to "do something" rather than being responsible.
Is there something wrong with the ESRB system that these proposed "labeling requirements" would fix? If the parents who have a problem with video games are somehow unable or unwilling to use the current system, why would they use a new one?
Er ... we tend to champion individual rights far more than the majority of states. As a matter of fact, we tend to LEAD in that area. --Ted
That is bullshit. I must be the only one who thinks there should be laws? If I was 14 and wanted to buy some beer and porn, they don't let me. Does that mean that is against my freedom of speech and now those laws will be overturned? Hows gay marriage there? The Northeast is taking over on rights because CA is too crazy and dumb to do so.
There are no equivalent laws for any other form of media. Why do you believe that video games need special legal treatment? Currently, video games are self-regulated by the ESRB in exactly the same way that movies are self-regulated by the MPAA. A 14 year old can't buy a movie ticket or a DVD that's rated R from most places. Similarly, a 14 year old cannot buy an M rated game from most places. Why pass a law?
The utter ignorance of video games among some of these top decision makers is also quite frightening, given that they're attempting to restrict their sale. Remember when the morons on Fox News did a broadcast declaring that Mass Effect was some sort of hardcore alien porno game?
Really? people under 18 can go and buy porn? I didn't know that! Some video games are interactive porn, yet a 10 year old can buy it.
As I stated already, and you conveniently passed over, a store will not sell an M or AO rated game to a minor without a parent present. No law required. If a game was actually qualified as pornography, surely the existing laws that govern porn would suffice? In any case, sexual content is pretty clearly not the focus of the law in question as instead they applied the incorrect argument that violent games cause behavioral damage.
So where are these porn games of which you guys speak? Only ones I know of are from Japan, and you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get those. Personally I don't mind having some sort of rating system in place. Be nice if stores actually enforced it though. Now if we could only get them to do something about all these annoying Internet laws congress keeps trying to pass.
I believe a study was released last year as well (that I can't find now) that said it was actually easier to buy films underage than games.
Example please. Go on. Show me a video game that's interactive porn widely available in the US. Bonus points if it's rated E so that a 10 year old can actually buy it.
He can't, because there are none, unless you reeeaaallly stretch the definition of "porn." Even the most "adult" mainstream games out their (GTA, etc) are at most the equivalent of an R-rated movie in terms of adult content.
Not only that, but very, very few games have ever been rated AO (Adult's Only) by the ESRB, and even then, all of the large retailers have a policy of not selling AO-rated games. The industry policies itself just fine. There is no need for the government to unconstitutionally intervene.
Also none of the console makers will allow a AO rated game on their console, so it would have to be a PC game. I've never seen an AO rated game before, I guess most of them (at least these days) you have to download.