Dave Horvath
7 Aug 2007 18:27
A federal court ruling that has been enacted in California since 2005 stating that video games should be labeled depending on content and are not allowed to be sold to minors was overturned by a federal judge today. The judge cited the original law as unconstitutional. Almost immediately, the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger said that he would do what he could to immediately appeal the ruling.
Governor Schwarzenegger had given a great deal of support towards the original 2005 bill, regardless of the fact that he, himself has appeared in a number of violent feature films. Legislators of the time argued that violence in video games could lead to psychological harm and give way to violent and irrational behavior.
The Video Software Dealers Association and the Entertainment Software Association had quickly sued to try and Block the bill, stating that video games and their content is protected under the First Amendment and therefore should not be censored or denied to a consumer demographic.
Judge Ronald Whyte who oversaw and granted the injunction stated, "At this point, there has been no showing that violent video games as defined in the Act, in the absence of other violent media, cause injury to children. In addition, the evidence does not establish that video games, because of their interactive nature or otherwise, are any more harmful than violent television, movies, Internet sites or other speech-related exposures. Although some reputable professional individuals and organizations have expressed particular concern about the interactive nature of video games, there is no generally accepted study that supports that concern."
Schwarzenegger who signed the original bill instituting the law had this to say about the recent decision, "I signed this important measure to ensure that parents are involved in determining which video games are appropriate for their children. Many of these games are made for adults and choosing games that are appropriate for kids should be a decision made by their parents."
Source:
Reuters