Boston mayor joins Thompson’s crusade

Massachusetts Mayor Thomas Menino and legislators are moving forward with their bid to ban the sale of M-rated games to minors despite legal and constitutional setbacks against the very same policy in the states of Louisiana and Utah.

Sponsored by Mayor Menino and 21 others in the state, the bill hopes to protect the youth from games that depict graphic violence and sexual innuendo. Menino is a central figure in the act to ban ads for M-rated games from public transport.

The bill is patterned after activist lawyer Jack Thompson‘s bid to classify violent games in the same youth-harming category as pornographic material. Thompson has made a name for himself in the gaming world as the man who continually seeks to sue Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, makers of the best-selling Grand Theft Auto franchise.

The anti-violent game legislation proposed in Utah did not prosper and was immediately scrapped by game legislators. Louisiana’s same bill did little better, moving past state legislators only to be ruled unconstitutional by federal courts.

Massachusetts Mayor Thomas Menino and legislators are moving forward with their bid to ban the sale of M-rated games to minors despite legal and constitutional setbacks against the very same policy in the states of Louisiana and Utah.

Sponsored by Mayor Menino and 21 others in the state, the bill hopes to protect the youth from games that depict graphic violence and sexual innuendo. Menino is a central figure in the act to ban ads for M-rated games from public transport.

The bill is patterned after activist lawyer Jack Thompson‘s bid to classify violent games in the same youth-harming category as pornographic material. Thompson has made a name for himself in the gaming world as the man who continually seeks to sue Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, makers of the best-selling Grand Theft Auto franchise.

The anti-violent game legislation proposed in Utah did not prosper and was immediately scrapped by game legislators. Louisiana’s same bill did little better, moving past state legislators only to be ruled unconstitutional by federal courts.