Pennsylvania task force releases report to fight against video game legislation
Pennsylvania isn’t pursuing video game legislation, meaning they won’t be passing any laws that inhibit the sale of “inappropriate” video games or punish those who sell them. This is what their task force set out to do: to study the effects of video games on minors, and to be able to assess the legality of the prohibition and sanctioning of those involved with the sale or development of violent or obscene video games in relation to the First Amendment.
Read their conclusion, and get a copy of their study in the full article.
Now you’ve got more reasons to smile when you’re in Pennsylvania – they’re against video game legislation and their legislative body formed a task force to conduct a study on the subject and campaign against for others to do the same.
Composed of big names from different industries, the task force set out to study the nature of the problem, the legality of video game legislation in relation to the First Amendment, and the effects of the so-called “inappropriate” video games on minors. This is their conclusion:
Whatever the misgivings expressed by the Eighth Circuit and those who disagree with the Federal courtÂ’s approach to the First Amendment, that approach offers virtually categorical protection of violent video games against criminal prohibitions on their sale to minors. Of course, the constitution permits voluntary agreements among manufacturers and distributors to prohibit sales of inappropriate games to minors, and an extensive program to accomplish that end has been established, as will be detailed in the next chapter. Given the current state of the law, the task force advises that the General Assembly avoid challenging the legal consensus and refrain from enacting criminal sanctions on the sale of video games to minors or other measures similar to those invalidated elsewhere.
Simply put, they found that it is unlawful to enact criminal sanctions against the sale of violent video games to minors. Of course, they recognize the potential dangers of minors playing these sort of games, so they point out that an investigative body already exists and addresses the problem for concerned parents, most likely referring to the ESRB.
I’m sure you’d want to read that report, so you can get it right here.
More on video game legislation:
- ECA: recent study on violent video games is wanting
- Violent video games make you aggressive
- The California video game law is back and may even go to the Supreme Court
Via Game Politics