Oklahoma governor signs anti-videogame bill into law

Oklahoma has become the eighth U.S. jurisdiction to pass a law restricting the sale of Mature and Adult Only (M, AO) rated games to minors. Similar laws in St. Louis, Indianapolis, Washington State, Illinois, and Michigan have been declared unconstitutional by the courts. California's videogame law is currently under dispute. Minnesota signed a similar bill into law last week.

First let's look at what ESRB (the board that rates videogames) ratings are and are not. They are not law, nor are the officially sanctioned or recognized by any federal agency. They are voluntary, you don't have to submit a game to the ESRB for rating to sell it. However, most major retailers refuse to sell games that have no ESRB rating. They are confusing, some games which feature strategy war, like Age of Empires, Age of Kings, may only get an E10+ (ok for everyone over 10). At the same time, a poker simulator, like the WCP Poker may earn a Teen rating. We all know that poker is far more harmful to a child's tender psyche than simluating the destruction of entire cultures.

The problem with these laws is that they are reactionary. The politicians who pass them rarely cite any evidence other than, "games are violent". It is a cheap shot at appeasing constituants by trying to turn back the clock to a more gentile time. Of course, anyone who reads fiction knows that violence is nothing new in the American imagination. In a coutnry where children can buy magazines like Soldier of Fortune, I'm not sure I see the consistency in the arguments.

Right now it is tryndy to pock on videogames, and politicians from both sides of the aisle have taken shots at protecting America's youth. Call me old fashioned, but declaring war on a nation that did nothing to us seems a far bigger threat to the moral development of youth than Grand Theft Auto.

Oklahoma's governor had the follwing to say in defense of his signing: "The violence in videogames has grown to epic proportions. Some videogames glorify violence to a degree seldom seen in even the bloodiest movies. While parents have the ultimate responsibility for what their children do and see, this legislation is another tool to ensure that our young people are not saturated in violence. This gives parents the power to more closely regulate which games their children play."

These careless laws not only pose a threat to first amendment rights, and wast taxpayers' money, they ignore current research. The FTC has conducted secret shopper surveys for years in which they attempt to quantify how easily minors can purchase M rated games. Remember, it is not illegal for a minor to purchase M rated games, the way it is tobacco or alcohol, but the studies still cast interesting light on this issue. In 2000 85% of minors in the secret shopping survey were able to purchase M rated games. The numbers have dropped every year since then. In 2001, 78%, in 2003 69%, in 2005 only 42% of minors who attempted to buy M rated videogames were successful.

Without government intervention of any kind, the industry's and ESRB's education and intervention measure have cut the number by 43% in five years. People can take care of themselves, and in this case, they are. Parents upset about M rated games being sold to minors spoke up, and the industry listened. Aside from the fact that these laws are unconstitutional, they simply aren't necessary. It's time to stop legislating morality and allow Americans to decided for themselves how best to consume media. [Source: GamePolitics.com]