Supreme Court Looks Set To Throw Out California Video Game Ban

Supreme Court Looks Set To Throw Out California Video Game Ban

www.businessinsider.com

Oral arguments in the case took place this morning[...] and justices appeared to be favoring the video game makers' argument that the ban violates the First Amendment's protection of free speech. Justice Sonia Sotomayor questioned whether California could also ban rap music with violent lyrics, while Justice Antonin Scalia wondered if the ban could apply to Grimm's Fairy Tales, which are also filled with violence.

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As a supporter of First Amendment rights, and an avid video game player, I am relieved to hear that video games may now finally have a precedent for being protected under the First Amendment like books and other forms of creative expression.

With so many other freedoms being questioned, like the internet access, and governments overtaking a parent's role to raise their children, Its good to hear the courts being reasonable.

Even if you don't like video games, its still a win for people and freedom in the United States if this proposed law gets turned down.

What are other ATS members' thoughts regarding the law in question, or society's tendency to ban anything they disagree with. While this is great news for me, are there people here on ATS who, for some reason, would want this law to pass? If so, why?

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I hope they remove the ban. Though I don't play video games as much as I used to, the biggest complaint that Ive heard so far is "I dont want my 6 year old playing violent games". I agree. What the rest of that statement that seems to not be added by the media, and those that want to take everything they think is objectionable away is, that 6 year old's dont have jobs, nor the money to get these games, they had to be payed for by an adult.

Parents are more worried about fighting to keep the ban instead of watching their kids. If the ban remains all it is is an excuse for parents to not have to keep a better eye on their kids.

Peace, NRE.

reply to post by NoRegretsEver
One of the primary reasons this law concerned me so much was because it opens the door to restrict video games beyond preventing minors from playing violent video games. In Germany such laws have lead to the flat out nation-wide ban of ALL violent video games, regardless of age. I'd hate to see that happen in the US.

i cant believe that they even had the idea to try this..the games arent the problem it the people who play them if theyre going to do crazy violent things games certainly arent the cause

Video games are a complete waste of valuable time. That being said, if people want to waste their time playing video games, that is their problem. I am against all forms of censorship, period. It is ridiculous that pictures, books, video etc etc is able to be outlawed. If you don't want to look at certain things, don't look at them. That doesn't give people the right to say no one has a right to look at something. Hope that makes sense.

any blockade of banned video games is pretty... bloody... stupid!

In the day of torrenting, blue ray and fedex.... are these guys for real?

This is one of those rare occasions where its the corporations fighting for the First Amendment, and the Government is trying to restrict freedoms. As a member of the video game community, and an employee in the computer industry, these attempts by Arnold Schwarzenegger to censor this new creative media is very upsetting.

Since much of the voice against video game bans and censorship are younger, they don't have a very strong political voice, making it even more important that companies like Microsoft step in where their consumers fail to.

So to play the advocate here...
Video games are free speech, okay I'll give you that. So first the video games' restrictions / ratings go then what? Movies? Your 13 year old daughter can go see / rent / buy porn? And then... cigarettes... alcohol; where will it ever end?

In my opinion, if the kid wants the video game and mom or pop are okay with it, fine- the kid can have it. But I'm not in favor of allowing a 12 year old to go in and buy such without at least some parental supervision involved.

reply to post by abecedarian


Well, the thing is, is that technically movies don't have restrictions legally (i think) - the movie rating system is all voluntarily done by the MPA, which is why unrated films exist. Theaters that show them willingly abide by not letting minors in R rated films. I think the same goes with theaters. We treat it like a law.

Stores don't allow minors to purchase M for mature games, so creating a law that flat out prohibits certain kinds of violence in video games isn't really right, since such things aren't restricted in movies, books, etc. The idea is that whether or not a game should contain violence should be up to the maker, and that it should be a parent's choice whether or not to allow the kid to play the violent games.

Its a big deal, because this law is looked at by many as a "gateway law", that would result in significant censorship of video games (which has happened in other countries).

reply to post by abecedarian


Who buys porn?

Just sayin'.

reply to post by Miraj


Are you for or against the banning of video games?

Video games are a form of entertainment and should be protected by the First Amendment. Sure some of the games are violent but it's in a fantasy world. Sure some players may have trouble distinguishing from fantasy from reality, but this problem has been going on forever.

People who want to ban video games have the same mental capacity of those who would choose to burn books in Nazi Germany. Then again, it is California we're talking about.

reply to post by zelaar


Given the state of California's dire financial circumstances, don't they have more important things to worry about?