Games industry sues California

GTA porn row legislation challenged again

The games industry is planning to take the State of California to court in an effort to overturn a recent law banning the sale of violent video games to children. 

The law was passed in the moral panic following the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which contained some pornographic content.

Under the legislation, retailers are banned from selling games to children if the range of options available to a player includes "killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being". Conviction of an offence carries a maximum fine of $1,000.

The Entertainment Software Association is already fighting similar laws in Michigan, and has had them successfully overturned as unconstitutional in St Louis, Indianapolis and Washington State. 

"If this law is implemented, it will not only limit First Amendment rights for Michigan residents but, by virtue of its vagueness, will create a huge amount of confusion for Michigan's retailers, parents and video game developers, " said Douglas Lowenstein, president of the ESA.

"I am confident that the court will affirm our position given the rulings on similar statutes in other jurisdictions. The facts, the science, the law and the US Constitution have not changed since those decisions were handed down."

Governor Schwarzenegger signed the law, listed as AB1179 in the California Statute, at the end of last week.

Jeff Brown, a spokesman for games maker Electronic Arts, said in a statement: "The certainty of a constitutional challenge makes this a hollow gesture.

"Several courts have affirmed that games enjoy the same constitutional protection as movies, books and television, and I expect they will come to the same conclusion in California.''

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