This week's Law of the Game on Joystiq is all about video game laws.
Read more here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Video Games, Gambling, and Other Legal Discussions
Your Source for Video Game Law
Editor in Chief
- Mark Methenitis
- Mark Methenitis is an attorney in Dallas Texas. Mark received his Juris Doctorate and his Master of Business Administration from Texas Tech University and his Bachelor of Arts from The University of Texas.
Gaming
RSS + Subscription
Contributors
Awards/Honors
American Bar Association
Video Game News and Related Sites
- 1up
- Achievement Hunter
- Bloggey Kong
- CineMassacre
- Destructoid
- Economics of Virtual Worlds
- Gamasutra
- Game Politics
- GameSpot
- IGN
- Joystiq
- Kotaku
- MaxConsole.net
- Play No Evil
- PopeHat
- Retroware TV
- Rooster Teeth Productions
- ScrewAttack
- Second Life Law Spot
- Slashdot Games
- SMU Guildhall
- Terra Nova
- That Guy With The Glasses
- The Escapist
- VirtualLaw.com
- Virtually Blind
- Xbox360Achievements.org
Other Links
DISCLAIMER
The content of this blog is not legal advice. It only constitutes commentary on legal issues, and is for educational and informational purposes only. Reading this blog, replying to its posts, or any other interaction on this site does not create an attorney-client privilege between you and the author. The opinions expressed on this site are the opinions of the respective authors and no other institutions or entities. As with any legal issue that may confront you in a particular situation, you should always consult a qualified attorney familiar with the laws in your State. Any hyperlinks which may appear on this website imply no association with or approval of this site's content, unless expressly noted. The content of this blog may not reflect the most current legal developments, settlements, or verdicts, and content that is outdated is not removed from this blog over time.
5 comments:
Hypothetically, were one of these “don’t sell uber violent games to minors” laws to somehow survive a constitutional challenge, how would they be enforced?
Would someone have to sue the retailer? Could the person in line behind the minor buying the game call the cops? Would a judge have to examine each game on a case by case basis to determine if it’s violent enough to be covered by the law? Maybe a jury trial?
Could retailers fall back on a defense of “we didn’t think game x was violent enough to be illegal to sell”?
Andrew Eisen
Enforcement would depend on the particular of the law, but I imagine it would be like alcohol sales laws are enforced. They would be criminal, and the penalty could be either against the store, the store management, or the individual clerk. Fines or prison time could be enforced (I would think fines would be more appropriate), and it would have to be based on the game's ESRB rating (i.e. sale of an M rated game to a Minor would be the defined offense). You would likely have to create an entire regulatory agency to deal with these issues as they arose (like a casino gaming commission or a alcoholic beverage commission, but for video games).
I'm not sure how well using a private rating system would stand up to scrutiny, though. And I don't think you could even "lose the right to sell games" like you can with alcohol.
It's a pretty far-fetched process for enforcement, in my opinion.
"...and it would have to be based on the game's ESRB rating."
Isn't that impossible because that would be giving a private organization the force of law?
On second thought, the gov't might be able delegate to the ESRB the authority to define a video game as violent (and therefore harmful to minors) but doesn’t it first have to clearly define the guidelines by which the ESRB assigns ratings?
Andrew Eisen
That's what I meant by "stand up to scrutiny." The whole idea is a bit of a stretch unless we allow the government (or at least a government agency) to rate media. And if that's the case, then why only games and not movies, music, books, etc.
Post a Comment