Games Are Porn in Utah 160
GameDailyBiz reports that there is new anti-videogame legislation brewing in both Iowa and Utah. Utah's law is more poorly thought out than most, essentially classifying violent games as porn. From the article: "Meanwhile in Utah, State Rep. David Hogue (R-Riverton) is taking a different approach. Hogue's HB 0257 would seek to amend an existing Utah statute by adding an 'inappropriate violence' clause--such as violence exhibited in some of today's popular video games. Under the existing Utah statute the distribution or showing of pornography and explicit nudity to minors is a felony. Hogue is certainly not the first politician to compare violent video games to pornography. CA Assemblyman Leland Yee and countless others have put playing violent games in the same category as porn or smoking cigarettes."
Let's kill the children and eat them. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Let's kill the children and eat them. (Score:4, Funny)
tsk, tsk (Score:1)
If the game makers had used some type of self-restraint and cooperation like we see the movie industry doing with their ratings for vchips maybe there would be no need for stupid laws.
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:1)
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:3, Insightful)
Simple math really.
Parental control (Score:2)
I used to think that, and then I had kids. And then they grew old enough to start going to school and talking to their friends at recess, and going to friends houses.
While I have more control over my children than many parents seem to have, it still stuns me how little control we actually do have. As they grow older, what control we do have will dissipate.
Thus, while I wouldn't want violent VGs marked as porn, we do want/need some sort of eff
Re:Parental control (Score:5, Insightful)
We do have such a rating system [esrb.org]. Hell, I'm 33, huge with a bushy beard and a register monkey at Target tried to card me when buying an M-rated game - probably because he thought it was funny, but the important thing is that the register stopped him and reminded him that the game had a "not for little kids" rating.
These videogame laws are attempting to criminalize something which I don't think should be criminal. In fact, in the case of Utah the result of their law (if it held up, which it won't) would be to make it a felony for a parent to let their minor child play GTA3 or Medal of Honor. The article doesn't contain the actual text of the amendment, but if it's as vague as they say an adult could go to jail for showing Serenity to a 17-year-old, let alone giving them a copy of Call of Duty. The Iowa law is hardly better since someone would have to determine on a case-by-case basis which games would cause a violation and the "offender" would still end up with a friggin' criminal record.
These legislators are just trying to get publicity. I doubt they truly give a rat's ass about videogame content or they would recognize that the ESRB sets some good guidelines and at least reference those standards when constructing their patently unconstitutional laws...
Re:Parental control (Score:3, Insightful)
And no, I don't mean external controlling forces.
What I mean is that children are probably better off it raised such that "bad external influences" don't have "negative effects" on them. The last think you want is anyone to grow up too sheltered, because then they may lose all control once they enter the real world.
This sort of reminds me of the environment that I grew
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:2)
Kids raise themselves for the most part. Trying hard isn't going to change that.
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:5, Funny)
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:5, Funny)
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:2)
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:3, Funny)
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:2)
Kill all Congressmen. The game for the new millenium. Freedom fighters defend the Constitution by offing as many politicans as they can. To win you must prevent Congress from passing unconstituational legislation and restore the country to a democracy. You get bonus points for nailing rightwing Republicans but all politicans have point value. You can also score by defending a Congressman that is filibustering unconstitutional legislat
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Beat the poop? (Score:2, Funny)
"bowel retraining program"
I'll put that right next to
"Hey Joe, would you toss me that piano?"
Re:Beat the poop? (Score:2)
" ... if the fecal impaction is not removed, the colon may become overly dilated (megacolon) ...". I imagine it'd look something like this:
O
O
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:2)
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.esrb.org/ [esrb.org]
Maybe somebody at Take2 should just buy their own Congressman.
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:2, Informative)
And if only there was some way to enforce [xbox.com] [2] [xbox.com] those ratings ...
(I'd link something for PS2, but I couldn't find anything appropriate.)
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:2, Informative)
I'd add that the ESRB ratings do indeed cause developers to exercise some restraint in what kind of content goes into games. At least according to Wikipedia, there's a grand total of 19 AO-rated games in existence (including GTA:SA.) That's 19 titles out of 8,000 or so rated by the ESRB. It seems pretty clear to me that not many publ
Re:a couple problems with that (Score:2)
I have to disagree with this. While rating systems can encourage self-censorship, they are not censorship in and of itself. You are free to make whatever game you like, and I am free to choose not to play it based on the rating.
I do agree that you should not be REQUIRED to use ratings. And I will fight any government law that says so. If you want to release a game that has no rating, you should be able to do it. And stores should be free to cho
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:2)
I wish those people would find something more productive to do.
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:4, Insightful)
The other problem is that the retailers don't take the ratings as seriously as the movie theater operators do, and frequently sell kids games that aren't meant for them. However, this isn't as big a problem as the other one; it turns out that 84% of games that kids get are bought for them by parents.
Re:tsk, tsk (Score:2)
So much for the movies... (Score:2)
Guess the movie theatres will be pulling out of Utah then. Along with bookstores, half the prime-time television offerings, more than a few cable channels, and a handful of magazine publishers.
Now, at least, I know where not to go for a vacation...
Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:2)
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:2)
>
>You forgot religious indoctrination.
No he didn't. Look at your version of the list again:
"Booze, smokes, pr0n, video games, church."
One of these things is not like the other. One of these things does not belong.
I'll grant that getting "material harmful for minors" to show up when you type "fun things to do on wednesday night" is a bit of a stretch, even
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think it's right for the government to draw that line, in either case. Besides, aren't there a lot more important issues to deal with?
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:3, Insightful)
Video games are a visual, interactive and immersive medium where the player generally takes part in the virtual violent conduct.
There is a clear difference, like the difference between saying that Anne and Bob had sex and showing a video of it.
Although I disagree with these laws, it's correlation, not causation. A person with violent tenencies may be drawn to violent video games, but a person without violent tendencies will not develop them by playin
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:2)
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:2)
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:2)
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:1)
The less radical side of me wishes to clarify that that I did not say "church" but rather "religious indoctrination." I think that's an important distinction.
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:5, Funny)
The final crazy form of the law would be individual lists per kid of every family, where parents would tag their kids with some kind of embedded RFID that contains a list of everything their parents don't want them exposed to. Don't have the tag? You can only get water and whole wheat organic crackers.
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:1)
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:2)
Don't have the tag? You can only get water and whole wheat organic crackers.
I'm allergic to Wheat glutin, you insensitive bastard!
You forgot Coffee... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:1)
Re:Why not add a "material harmful for minors"? (Score:2)
Not again (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not again (Score:2)
I'm sure you meant 'find' one parent... and i agree with you; but how about fining parents too ;) seems a sight more effective than hassling retail shops
Re:Not again (Score:4, Insightful)
1> Religion creates the concept of vice
2> Guilt and fear in the populace create a need to criminalize and/or tax vice
3> Criminalized vice gives rise to organized crime and makes criminals of ordinary people
4> Legitimite business buys off legislators
5> Organized crime buys off judges and prosecutors
6> Law enforcement gets more tax money to handle the growing criminal populace
7> The offering plate at church gets more donations from laymen assuaging their guilt
8> Everybody profits but the average Joe, who gets completely screwed
Of course, it could be that #2 is the cause of #1 instead; I don't know. Chicken and egg? I say roast the chicken and stuff it with an omelette, that would be yummy.
It is unfortunate. If society were more open about sexual exploration and the recreational use of pharmaceuticals, and thought that responsible gambling was just fine, and provided socially acceptable outlets for aggressive tendencies, things would be just fine. The government could go about its real duty of providing security (at the national level) and infrastructure (at the local level), and leave all the law-abiding folk to their business.
Re:Not again (Score:1)
A lot of this can be blamed on the Victorians. If you read about the history of sex, during much of the history of the world, things like prostitution were considered normal and essential to maintaining a decent society. Hell, Japanese baths were co-ed until Western
Re:Not again (Score:2)
It goes like this:
-Britian has a large empire, but seeds of decent demand a ligitimate reason for the empire.
-British invent the idea that they are 'more civilised' and are bringing 'civilisation' to the countries of the empire.
-In order to encourage traits in native peoples, the British concept of 'civilisation' means a society without violence or strong emotion in any form, as these are the traits that lead to rebellion.
-Thus begins the stric
Re:Not again (Score:2)
Furthermore, how and why are laws defined? Are they to prevent vice? And as a public or soci
Why pot is illegal: contact highs (Score:2)
If society were more open about sexual exploration
Exploration without adequate protection may likely bring babies and immunodeficiency [ytmnd.com].
and the recreational use of pharmaceuticals
Unlike liquor or tobacco, cannabis allows the smoker to force anybody else to get high by blowing smoke in the victim's face. Getting a "contact high" from secondhand marijuana smoke can make it impossible for one to safely operate a motor vehicle or other heavy machinery.
Re:Why pot is illegal: contact highs (Score:2)
Unlike liquor or tobacco, cannabis allows the smoker to force anybody else to get high by blowing smoke in the victim's face.
Unlike liquor, but EXACTLY like tobacco. Speaking as someone whose nonmedicinal drug use is limited to alcohol and caffine, both moderately and responsibly, I've always felt that adults in a free society have the right to make these kinds of decisions for themselves. Which means drugs should be legal but with heavy restrictions on public use. The government can't force me not to
Re:Why pot is illegal: contact highs (Score:2)
Keep in mind that I explicitly favored strict restrictions on public use of all drugs, particularly tobacco and marijuana.
Even if tobacco does have a contact high, nicotine doesn't interfere with operating cars or other machinery the way alcohol and d9THC do because unlike alcohol and d9THC, nicotine is a stimulant.
First, I didn't make it as clear as I could have that I was directly comparing nicotine's health effects to THC's psychological effects. Because of the way nicotine and THC are taken, both a
Re:Why pot is illegal: contact highs (Score:2)
uhhh... yeah. Because if all you had to do to get high is just let it hit your face, bongs'd look a whole lot different.
I mean, come on. Do you actually believe this? And, more to the point, can you prove it?
Case in point- I worked a
Re:Not again (Score:3, Insightful)
No, because then religion would have no need to worship the positive deity (e.g., God) instead of the negative deity (e.g., Satan). In order to say that God is good and the devil is bad, there must be an external reference point for good and bad.
2gt; Guilt and fear in the populace create a need to criminalize and/or tax vice
I would say you only need to criminalize or tax something if people aren't already deterred. If religion were doing such a good job of keeping p
Re:Not again (Score:2)
Oh, and I suppose 'religion' said killing was bad? (Score:2)
Give me a break. Lots of people in this world who have no religious affiliation also have a sense of right and wrong and strive toward their sense of right. Give them some credit.
Re:Not again (Score:1)
Much as I hate to put an argument on the wrong side - Unfortunately I am that 'one parent' who can't control what my seven year old watches at his mom's house. He came back one time to my house describing scenes from "Faces of Death" that he saw with his mom.
Re:Not again (Score:1)
Re:Not again (Score:2)
Re:Not again (Score:1)
Personally, I disagree. When I was a child I was often told what not to do and it was remembered a whole lot longer than what I was told explicitly I could do, and I turned out fine.
> Well, other than being an introverted, slashdot-reading, societal
Texas taxes too (Score:5, Informative)
(...He also wants to add a 10% tax to all soft drinks and a $10,000 tax to all abortions. Take that as you will.)
Re:Texas taxes too (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Texas taxes too (Score:2)
Re:Texas taxes too (Score:2)
Re:Texas taxes too (Score:2)
He also wants to add a 10% tax to all soft drinks and a $10,000 tax to all abortions. Take that as you will.
What a pansy. He wants to create a de facto abortion ban, but can't because it's been ruled legal, so he tries to tax it to death. We so need precedent that recognizes and bans this sort of behavior.
Re:Texas taxes too (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Texas taxes too (Score:2)
Except. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Except. (Score:2)
A little broad there... (Score:5, Interesting)
Add "inappropriate violence" to that, and most R-rated movies have become illegal to sell to minors. Not to mention movies shown on cable (or even network) TV. I'd like to see this pass just to see what a mess they make of it. (Though I'm sure if I lived in Utah I'd feel differently.)
But thanks for trying. (Score:2)
In general, though, the movie industry is entirely self-regulated, and stores don't sell R-rated movies to minors because they don't want parents screaming at them (or worse, suing) for exposing their innocent wittle children to big bad movi
Re:But thanks for trying. (Score:2)
How do the children bathe? (Score:4, Funny)
So kids bathe blindfolded there? Oh wait, they elected Orrin Hatch... that explains everything.
Re:How do the children bathe? (Score:2)
Re:How do the children bathe? (Score:2)
Bizarrely, I see a silver lining. (Score:5, Funny)
On the other hand, I'd rather parity be restored by increasing open-mindedness about sex... but I'll take what I can get.
Re:Bizarrely, I see a silver lining. (Score:1)
explicit nudity (Score:2)
Re:Bizarrely, I see a silver lining. (Score:2)
Tarnished silver is still silver, nyah. (Score:2)
"Okay with" grossly overstates it. However, given the choice between the constant increasingly obsessive negative focus SOLEY on sex, and a more widespread repression... well, yes. While politically I'm closest to libertarian, I'm ultimately a pragmatist: if something increases the likelihood of a major breakdown in society, it's generally a bad thing. As a rough analogy, it's the difference between someone who has a highly repress
Porn (Score:1, Redundant)
/. in Utah should be in favor of this law (Score:4, Funny)
Thanks Utah ... (Score:1)
I hate to break the stats.
Parents and Politicians are stupid. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Parents and Politicians are stupid. (Score:2, Informative)
Australia [wikipedia.org], for example, has a history of being quite restrictive.
Here's another article's info on Video Game Legislation Around the World [wikipedia.org].
Videogame decreases interest in real violence (Score:5, Interesting)
Earlier today I was playing Resident Evil 4 on my second run through and became quite disappointed that after shooting enemies in the head they would just fall over dead. Sure I'd accomplished my goal by removing them as a threat, but it was just so lackluster if a perfect headshot from a powerful handgun (maxed out Red9) or shotgun (maxed out Striker) didn't cause their heads to explode in a mass of gore. A bit of violent fireworks to signify a job well done.
A little later I was talking to my girlfriend about this when I realized that when compared to real-world violence video game violence is simply more visceral and exciting. If I were to shoot someone in the head in the real world they'd simply fall over and bleed quite a bit.
Perhaps this is related to years upon years (i.e. since the release of the NES) of playing video games (not necessarily violent or not, I choose games based on their quality, Civilization being my all-time favorite) or maybe it's a result of all sorts of other effects culminating in a constant desire to get more and more out of it, but honestly real world violence isn't in any way exciting. It's simply painful, messy, unpleasant, and good for hurting people. Any claim that kids who enjoy the thrill of seeing a head pop open when hit by an excellent 500 yd shot from a sniper rifle would suddenly love to go out and do it in reality simply don't realize that watching some guy a long ways away fall over really isn't exciting. A good thing for all of us and a bad thing for the military... the only people who actually want kids to go off and shoot people in the head in real life.
Re:Videogame decreases interest in real violence (Score:1)
Actually, shooting someone with a large caliber handgun at close range, or a rifle at most any range is likely to produce an exit wound. That actually will give you gore and splatter.
Re:Videogame decreases interest in real violence (Score:1)
The point is that this isn't all about the "fun factor". People don't generally wake up and tell themselves, "Hey, I'm rather enjoying killing spre
Re:Videogame decreases interest in real violence (Score:2)
There is more depth that comes through in movies than in most videogames. There is a scene in Pulp Fiction where they blow a kid's head off in a car. Gore, blood, grizzle everywhere. Most videogames would stop there, with the gnarly exploding brain effect. These guys paniced, pulled their car off the road, and had to s
Re:Videogame decreases interest in real violence (Score:2)
While I realized even as I wrote it that, technically, Civilization is bloodless, but unimaginably violent (though, sadly, reflecting only real-world violence) in theme it's never caused me to chang
Just More Me Too-ism (Score:4, Insightful)
This is still a debate? (Score:4, Insightful)
"As bad as porn" (Score:1, Insightful)
Well waitaminute...
Why does porn need to be censored again?
If Utah suddenly stopped censoring everything it currently considers "porn" and started censoring games, will the state have improved or degraded itself in terms of moral standards?
I think maybe when we talk about censorship of games, we might as well open up the notion of censorship in general: when is it it wrong, when (if ever) is it ri
The can only mean one thing. (Score:2)
ok....? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:ok....? (Score:2)
In case you don't know, it's not unusual for conservative townships to pass laws that add legal weight to what are otherwise industry run or voluntary rating systems like the MPAA ratings or the Comics Code Authority.
Of course these laws are rarely enforced unless a politician wants to make some news right before election time or the proprieter does something to make himself unpopular.
Not far off the mark... (Score:2)
Have a look at answer 26 [davesdaily.com]
Get off your a** and vote (Score:2, Insightful)
If you want the politicians to behave themselves, then you need to use that stick called voting to put them in their place.
I have five friends who moan and complain and did they vote? Nope. They went on about this "I didn't vote as a jab at the system."
Well guess what - if you don't vote that means the morons have fewer people to attract to gain power over YOU. THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO VOTE.
Go
What a sorry statement (Score:2)
Re:Haha (Score:2)
http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/samfox.htm [ysrnry.co.uk]
Re:ATFVGG (Score:2)
You forgot the best part!
BATFVGGP - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Violent Games, Gambling, and Porn.