News
Arizona Bill To Punish Game Makers
Among Other Purveyors Of "Dangerous Obscenity"
Who exactly decides what is “dangerous” or “obscene”? Well, according to the bullshit bill itself:
1. "Dangerous" means material that is found by clear and convincing evidence to incite or produce an imminent act of terrorism or a felony offense.
2. "Obscene" means material that:
(a) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest.
(b) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the material depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by state law.
(c) Taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
Nice. If you need me, I’ll be out finding the “average person” so they can let me know what I should be offended by.
So what does this all mean? The next time some lunatic decides to bring a couple of mac 10’s into a school or a church or a shopping mall, and the ensuing investigation shows that he played Grand Theft Auto, will Rockstar be charged as an accessory to murder? Not quite. I ain’t no lawyer, with fancy book learning or nothin’, but the wording sounds like only monetary damages could be sought from game and movie makers. That doesn’t make the bullshit bill any less constitutional, however, so I seriously doubt that this will actually go through the next step, which is the State Senate. The MPAA (Motion Picture Assoc. of America,) the Arizona Newspaper Association and the Video Game Voters Network have already spoken out against the bill, calling it too broad and stating that it could easily be used against anyone from newspapers and magazines to pornographic videos. The bullshit bill is under consideration today, so look for an update once we hear more.
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Comments
Can anyone define the average person?
white male republican
Does this apply to games distributed in AZ or made in AZ? I'll assume the former because that would get the state more $$$...
This will get shot down, just like every other bill like it that's come before. Thank the gods that our supreme court justices are smarter than our legislators.
To me, section 2(c) is the scariest of all, "Taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value".
Who determines what a "whole" is? Is it the full campaign? Is it the completing 100% and unlocking all achievement points? Who determines what "serious value" is? Where do you begin to assemble a panel of "literary, artistic, political or scientific" experts to determine if the material in question meets the "value" standards?
Since this applies to "written" material as well, who gets sued when a religious fanatic goes on a rampage? God? The church that person is affiliated with?
Bullshit like this angers me to no end. That people elect morons like this to represent them.
CLICK HERE for a link to the address list of the members of the Arizona House of Representatives. Send them your thoughts on this bullshit bill. I know I will.
Yeah, Sean, those are pretty much exactly the reasons a bill like this will get shot down in the Supreme Court. It's far to vague, and any bill of this nature would have to have the most narrow application to pass muster as constitutional. I'm confident that, whether it passes in the state's senate or not, it will get shot down by the courts.
I'm with you Stickman, and I know that this bill is going to be defeated. But it is only a matter of time before another one is introduced, or attached as a rider to some other bill that is assured passage.