Michigan game law blocked

Posted on March 12th, 2010 by MASA.
Categories: Gaming.

The Entertainment Software Association heralded a small victory in court today, as US District Court judge George C. Steeh granted the ESA’s request to prevent a Michigan law banning the sale of “ultraviolent” games to minors from taking effect.

The law, which was signed by Democratic Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm in September, would impose fines of up to $5,000 on anyone caught selling or giving violent games to minors. Repeat violators would be subject to up to 93 days of jail time and $40,000 fines per violation.

Steeh also saw problems in enforcement of the law, as retailers could not be expected to know what is and isn’t covered by the state’s definition of ultraviolence. “Without wholesale, indiscriminate refusals to sell video games to minors by store operators it appears impossible to protect sellers from prosecution,” he wrote.

ESA president Douglas Lowenstein issued a statement after the judgment, heralding the ruling and asking Granholm to stop her opposition to the lawsuit.

“Rather than continuing to play politics and pursuing this case to its inevitable defeat, further wasting Michigan taxpayers’ dollars along the way, we hope the state will start to join us in a common effort to take steps that actually help parents raise their kids in a healthy and safe way,” Lowenstein said. Currently the ESA is involved in lawsuits to overturn game restriction laws in Illinois, California, and Michigan.

Some info is from GameSpot.


Other Posts

Leave a comment

Comments can contain some xhtml. Names and emails are required (emails aren't displayed), url's are optional.




Note: This post is over 5 years old. You may want to check later in this blog to see if there is new information relevant to your comment.