Video game regulation on the way?
The Video Game Voters Network argues that content is constitutionally protected, and efforts to regulate the distribution of games and their content is dangerous, unwarranted, and an infringement on the free speech and artistic rights of game creators.
These legislative actions on video games by politicians, many of whom don't even know how to play them, creates a double standard for this innovative medium. But if the attack on video games works, what's to stop elected officials from going after the other media we enjoy also? More restriction on the internet? Government regulation based on games' content will curb creativity, and have a negative effect on game publishers who may feel the need to dilute content due to the threat of government action and fines.
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2 comments:
I think the argument that you are attempting to generate here is beside the point.
Though, what's curious is the perceived threat of video games to warrant such actions. In the power play, what exactly do video games threaten? It would seem that until recently, video games have constituted an individualized player environment of inter-actor and inter-action. Now, with video games joining the networking force of the internet, arguments have become even cloudier. Legislation may be moving out of regulated ratings systems (to "protect youth" as the article implies), but toward what ends and for what reasons? Control over the uncontrollable may be the bureaucratic holy grail.
Ah, the slippery slope of censorship! Remember the controversy with GTA 3 that got Secretary of State Clinton so riled up? Unfortunately, this isn't the first time that legislators have tried to regulate the content of entertainment, and it probably won't be the last. It seems to me that market forces drive content development anyway.
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