Ill. Gov. Seeks Violent Video Game Ban
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CHICAGO Dec 16, 2004 - Gov. Rod Blagojevich is proposing to make it a misdemeanor for businesses to sell violent and sexually explicit video games to minors, a step that other states have tried with little success.
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Byron Review wants to bubble-wrap kids, ISPs The ongoing Byron Review of the impact of technology on children will recommend a clampdown on violent videogames, it has been reported.â¦
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A federal judge ruled on Monday a California law to label violent video games and bar their sale to minors was unconstitutional, prompting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to say he would appeal the ruling.
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A chainsaw-wielding killer and blood-splattered shooting rampages are featured in some of the 10 video games that a media watchdog group says should be avoided by kids and teens.
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An upcoming video game from the maker of the "Grand Theft Auto" series came under fire Tuesday in United States and Britain, where the government's ratings board banned sales for what it called an "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone."
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Gov. Rod Blagojevich plans to propose a ban Thursday on the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors, something other states have tried with little success.
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Illinois governor's push to prevent sales to minors pits civil liberties against desire to protect children.
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Three years ago, the city lost its legal battle to remove violent video games from public arcades in Indianapolis. As defeats go, this one was in some respects a crusher.
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(InfoWorld) - A long-simmering debate in Germany about banning violent computer games is burning again after an aloof teenager on Monday stormed his former high school, shot five people and later killed himself. The disgruntled 18-year ex-pupil from Emsdetten, Germany, near the Dutch border, was described by students and teachers as a youth with no friends who liked guns and played violent computer shooting games. The incident brought back memories of a shooting rampage in the eastern German city of Erfurt in 2002 when an alienated former pupil -- and computer games player -- shot 16 people, mostly teachers, and later himself. It has also rekindled the simmering debate in Germany on whether violent computer games should be banned. "The government is currently reviewing whether the current legislation for protecting minors needs to be revised and plans to announce its finding by the end of 2007," said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. "The Emsdetten shootings will likely impact these discussions." Family Affairs Minister Ursula von der Leyen addressed the German parliament earlier on Tuesday and has been holding talks with policy makers throughout the day, the ministry spokesman said. The minister is expected to make a public announcement later in the evening. Numerous politicians have expressed outrage over the school shootings and continued access to violent PC games. Brandenburg state Interior Minister JÃ¶rg SchÃ¶nbohm said in an interview with the German media that "killer games" encourage violent behavior and are contributing to an escalating rate of brutality among young people. The minister called the current practice of voluntary regulation by game publishers and distributors inadequate. Lower Saxony Interior Minister Uwe SchÃ¼nemann called for a ban on the distribution and development of violent computer games in Germany. Dieter WiefelspÃ¼tz, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and an expert on family policy, conceded that not everyone who plays such games "automatically becomes a mass murderer" but, like the ministers, also called for a ban on "killer games." WiefelspÃ¼tz isn't alone in the SPD. A majority of members in his party have been lobbying for months for major changes in federal laws aimed at protecting minors, including an outright ban on violent computer games. And the opposition parties Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) agree that changes are necessary to the current laws governing entertainment software. But members of the Green Party warned of putting all the blame on computer games. Volker Beck, a parliamentarian member of the Green Party, said young people need to acquire media competence and learn how to use computers, including PC games, in a sensible way. Following the shoot-out in Erfurt, the German government revised its legislation on protecting minors, requiring, for instance, that all computer games and video movies be subject to a mandatory age-rating plan. Some legislators are also calling on ISPs (Internet service providers) to take a more active role in controlling the information provided over their systems. The Emsdetten teenager who killed himself used the Internet not only to inform a chat group of his shoot-out plans but also to purchase weapons, including guns and bombs, through a German weapons portal.
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Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine are trying to determine whether violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto can make players more prone to violent behavior.
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Video games that have players shoot rival gang members, watch bare-breasted women and recreate the assassination of President Kennedy were criticized Tuesday by advocacy groups that said, at the least, they should be kept away from children.
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(Indianapolis) - Indiana University researchers are trying to find out if playing violent video games can make people more prone to violence.
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Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday proposed the state ban the sale and rental of violent and sexually explicit video games for children under 18, a restriction that has failed so far elsewhere in the country.
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December 02, 2004 - Missouri prison officials pulled 35 Playstation 2 games from the Jefferson City Correctional Center after discovering that they were &#39;violent.
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After a school shooting, lawmakers in Bavaria and Lower Saxony consider banning violent video games. In Game|Life.
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Six days a week, teens crowd the Blue Screen Gaming cybercafe to hunt each other down with assault rifles inside virtual computer worlds. In these video game halls, nobody gets hurt. But real-life violence has flared around some of these businesses, prompting municipal crackdowns.
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A federal Internet gambling ban poses threats to lawful gaming online and must be amended right away, they argue in a Capitol Hill lobbying blitz.