Court blocks Illinois video game laws

Laws that would have made it illegal to sell or rent violent or explicit games to minors violates free-speech rights, judge says.

The story "Court blocks Illinois video game laws" published December 5, 2005 at 2:27 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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[troopre of hell]

arghh!!!

listen up if u want to get rid of voilent games ban them all 1 of the ressons children play is because most of there games get boring and also i feel that movies are to voilent me and my lil bro were and my mum were going to see madagascar
(u)cert and the ad for saw came on and also another 1 house of wax saw the to knives come down u cant stop children really no matter how hard you try the point is people are getting more voilent i feel and this refelects how children play i do feel it is not suitible dont get me wrong but you just dont have enough power to do it really but also i dont always agree the news can be very bloody and distressing.listen up if u want to get rid of voilent games ban them all 1 of the ressons children play is because most of there games get boring and also i feel that movies are to voilent me and my lil bro were and my mum were going to see madagascar
(u)cert and the ad for saw came on and also another 1 house of wax saw the to knives come down u cant stop children really no matter how hard you try the point is people are getting more voilent i feel and this refelects how children play i do feel it is not suitible dont get me wrong but you just dont have enough power to do it really but also i dont always agree the news can be very bloody and distressing.

[troopre of hell]

woops

done 2 times

[Christopher Hall]

That's quite a run-on

What is it you were trying to say, exactly?

[exrob]

And this will continue to be blocked

This has been tried many times over, and it always is rejected in courts.

People need to be responsible for their own actions. Parents need to monitor more closely what their children buy if they are that concerned. Do some research and don't buy Grand Theft Auto III for your 12 year old child.

And this is rather unenforceable as a kid can easily use a parent's eBay account or whatever and purchase it, or have their older brother/friend buy it for them.

Ultimately video games are not that much more violent then what is shown on television. I don't see any age verification before watching certain shows, just a lame disclaimer which only would encourage them to keep watching.

[jjesusfreak01]

Thats not true

Well, unlike things like drugs, which there is an illegal market for, there is no illegal market for videogames. It isnt wrong to try to restrict kids access to videogames, and even if it isnt perfect, it makes it more difficult for the kids to get the games. Parents know that their kids cant just buy the games while at the mall, and parents may just take a second look at the games. A game that a parent let a kid play before may get a second look when the parents see that their children are now resticted from buying it altogether. Its the same as the big scuffle regarding the "adult scenes" in GTA. The game company does everything they can to make sure that the game doesnt get the AO rating, because they know that for alot of parents, an AO rating would keep the parents from letting the kids get the game.

In the end, the supreme court may decide to allow these restrictions, and I would praise this decision, as although it isnt going to stop all kids from playing these games, it will stop some, and that is worth the effort.

Besides all that, allowing the kids to buy these games is essentially telling parents they arent allowed to decide what their children can play. Instead of forcing them to have their parents permission to buy it through legal means, they are denying a parents right. Next thing you know, kids will start suing parents because the parents will not let kids do what they want...its a vicious cycle.

[Earl Benser]

Looks like we need.....

... better qualified judges. This one's a candidate for 'Dumb Ass of
the Year" award.

[exrob]

way to go

i applaud your ignorance

[rpms]

Government is not a substitute for parental responsibility

Many video games are violent, and I don't doubt that they have
negative effects, but I wouldn't support any restrictions.

Parents need to be involved in their children's lives. Sit down
with your child at the video game console. If you find the games
violent, talk this over with your child. Perhaps you can go
shopping together and find some less violent titles, like role-
playing games. Perhaps you can spend more time together, or
encourage your child to take up a sport or join an after-school
club, so that the video game console won't be used much at all.

Government cannot solve this problem. Parents can.

Paul Marcelin-Sampson
Santa Cruz, California, USA

[Hitokiri Batusai]

That's the way to go!!!

Parents has to be responsible for their own kids, like it used to be when I was one of them. Otherwise they shouldn't be parents in the first place!!!

[Thorax232]

I ALMOST AGREE

If parents have a problem with their children seing violence and sex that ok. It's definately not the governments responsibility to filter the things minors see. So I totally agree with
P Marcelin-sampson but there's nothing wrong with video games, it really helps kids to have a good balance of social interaction, books, athletices, TV and video games. The average game player has 3 points above the average IQ (103) Steven Johnson was the one who said because of popular culture the IQ tests have to be made harder and harder every year because kids are getting smarter, not dumber like everyone thinks, it's all part of the Sleeper Curve which you can read about in the book "Everything Bad Is Good For You" by Steven Johnson. Also video-games have been used to cure dyslexia and ADD. As for the violent and sexual parts of video games there are no negative side effects and games seem to be funner with these things because it makes it more complicated and you have to think more. Games like Super Mario just don't cut it anymore because childrens minds are more complicated. Someday far after the video-game industry is well accepted like books, TV, and radio I think there might be a war for America to accept "curse words", sexual themes, and artificial violence. Because frankly there's nothing wrong with it. It'll be a hard thing for this country to accept because were so set the current moral rules it's hard to think any other way......It's definately something to look forward to.

[Christopher Hall]

And yet...

The parents simply won't. As long as parents are entirely incapable of raising their children to be socially responsible individuals, the government will need to step in for the sake of the children. Believe me when I tell you that I can't stand large government, but I see no other way.

I'm not advocating censorship; that would be the incorrect course of action. I am advocating, though, more stringent regulation to make it more difficult for someone who is under-age to purchase without restriction a video game meant for a more mature audience. That way, at least the parents have the final say.

Of course, there are ways to circumvent the system (older siblings, idiotic parents, etc.), but the problem isn't so much parents buying these games for their kids as it is the kids buying the games for themselves.

[Mister C]

Same Old Bologna!

And looking at the pictures of the girls in Playboy will turn you into a sex crazed predator. It just goes to show that people believe what they want to believe in spite of the facts. Geez!

[fallingwater]

Think again

Actually sex crazed predators are usually heavily involved with porn such as Playboy, so maybe you should think again about this.