Politics and Law Feed

Here Comes Another Attempt To Legislate Video Games

Phoenix WrightYou'd think that after all of the court cases that have found in favor of the video game industry when it comes to restricting the sale of games with a poorly written, slippery slope of a law that government officials looking to pander to voters would have moved on to a new target.  Nevertheless, today brings word that Congressmen Joe Baca and Frank Wolf have proposed the Violence in Video Games Labeling Act that would require all video games rated E-for-Everyone and up to carry a warning label.  Game Informer explains:

"The video game industry has a responsibility to parents, families and to consumers — to inform them of the potentially damaging content that is often found in their products," Baca said, as reported by The Hill. "They have repeatedly failed to live up to this responsibility."

"Just as we warn smokers of the health consequences of tobacco, we should warn parents — and children — about the growing scientific evidence demonstrating a relationship between violent video games and violent behavior," Wolf said. "As a parent and grandparent, I think it is important people know everything they can about the extremely violent nature of some of these games."

If the bill passes, it would require any game with an ESRB rating of E (Everybody) and above to carry a warning label regardless of whether or not it was actually considered "violent." The only games that would not have to carry a label are ones rated EC (Early Childhood). Previous attempts to pass the bill occurred in 2009 and 2011.

All of the usual poor logic and slimy weasel words are in Baca's and Wolf's statements.  There's blessed mentions of families, responsibilities, the comparison of video games to tobacco, identifying oneself as a parent and a grandparent, and the usual rhetoric about people having a right to know information.  I've grown very tired of legislators dragging games down into the mud just for the sake of attracting the votes of an ill-informed public.  Video games are protected free speech.  Leave 'em alone.


Demonic 3DS Brain Age Could Be A Localization Nightmare

Demon TrainingNintendo struck gold with its Brain Age titles for the Nintendo DS, so it only makes sense that a new installment of the brain trainer series is in development for the Nintendo 3DS.  This one, however, might pose a challenge when it comes to North America.  See, the hook this time around is that the new puzzles are devilishly difficult, so friendly floating head Professor Kawashima has become a red-skinned horned demon.  I'm sure that'll go over well in the Bible Belt.  This seems like a localization nightmare when it comes to bringing the tentatively titled Demon Training abroad.  Nintendo will never be able to sell this game in highly religious communities.  I can already envision the local television news running a story about how Nintendo wants to corrupt your children with its devil game.  Stances on religious instances in video games are laxer in Japan than in the states, and while Nintendo of America has censored little aspects of games in the past as part of the translation process, it's also outright passed on games in which the religious iconography is too central to a game's main theme to remove.  Remember Devil World, for example?  Brain Age was too profitable for the next installment not to come to America, but I wouldn't be surprised if Demon Training were given an exorcism and entirely rethemed by the time it inevitably lands stateside.


The Daily Show Invokes Floridal Kombat

Mortal KombatThe Republican presidential primary is happening in Florida today, and as the election carnival rolls through the sunshine state in advance of today's voting, The Daily Show is covering the back-and-forth snipping and tripping between GOP frontrunners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.  The fun part comes from the use of gameplay clips from last year's Mortal Kombat for the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 to illuminate the conflict between the two potential nominees.  Watch Jon Stewart annotate the debate in advance of a political finishing move.

What I find most interesting about The Daily Show using Mortal Kombat clips as a punchline is that last July when the show reported on the Supreme Court decision that extended free speech protection to video games, the show used clips of this same Mortal Kombat game to argue that based on its gory and unsettling content, games should not enjoy such protection.  The show purposefully called out that the Mortal Kombat footage was disturbing and not easy to watch.  Now the program is using clips of the same game in a humorous way to punctuate the political report.  I'm not against the use of Mortal Kombat footage for hilarity purposes (and I thought that this "Floridal Kombat" segment was very funny), but I do think it's odd for The Daily Show to cite Mortal Kombat as an example of a game that is so distasteful that it should invalidate the medium's free speech protection while also using the same game for its comedy needs. 


Power Button - Episode 74: Squashing SOPA And Poking PIPA

Power ButtonThe Internet rose up as one this week in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills that have been working their way through the United States Congress.  In this episode of Power Button, Brad Hilderbrand, Joey Davidson, and I get a bit political as we discuss the bills and how the video game journalism side of the business covered the protests and/or participated in them.  Was it appropriate for news sites to black out their publications for the day?  Should websites owned by big business be held to the same standards as independent publications?  We hash it out and get to the bottom of things. Remember that even though both bills have now been shelved, we haven't seen the last of legislation that impacts the Internet.  I'm sure we'll see bills like SOPA and PIPA again.  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, or subscribe via iTunes, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach all three of us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow all of us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons, @aubradley84, and @JoeyDavidson or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton.  Next Week: Now that the politics are handled, we're going to let our sociopathic tendencies shine as we discuss Saints Row: The Third.  Call the hotline and tell us what you think of the game!


Power Button - Episode 74: Squashing SOPA And Poking PIPA


Wash Your Hands Of SOPA

Generic imageThe Internet has transformed our civilization on a scale not seen since the printing press, but nothing important and essential goes unlegislated forever.  You may have noticed that a number of your favorite websites such as Wikipedia, Reddit, and Wordpress have gone dark today in protest of something called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA).  These bills currently working their way through the United States House of Representatives and Senate respectively would gut the fair use and safe harbor provisions that allow people to legitimately quote articles, post images, and share music and video clips online (among other things).  Wikipedia explains these overly broad and poorly written bills currently working their way through Congress (although Wikipedia is offline today, SOPA-related articles remain accessible):

[SOPA] would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.

Opponents say that it violates the First Amendment, is Internet censorship, will cripple the Internet, and will threaten whistle-blowing and other free speech actions. Opponents have initiated a number of protest actions, including petition drives, boycotts of companies that support the legislation, and planned service blackouts by English Wikipedia and major Internet companies scheduled to coincide with the next Congressional hearing on the matter.

The House Judiciary Committee held hearings on November 16 and December 15, 2011. The Committee was scheduled to continue debate in January 2012, but on January 17 Chairman Smith said that "[d]ue to the Republican and Democratic retreats taking place over the next two weeks, markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act is expected to resume in February."

Opponents have warned that SOPA would have a negative impact on online communities. Journalist Rebecca MacKinnon argued in an op-ed that making companies liable for users' actions could have a chilling effect on user-generated sites such as YouTube. "The intention is not the same as China’s Great Firewall, a nationwide system of Web censorship, but the practical effect could be similar," she says. The Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) warned that websites Etsy, Flickr and Vimeo all seemed likely to shut down if the bill becomes law. Policy analysts for New America Foundation say this legislation would enable law enforcement to take down an entire domain due to something posted on a single blog, arguing, "an entire largely innocent online community could be punished for the actions of a tiny minority."

Additional concerns include the impact on common Internet functions such as linking or access data from the cloud. EFF claimed the bill would ban linking to sites deemed offending, even in search results and on services such as Twitter. Christian Dawson, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Virginia-based hosting company ServInt, predicted that the legislation would lead to many cloud computing and Web hosting services moving out of the US to avoid lawsuits. The Electronic Frontier Foundation have stated that the requirement that any site must self-police user generated content would impose significant liability costs and explains "why venture capitalists have said en masse they won’t invest in online startups if PIPA and SOPA pass."

The potential abuse of this prospective law is staggering.  As Gizmodo points out, "The resources it would take to self-police are monumental for established companies, and unattainable for start-ups. SOPA would censor every online social outlet you have, and prevent new ones from emerging."  Today's Internet strike may inconvenience you for a few hours, but if either of these bills become law, then today's efforts are just a sample of what you can expect.  Many of your favorite websites will have to shut down or drastically censor themselves in order to comply with the law.  Small independent sites like Press The Buttons would cease to exist in their current forms.  Even large sites like Facebook and Twitter would have to drastically alter their policies in order to continue to do business.  I urge all of you who live in the United States to contact your senators and representative today and voice your opinion on the so-called Internet blacklist bills.  Take a break from Steelport, head away from Hyrule, and come out of Karkand in order to make those calls, write those letters, and send that e-mail.  Spread the word to your friends and family, too.  While stopping piracy is important, crippling the open Internet to do it is about as counterproductive and outright harmful as things get.


Please Don't Pirate Donkey Kong Country 3

Donkey Kong Country 3Two years ago we had a look at how Nintendo's EarthBound handles illegal copying and other such modifications.  As you'll recall, the game makes things increasingly difficult and frustrating in an effort to throw software pirates into agonizing situations.  Most video games aren't that inventive or devious.  Consider Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble also for the Super NES that occasionally checks to ensure that the proper amount of SRAM is available to the game.  If it doesn't like what it finds (say, too much or too little which would indicate the presence of a copying device used to backup and pirate games or some other modifier), then the action comes to a halt and this ominous screen appears that combines the Game Over image with the boss battle theme and some brief explanatory text.

Donkey Kong Country 2 pulls a similar trick, but without the background music.  Most Nintendo games of the era displayed similar errors and warnings when the integrity of the system was compromised, but few of them went to this level of detail.  Titles such as Super Mario All-Stars, Super Metroid, and Super Punch-Out!! merely display a black screen with simple text citing copyright statute, for instance.  EarthBound still wins the prize for most inventive copy protection, but DKC3 has to score a few points for the basic effort and creepiness factor alone.


Power Button - Episode 53: Court Is Now In Session While Duke Nukem Forever Leaves An Impression As We Cope With Our inFamous 2 Obsession

Power ButtonAll rise!  Episode 53 of Power Button is now in session!  This week on the show the honorable Joey Davidson, Brad Hilderbrand, and I sit at the bench and gavel out some discussion about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association that cements free speech protection to video games.  We kick the decision around and explore how it benefits publishers, developers, and players.  Then in our second segment, Brad and I dig into Duke Nukem Forever and inFamous 2 to see what makes them tick as we work our way through both adventures.  How far over the line of good taste does Duke tread?  Why is Bertrand's militia the best new video game villain of 2011?  You'll have to listen to find out.  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, or subscribe via iTunes, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach all three of us via  and you can even follow all of us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons, @aubradley84, and @JoeyDavidson or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton.


Power Button - Episode 53: Court Is Now In Session While Duke Nukem Forever Leaves An Impression As We Cope With Our inFamous 2 Obsession


Jon Stewart Hits Free Speech Protection For Video Games

Jon Stewart and the team over at The Daily Show have turned their critical eyes on video games plenty of times in the past, and now that the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a decision regarding Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association that cements extending free speech protection to video games, the program had to weigh in on the issue.  However, don't expect Stewart to be all sunshine and lollipops about the result.  Using the recently released Mortal Kombat for the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 as evidence, Stewart argues that perhaps games aren't worthy of such protection.  Now, granted, while seeing poor Sonya Blade ripped in half out of context is grotesquely shocking, it's important to remember that while good trash like Mortal Kombat thrives on gore and violence, it's not the only game to be protected by this ruling.  Other violent and less over-the-top titles such as Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire, and other such things benefit from this decision as well, so while it's still easy to hold Mortal Kombat up as an example of everything wrong with the video game industry, games like it are outnumbered by examples of everything right with the industry as well.  Don't miss Episode 53 of Power Button next week in which we discuss the Supreme Court ruling and spend more time on the issue than The Daily Show was able.


U.S. Supreme Court Rules That Video Games Qualify For Protection Under The First Amendment

Phoenix WrightWe've been waiting for a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court in the case against video games since November of last year, but this morning the court came through with an affirmation in favor of everyone's favorite digital interactive entertainment.  Video games qualify for protection under the first amendment, so no more chilling "selling video games to minors is illegal" attempts at lawmaking by the self-appointed moral guardians for this country!  GamePolitics sums it up like this:

The United States Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the video game industry and retailers in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (formerly known as Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association). The full opinion can be found is here. According to Justice Scalia, who wrote the opinion: "the act forbidding sale or rental of violent games to minors does not comport with the 1st Amendment." Alito concurred with the judgment, joined by the Chief Justice. Justices Thomas and Breyer dissent, in an opinion by Thomas - according to SCOTUSBlog.

The court had to decide if a state law restricting the sale of violent video games to minors violated the First Amendment right to free speech. The Ninth Circuit Court ruled in favor of the EMA, saying that the law violated the First Amendment.

There's more coverage and analysis at places like GamasutraGame Informer, Kotaku, and Joystiq.  I'm overjoyed that the court ruled this way, particularly since I was extremely pessimistic over the impending verdict back in November.  Nosy moral guardians have a way of pestering people over popular forms of entertainment, and I'm especially tired of lobbying firms and vote-hungry politicians trying to clamp down on the things I enjoy at someone else's behest.  While laws preventing the sale of so-called objectionable games do not directly impact me, my fear was that developers would begin to self-censor themselves over risk of running into the law which would have an effect on the kinds of games that I enjoy.  There are some games that I consider tasteless and would lose no sleep over if they vanished tomorrow, but they have a right to exist in the marketplace and be enjoyed by those who like them.  I'd imagine that the Helen Lovejoys of the nation aren't finished being nosy about what other people buy, but after all of this legal wrangling, I think they've earned some time off.  Perhaps they can use their new free time to take up video games.


Sony Hacked Yet Again

Picard facepalmAnother setback for Sony today as it's been announced that hackers... you know what?  You don't need my little summary.  Without any explanation I'm sure you already kind of know what's happened.  Let's just jump right to the Reuters article.

So-Net, the Internet service provider unit of Japan's Sony, alerted customers that an intruder broke into its system and stole virtual points from account holders worth $1,225.  "What we've done is stopped the So-Net points exchanges and told customers to change their passwords," So-Net said in a statement to customers on its website in Japanese.

At least this time the damage is fairly localized, but still... enough!  No more of this!  The hackers have made their point.  Disrupting Sony services and stealing customer information have taught us all the true meaning of Christmas.  Can we get things back to normal now, please?