gamepolitics: Mississippi Video Game Bill Stuck in the Mud

Game Politics (

gamepolitics) wrote,
@ 2006-02-24 00:01:00

Entry tags:

democrats, legislation, mississippi, tollison

Mississippi Video Game Bill Stuck in the Mud

SB2082 is dead on arrival.

The measure, introduced last month by Mississippi State Senator Gray Tollison (D, seen at left) would have imposed $100 fines for retailers selling M- and AO-rated games to minors.

The bill also mandated signage explaining the video game content rating system. However, SB2082 failed to clear its first hurdle, getting placed on the calendar of the senate's Judiciary Committee.

We've updated the Legislation Tracker map to reflect the demise of Tollison's bill.

(Post a new comment)

	mrkenyon 2006-02-24 04:35 am UTC (link)
	Another failed video game bill? This is my shocked face. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Surprised? kroninokiller 2006-02-24 07:34 am UTC (link)
	I mean really....Mississippi should be focues on reconstruction after Katrina, not video game legislation. I live on the Gulf Coast, it'll be a good 2 years before many areas are back to even close to pre-hurrican conditions. They have for more important matters at hand. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	so_sorry810 2006-02-24 05:03 am UTC (link)
	These anti-game bills will never pass because they're too broad and unpopular. Lets face it, people have been playing video games for the last twenty years, why would they pass a bill to stop that now? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	tollwutig 2006-02-24 01:57 pm UTC (link)
	Actually they are popular with Politicians trying to secure votes, and the "protect the children" crowds who'd rather see kids cocooned until they are 18. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	I can't get this song out of my head... sprngpilot 2006-02-24 05:04 am UTC (link)
	When I read this all I could think about was "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen. We should make that the official theme song for the Legislation Tracker. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: I can't get this song out of my head... lordlundar 2006-02-24 06:16 am UTC (link)
	Nice to know I'm not the only one. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Wonder if he'll try to reintroduce a weaker or more general version of the bill? tweek_20k 2006-02-24 05:06 am UTC (link)
	Hopefully not. (Reply to this)

Legal Resources

ahrt
2006-02-24 05:06 am UTC (link)

Maybe the_attorney or other sensible GP legal eagles could elaborate on this for y'all but I thought I'd make note of a pretty useful (but no longer free) resource for the US Courts called PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records).

"The PACER Service Center is the Federal Judiciary's centralized registration, billing, and technical support center for electronic access to U.S. District, Bankruptcy, and Appellate court records."

These game legislations may not be there and I really am clueless to anything in the legal world (other than keeping myself out of it) but it may prove useful to other stories or some personal research.

I'm a big reader of Groklaw, in particular the SCO case, but the site has a good list of legal resources that the more dedicated gamers might like make use of. It's proven to be an incredibly fantastic resource for the Groklaw community to wade through the press release BS to get the facts of their litigation stories.

(Reply to this)

	markusdragon 2006-02-24 05:18 am UTC (link)
	Another black :) (Reply to this)

	kurisu7885 2006-02-24 05:22 am UTC (link)
	If JAck doesn't get IP banned he'll say this law didn't get passed because he didn't help draft it. I'm sorry for bringing him up, but he had infuriated me so much about his comment on Japan. Hell, most fo my hobbies originated there. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	kurisu7885 2006-02-24 05:23 am UTC (link)
	ANd more importantly, my fiance is Japanese, as is a good friend I had met in the Gaia forums, most polite person I had ever met. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) -

mrkenyon, 2006-02-24 05:27 am UTC

(no subject) -

kurisu7885, 2006-02-24 05:29 am UTC

Sideswipe -

ahrt, 2006-02-24 05:43 am UTC

	Jack Thompson thinks he's winning... tconx 2006-02-24 05:33 am UTC (link)
	Jack Thompson thinks he's winning! Jack Thompson thinks he's winning! He thinks he can get the Seattle Police to arrest Penny Arcade! He's quite confident that gamers simply cannot get laid! He's also sold on the illusion that Rockstar is losing. Let's just let him live in his own world, Where his verbal bullshit is solid gold! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Jack Thompson thinks he's winning... markusdragon 2006-02-24 05:45 am UTC (link)
	Poetry is fun but it would be much better if he was not named (Reply to this) (Parent)

Re: Jack Thompson thinks he's winning... -

indystarx, 2006-02-24 05:48 am UTC

	Ha Ha hilaryduffgta 2006-02-24 06:08 am UTC (link)
	Doesnt suprise me really just about every bill they try to draft will fail. (Reply to this)

	nickymccloud 2006-02-24 06:19 am UTC (link)
	I think some of it has to do with the fact that it's Mississippi. I live in this place. I'm honestly not sure if some of our senators even know what video games ARE. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Im waiting for hilaryduffgta 2006-02-24 06:22 am UTC (link)
	One of these politicians to word in "nintendo Toys" on the next bill (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Re: Im waiting for -

nickymccloud, 2006-02-24 06:23 am UTC

Re: Im waiting for -

hilaryduffgta, 2006-02-24 06:28 am UTC

Re: Im waiting for -

nickymccloud, 2006-02-24 06:33 am UTC

	gray17 2006-02-24 06:33 am UTC (link)
	And this tells us that apparently no one in Mississippi cares enough about this "issue" to even bothering to consider laws meant to "address" it. (Reply to this)

	another one bites the dust kroninokiller 2006-02-24 07:30 am UTC (link)
	I think its humorous, these people cared so little they didn't even schedule in a discussion of this bill. Thank the Lord...halleluia. (Reply to this)

	liveordie2 2006-02-24 09:28 am UTC (link)
	What can I say, another nonsense bill being rejected. What can these bills do than to violate our freedom? I mean really, what can these bills do any useful to us? And yeah, I agree with kroninokiller, thank the Lord. (Reply to this)

rammsoldat
2006-02-24 10:02 am UTC (link)

so the fines of $100 seemed ok to me, i mean wouldnt it just make staff at the game stores actually give a damm about selling mature games to kids.

saying that here in the UK there are fines for selling mature games to kids yet it still happens. My uncle bought his 8 year old son grand theft auto, i dont agree with him doing that but hes a pretty lousy parent.

In the end its the job of the parent to instil good values in their kids and no amount of legislation can make lazy parents do that. And as for the parents who actually give a damm... well if they simply tell their kids they dont want them playin stuff like gta, and the kid has been taught to respect their parents then they should be ok.

oh and if jack re surfaces ignore him i can always tell wich topics he posts in due to the amount of replies and to be honest its a wase of time talking to him.

(Reply to this)

o_o

jennytabby
2006-02-24 11:49 am UTC (link)

You know I never knew we had a fine in place for buying games under-age. Maybe I forgot there was one or something because since about late 1990's for some reason those infomational placs or notices stores used to have about film and game ratings has gone missing. Maybe those should be reintroduced.

Still rammsoldat I think the reason your Uncles kid got away with it was because your Uncle brought it. There isnt anything the goverment can do to crack down on adults buying games for kids. Not easily anyway.

I agree with the Lazy Parenting theory. Me and my brother are both gamers but we get on well with our parents. We both dont normally buy violent games, Smash Bros Melee and Bond games are as violent as they get. We picked up GTA: Vice City a year ago out of curiosity and my brother played it and mom kept a watch on it. My brother said he enjoyed the music and so on but felt it was a bit too goryish and mom felt the same way, since then the games just been gathering dust. So it's not like kids cant not know any better, if parents teach them whats right and wrong they can make their own decisions. But in that case I'mm all up for fines if it stops stores selling to underage kiddies

(Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: o_o

hilaryduffgta
2006-02-24 11:53 am UTC (link)

Thats cool though that your brother saw that gta was gory (in my eyes its not but i grew up watching horror movies so thats me) as for the guy's uncle i dont really agree with it but if thats what he wants to do hey more power to him.

I do agree with fines though if a store sells a kid a m rated game.i still believe though that educating parents that video games have evolved since the nintendo is still key and really needs to be done

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Re: o_o -

rammsoldat, 2006-02-24 12:12 pm UTC

Re: o_o -

hilaryduffgta, 2006-02-24 12:16 pm UTC

Re: o_o -

markusdragon, 2006-02-24 12:32 pm UTC

Re: o_o -

goodrobotus, 2006-02-24 12:57 pm UTC

chibi_shin
2006-02-24 12:43 pm UTC (link)

Maybe I'm misunderstanding this. This is just a bill that would fine retailers for selling games to kids who shouldn't be playing them, right? There's nothing to stop a parent purchasing the game for them if they think its suitable, is there?

I mean, we have this in the UK - you sell an 18 rated game to a minor then you get in trouble for it if you get found out. Its always sounded perfectly reasonable to me.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	tsknf 2006-02-24 12:56 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, but it's therefore a waste of money and time. (Reply to this) (Parent)

(no subject) -

illspirit, 2006-02-24 01:21 pm UTC

(no subject) -

chibi_shin, 2006-02-24 01:37 pm UTC

reminds me -

rammsoldat, 2006-02-24 01:42 pm UTC

(no subject) -

tollwutig, 2006-02-24 02:07 pm UTC

Correct -

anticron, 2006-02-24 01:23 pm UTC

(no subject) -

nozomu, 2006-02-24 01:24 pm UTC

(no subject) -

chibi_shin, 2006-02-24 01:33 pm UTC

(no subject) -

nozomu, 2006-02-24 02:54 pm UTC

(no subject) -

tollwutig, 2006-02-24 04:05 pm UTC

BBFC -

rammsoldat, 2006-02-24 02:46 pm UTC

Re: BBFC -

kail_murushi, 2006-02-24 03:36 pm UTC

	liveordie2 2006-02-24 12:49 pm UTC (link)
	I had stopped warning Jack of his consequences of his own sins already. Finally the verdict is out, he is not going to repent. Then I guess we just ignore him and in the Judgement Day, he is going to earn his punishment by transported to Hell and burn there forever. (Reply to this)

Until...

goodrobotus
2006-02-24 01:02 pm UTC (link)

Until a politician shows the courage to tackle the media industry as a whole, and not just discriminate against one form of Media these bills will continue to go nowhere.

Fact is, the Film and Television industries both have more than enough money to buy their way out of legislation, and Politicians are afraid of them. You don't need bribes or threats to be in a corporations pocket.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Until... liveordie2 2006-02-24 01:05 pm UTC (link)
	You had a point there... (Reply to this) (Parent)

Check Utah -

dog_welder, 2006-02-24 01:14 pm UTC

Re: Check Utah -

goodrobotus, 2006-02-24 01:20 pm UTC

Re: Check Utah -

dog_welder, 2006-02-24 02:39 pm UTC

Re: Check Utah -

bigman_k, 2006-02-24 01:21 pm UTC

Re: Check Utah -

goodrobotus, 2006-02-24 01:31 pm UTC

Re: Check Utah -

bigman_k, 2006-02-24 02:37 pm UTC

Re: Check Utah -

bigman_k, 2006-02-24 02:39 pm UTC

Re: Check Utah -

dog_welder, 2006-02-24 04:30 pm UTC

	liveordie2 2006-02-24 01:38 pm UTC (link)
	Man, they must be trying very very hard to jump for attention from public because no one listens to them, how sad and childish. (Reply to this)

	spartan_sword 2006-02-24 02:15 pm UTC (link)
	It seems like another victory. Hooah! Anyway, why must politicians continue to waste taxpayer's money so they can score politically by saying "Look, I put forward a bill that protects Little Timmy from horrible video games because your parenting skills suck!"? (Reply to this) (Thread)

nozomu
2006-02-24 06:00 pm UTC (link)

You answered your own question there. They're politicians. the South Carolina house just passed an intentionally unconstitutional abortion bill with the intent of taking it to the Supreme Court to re-open Roe v Wade, which has been settled law for decades. And we have clearly unconstitutional game laws for the same reason, basically. These election year stunts aren't meant to actually accomplish anything, they're just political grandstanding to win support and give politicians a something to bring up in their commercials.

The fact that we, the taxpayers, have to pay for them, is the infuriating part. Luckily, we have the option of voting these clowns out of office in a few months.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	I could live with this one sundaos 2006-02-24 03:04 pm UTC (link)
	it's using the ESRB ratings, and it isn't some off the wall crackpot/halfbrain idea someone sneezed on, like the rest, I think that the federal bill should looks like this, straight to the point, follow ESRB, and a show of priorities by not issuing a bigger fine than what it is to sell cigaretes to a minor (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: I could live with this one goodrobotus 2006-02-24 03:25 pm UTC (link)
	I think that's why this one never got looked at. It's a reasonable proposal from some angles, therefore it's not foaming at the mouth Zealotism, and politicians like that because it can give the appearance of doing something without them having to lift a finger or open a single webpage to get facts. (Reply to this) (Parent)

Re: I could live with this one -

jabrwock, 2006-02-24 03:30 pm UTC

Re: I could live with this one -

sir_bissel, 2006-02-24 05:39 pm UTC

Re: I could live with this one -

bigman_k, 2006-02-24 03:42 pm UTC

Re: I could live with this one -

tollwutig, 2006-02-24 04:00 pm UTC

Re: I could live with this one -

goodrobotus, 2006-02-24 04:02 pm UTC

Re: I could live with this one -

tollwutig, 2006-02-24 04:19 pm UTC

Re: I could live with this one -

akbarthegreat, 2006-02-24 04:33 pm UTC

Re: I could live with this one -

tollwutig, 2006-02-24 08:46 pm UTC

Mississippi is just waiting on my Study to Come Out

tollwutig
2006-02-24 04:14 pm UTC (link)

The legislature in Mississippi know what good science is and they are just waiting to see the evidence of my study. Then they can redraft their bill appropriately.
For those who are in our study group and would like to participate:
http://tollwutig.livejournal.com/2035.html

Did you know that the average teenager has committed .28 Random Acts of Violence? On teen even claims: 2. Rented "sisterhood of the traveling pants". as one of thier acts of pure evil.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Mississippi is just waiting on my Study to Come Out kurisu7885 2006-02-25 02:20 am UTC (link)
	SPekaing of that I submitted my data to it. I hope my contribution helps. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Hahaha. kittenseffy 2006-02-25 10:41 pm UTC (link)
	Pwned. (Reply to this)

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