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Legislators in Oklahoma are apparently in consensus when it comes to video game violence. A bill proposed by State Senator Glen Coffee (R, seen at left) passed 47-0 yesterday. The measure's next stop is the desk of Governor Brad Henry, a Democrat.
HB3004 is the same bill which, as reported by GamePolitics, passed the Oklahoma House, also unanimously, in March.
State Rep. Fred Morgan (R) is the original author of the bill, which takes the "games as porn" approach, amending an existing Oklahoma statute defining those things deemed "harmful to minors." HB3004 would add what it terms "inappropriate violence," to the banned-for-minors list, applying "contemporary community standards" to any such judgment.
Games-as-porn is a recently-developed legislative tactic which is popping up in state assemblies with increasing frequency (Utah, Delaware, Louisiana) as legislators seek to navigate a path that avoids the well-publicized First Amendment failures such bills have experienced recently in Illinois and Michigan.
If Gov. Henry signs the bill, HB3004 will become law on November 1st.
UPDATE: We spoke with Gov. Henry's office this morning and learned that an amendment added by the Oklahoma Senate will cause HB3004 to go back to the House for approval before it is delivered to the Governor for consideration. Once the measure arrives on his desk, Gov. Henry will have five days to sign the bill.
UPDATE 2: A well-placed source told GP that, while the Guv's legislative staff would need to review whatever final version is passed by the legislature, he would most likely be inclined to sign the bill into law. That, of course, would trigger the video game industry's next First Amendment battle.
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April 25 2006, 12:48:32 UTC 6 years ago
April 25 2006, 12:51:24 UTC 6 years ago
tell me about it
IndeedHooah
April 25 2006, 13:23:08 UTC 6 years ago
One thing that's cool if it DOES pass...
They're telling every ten year old in the state "HEY! UNTIL NOV. 1ST, BUY ALL THE HORRIBLY PORNOGRAPHIC GAMES YOU WANT!"April 25 2006, 13:29:44 UTC 6 years ago
Doomed to Fail
The supreme court determined decades ago, that Violence cannot equal Porn. Ergo, this bills premise is flawed, as was seen in Utah where a nearly identical bill died in commite.More insipid yet is the "Contemporary community Standards", an approach that, to my recolection, has never passed 1st amendment muster. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they tried that with Comics, D&D, rock and roll, and movies. Failed in all counts.
So, as was said above, let me break out the stamp.
UnConstitutional "STAMP"
NEXT!
April 25 2006, 13:33:03 UTC 6 years ago
DVD
"8. "Material" means any book, magazine, newspaper, pamphlet, poster, print, picture, figure, image, description, motion picture film, record, recording tape, CD-ROM disk, Magnetic Disk Memory, Magnetic Tape Memory, video tape, computer software or video game;"Glad my games come on DVDs.
Ok, for real now: I have less problem with wanting to keep sexual content out of the hands of minors, than the vague sounds "Inappropriate Violence" bit. Once again, if the same standards were applied to movies there'd be a lot more Blockbusters staff being arrested :p
April 25 2006, 13:59:48 UTC 6 years ago
Re: DVD
*blink, blink*They left that out?!
Ow. Ow my brain.
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April 25 2006, 13:36:48 UTC 6 years ago
Know what will happen.....
It's obvious the governor will sign this bill. And it's also obvious the bill will be struck down in court.April 25 2006, 14:05:25 UTC 6 years ago
Re: Know what will happen.....
It would be nice though to see a Governor come back to the Legislature, and say "You know we can't really afford a court battle on this one, it's going to go to court, its probably going to fail in court then we're going to be paying legal fees of both sides after the Industry files for reparations of having to take us to court." So I am going to Veto this.6 years ago
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April 25 2006, 13:59:48 UTC 6 years ago
respect for theintelligenceof their constituents.There, fixed it for you.
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April 25 2006, 13:39:24 UTC 6 years ago
We all know where this is going.
I really wish they'd look at the last 100 years of attempted censorship to "protect the children." Any governmental interference has been considered unconstitutional, and the industry-ratings standard has been accepted in every single situation.*stamps it unconstitutional*
NEXT
April 25 2006, 13:59:00 UTC 6 years ago
Wouldn't matter.
When people in the past attempted to censor movies, comic books, television, music, D&D, dancing, etc, those were all different situations from what we have today. After all, the people who grew up under the influence of those things ultimately had no problems!Well, except for Jack.
April 25 2006, 14:12:53 UTC 6 years ago
Again, Wisconsin's bill is just like this one-- add that to the list.
The real question is, what are the consequences? If a retailer sells a game to a minor (or, as I read for this bill, if someone has a GTA in the same room as a minor, effectively the same as watching porn with a child), or a parent buys the game FOR a minor, are we looking at felony charges? Potential sex offender status? Don't be surprised....
Oklahoma. I don't know how much I trust their supreme court to do the obviously right thing. I wonder if there'll be a day when games have to do as California porn did, and add an educational disclaimer at the end of the game... "Remember kids, violence in video games in wrong. Knowing is half the battle!"
April 25 2006, 14:27:44 UTC 6 years ago
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
You know, unlike politicians (or certain lawyers in Miami), you don't get to be a Federal-Level Judge by being a twit. It's not like they can change a few words around and bamboozle the judge into not going "Hey, this looks remarkably similar in tone and purpose to the half-dozen other similar laws that were struck down on constitutional grounds!"Idiots.
April 25 2006, 19:24:11 UTC 6 years ago
Another good thing about judges...
they're generally on the bench for life, especially in the higher courts. That means they don't have to put on a show anymore. The only thing they have to worry about is being impeached, that way they can actually enforce the constitution without worrying about the soccer moms getting mad and voting for something else. If there's a single uncorrupt politician they're going to be a federal judge.6 years ago
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April 25 2006, 14:41:24 UTC 6 years ago
This Bill should be banned, IT'S PORNOGRAPHIC!
April 25 2006, 16:32:40 UTC 6 years ago
I wonder if these people have ever seen Adult Swim. Every time I try to catch Venture Brothers, it's always the episode that has a scene with him with a giant freaking hard-on. And B is just silly.
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April 25 2006, 14:45:27 UTC 6 years ago
HB 3004 By Morgan (Fred) et al of the House and Coffee et al of the Senate
Crimes and punishments; relating to material harmful to minors; expanding definition. Effective date.
Motion to reconsider lodged by Cain
(4/24) Measure passed
April 25 2006, 14:49:42 UTC 6 years ago
once again to quote george carlin
"F*** The children"nuff said
April 25 2006, 15:12:39 UTC 6 years ago
Re: once again to quote george carlin
Damn straight. Children neither NEED nor WANT your "so-called" protection Oklahoma.6 years ago
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April 25 2006, 15:18:54 UTC 6 years ago
By the way, John Bruce...don't take credit for other's work.
Because we all know you're a publicity hound who just wants to ride the coat-tails of misguided politicians. And we all know you're going to try and take credit.If you do wish to take credit, I want you to provide names and phone numbers of people you talked to, who you "advised".
And if you can't put up, then just shut the hell up. Because all you're doing is making yourself and your religion look like complete morons.
Sincerely,
Steve Keltner - ELCA Luthern (Yes, Gamers are Christians too.)
April 25 2006, 15:32:30 UTC 6 years ago
Game Politics Is Utterly Wrong About This Bill
Dennis McCauley either can't read or doesn't want to read. The bill, as proposed, has TWO separate parts. The sexual material harmful to minors part (the porn part), simply brings video games into the definition of sexual material harmful to minors, by virtue of sexual content, that all other products distributed to minors in Oklahoma must adhere to.The other portion deals with violent material that is harmful to minors, which can include video games. There is absolutely NO equating in the bill of violence with porn. Just the opposite is the case. Sexual material that is harmful to minors is one category (40+ states have such laws on the books), and then the violent section of the bill deals with mature games that are clearly inappropriate and thus harmful to minors by virtue of the violence, not the porn.
Dennis, get a lawyer. You need one to read bills, apparently.
Jack Thompson
April 25 2006, 15:34:40 UTC 6 years ago
Re: Game Politics Is Utterly Wrong About This Bill
By deeming both harmful, without specifing the punishments, is equating the two via the transitive property of logic.If A=B
And C=B
it follows that A=C.
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April 25 2006, 15:36:18 UTC 6 years ago
*Gasp* Oh Noes! Jack is back hurry and help this 6 year old hide his murder simulators
44 names now jackcome on dude grow the fuck up and leave here already
April 25 2006, 19:28:37 UTC 6 years ago
Re: *Gasp* Oh Noes! Jack is back hurry and help this 6 year old hide his murder simulators
He's incapable, unfortunatly. His narcissisctic personality disorder seems to be unable to to allow him the maturity of even a 16 year old.6 years ago
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April 25 2006, 15:41:13 UTC 6 years ago
Violent Video Games Tied to "Kansas Columbine"
Immediate News Release – April 25, 2006More “Columbines” on the Way and Here’s Why
Three separate incidents in schools in Kansas, Alaska, and Washington State in the last several days have served as a grim reminder that “Columbine can happen here.”
ABC News today has an excellent news analysis that explains our schools are not any more resistant to Columbine-type events than they were pre-Columbine. See http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=18836
More Columbines are indeed on the way, and there is one big reason why. Miami attorney Jack Thompson has worked in the past several days with law enforcement in Kansas regarding the intercepted “Columbine event” planned by five students at Riverton High School. The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department took Thompson’s affidavit and secured new search warrants with which they seized violent video games on which some of the perpetrators may have actually trained for the massacre. Kansas officials found commando-style military games that have been linked to other similar Columbine-type events nearly identical to the events planned by these Kansas teens.
After Columbine, the FBI and Secret Service did their own separate “threat assessments” as to why these school mass killings were occurring in the late 1990s. Each found that the one common denominator was the perpetrators’ immersion in violent entertainment, particularly violent murder simulation video games. Thompson represented all of the families of the girls slain in the Paducah school shooting by a 14-year-old gamer. Thompson predicted Columbine on NBC’s Today one week before it happened, even predicting the game—Doom—on which Klebold and Harris trained for their massacre.
Jack Thompson appeared last year on CBS’s 60 Minutes regarding a wrongful death lawsuit against the makers of the Grand Theft Auto cop-killing games for the role they played in the killings of three law enforcement personnel in Alabama. That case is now set for trial in 2007, as the Alabama Supreme Court has swept away a First Amendment defense.
CONTACT Jack Thompson for more information at 305-666-4366.
April 25 2006, 15:44:54 UTC 6 years ago
Translation
"waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i said video games were involved in this and you better believe me cause if you dont i'll sue you cause im big and bad and i troll gamepolitics like a little child cause i have nothing better to do with my pathetic life so you all are going to bow down now and worship me cause im jack thompson""MOmmmy they arent bowing down to me they are suppose to be scared of me why arent they scared of me"
Oh jack one more thing in only 3 days of gta 3 i've aquired 1250 kills
Pretty good huh?
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April 25 2006, 15:42:34 UTC 6 years ago
RE: The Update
Dennis, do you know anything about the amendment that is sending the bill back to the House?Did the Governor's office say anything about how the bill stood and what, if any, there opinion was on the original bill, the amendment, and if the Governor's opinion changed at all? Just curious.
Thanks.
nightwng2000
April 25 2006, 15:45:49 UTC 6 years ago
Re: The Update
its not gonna pass at alli dont know why they keep trying
April 25 2006, 15:45:05 UTC 6 years ago
reasons for failure
The bill targets nudity in ALL media, but only targets violence in video games, so apparently extreme graphic violence is appropriate if you're only watching it...Under the definitions of what they mean by "inappropriate violence", this bill would restrict "The Punisher" the game, but not "The Punisher" the movie or comic.
This bill, had it been applied to all media, would have restricted minors from buying "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac". But I guess it's ok for them to buy JTHM...
April 25 2006, 16:01:35 UTC 6 years ago
Re: reasons for failure
..."This bill, had it been applied to all media, would have restricted minors from buying "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac". But I guess it's ok for them to buy JTHM..."....Not to mention the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran. You'd have to be 18 to buy them.
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April 25 2006, 15:48:03 UTC 6 years ago
Also the game has to be considered offensive as well, which many people will look at the box and say, "hmm.. this isn't offensive, I'll buy it for my kids or myself."
IMO.
Seikyo
April 25 2006, 16:02:46 UTC 6 years ago
The Senate
It would be funny to hear that members of the Oklahoma senate were being attacked by italian plumbers with hammers or gorrilas throwing barrels at themThat'll show'em
April 25 2006, 16:28:58 UTC 6 years ago
I wouldn't be surprised if movie, TV, and/or music companies don't start coming down on Oklahoma for this bill too, all claiming it's unconstitutional.
April 25 2006, 18:37:44 UTC 6 years ago
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April 25 2006, 16:40:26 UTC 6 years ago
Found this:
This was written by the UK BBFC a while back, and makes more sense then anything JT, politicians and countless studies have spouted over the last few years:"In reality, violent video games are less violent to play than to contemplate, since the focus is on beating the machine rather than another human figure.... and the violence is more symbolic than realistic, with nothing like the impact of video violence, where one identifies in a human way. Here the emotions are more like a game of ping pong than a bloody battle."
- unfortunately nothings going to change the minds of these anti-video game types who we all know aren't really looking out for the children, they're just using the next big thing as a stepping stone in their respective careers.
JT is the prime example, who has failed in the past with other forms of media and is simply following the cattle of the years gone by, by targetting something his generation doesn't understand. He can't see the basic similarities of what he's doing now, and what the older generation of his time were doing when they blamed comics or rock and roll for society's problems.
It's an ongoing thing and unfortunately it's destined to be repeated in years to come, as we become the concerned parents, unsure of some new technology that has entered our childrens' lives.
I'd like to think we'll be able to remember everything that transpires here, but history shows us we'll make the same mistakes... not because we don't understand and are scared of this new technology, but because we'll also see it as way to gain fame and wealth, just like the politicians and lawyers of today are doing right now.
Rich
April 25 2006, 17:32:07 UTC 6 years ago
Re: Found this:
The British Board of Film Classification (Censorship before 1984); an organisation which treats film and games equally (the name was made up in 1912 before games were invented, see), with the same ratings actually understands what they rate. Good job.April 25 2006, 16:55:46 UTC 6 years ago
"I like attention" - Jack Thompson
enough saidApril 25 2006, 16:55:50 UTC 6 years ago
I made an interesting observation this weekend
So I saw my step-brother Jordan this weekend. He's 5 years old, a very sweet kid with an infections smile and a great personality.My aunt and uncle, a few months back, had him over for a night so they could spend some time with him. My uncle has an X-box because he's still a kid at heart. So they went out and rented Halo 2 for him to play. Now, Jordan has seen me play Halo and Halo 2 numerous times. He used to sit next to me on the couch with wide eyes as I unloaded numerous rounds into oncominc Flood hordes on our 5.1 surround sound system and 63" HD Widescreen. He saw me play when he was 3-4 years old, so in the past 3 years he's seen a lot of Halo. He loves the game..a lot.
Now, come to ask me, I don't think the XBox is meant for kids. It's hard to find games I think he should be playing because they're either too violent, too crappy, or too hard for a 5 year old to play. I, like an idiot, tried to see how he'd fare with KOTOR...but he didn't get it.
On our way home he kept begging for Halo but his mother (my step-mom) refused saying it was a mistake for Uncle Garret to rent Halo for him and Uncle Garret apologized to a poor disheartened boy. He had his little tantrum, but he's 5 and he'll throw tantrums over pretty much anything.
Now here's the interesting note. Jordan has ALWAYS been an energetic and violent kid. When he was 3 he smacked some 5 year-old right across the face and the older kid backed off. It was fucking HILLARIOUS. However, like I said, Jordan only recently started playing the XBox. His only prior experience was the few times he played Finding Nemo on my Xbox before I took it with me to my house. (I'm actually amazed he can handle the old controllers.) It would seem to me that violent people desire violent games and not the other way around. This is not to say that ONLY violent people play violent games, but based on his reaction to Halo, and knowing his history of being a violent kid...for no real reason either, it would seem to me that violent people are more prone to playing violent games as a means to an outlet.
I just re-read all that and it makes no sense, and it's also probably a really mute point, but I spent all that time typing it so I'll post it anyways. Maybe it will spark a discussion.
April 25 2006, 17:09:46 UTC 6 years ago
Re: I made an interesting observation this weekend
I think it becomes a question of whether or not the violent media serves to release the violent urges or encourage them. And this can differ from person to person. That is where parental responsibility and judgement come into play.My oldest son (14) is even tempered and not prone to physical (or other) expressions of violence. As such I allow him more (but still controled, supervised and limited) exposure to violent media (games, movies, what have you). My next oldest son (11) has a much more aggressive temperment. As such I exercise greater restraint as to what violent media I allow him to be exposed to. It's called involved parenting and more people should do it.
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April 25 2006, 17:15:00 UTC 6 years ago
Geez
You know I usually don't take it upon myself to chastise other people, but doesn't Mr. Thompson have something better to do than to troll the boards at GamePolitics? I mean he IS a lawyer, shouldn't he be working on cases or something? I just think that if he really thought about it he'd find a better use for his time. He has his opinions, and he's certainly entitled to them. However, I suggest that in the future he act like a responsible adult, and not resort to childish name-calling and insults.April 25 2006, 17:17:25 UTC 6 years ago
Re: Geez
Think about it for a second. Would you really want Jack Thompson representing you in court?6 years ago
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