In what seems to be a never ending deluge of misguided attempts from legislators to unconstitutionally regulate video games, two U.S. House Representatives seek a label placed on nearly all video games which would read: "WARNING: Exposure to violent video games has been linked to aggressive behavior."
Let me take you back to the first half of last year when a Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decision on the subject of video games came down, Brown v. EMA. SCOTUS ruled video games to be under First Amendment protection, as they are "like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them." It's a matter that would normally be considered settled. Yet Reps. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) and Frank Wolf (R-Va.) are disinclined to acquiesce.
I wonder why after the high court said its peace, they continue.
According to The Hill, a congressional newspaper, Rep. Baca said, "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."
Not only has it been stated here that the video game industry must bear this burden, separate from any other First Amendment protected medium, but the content is potentially damaging!
Making Rep. Baca seem even more clueless, his own state's governor pushed the legislation to find itself smacked down by SCOTUS.
Because of its crusade against violence video games, California paid nearly $1 million dollars in legal fees to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).
We still have the worst to go! Rep. Wolf thinks that video games should be labeled because "we warn smokers of the health consequences of tobacco."
With such bold claims, it would be reasonable to think there was a lot of evidence to support this argument. This cannot be the case though.
Why?
It is because no such evidence exists. Not only do I want evidence that video games cause yellowing of teeth or damage to the lungs, I want to know how it is scientifically possible they will have me relegated to use of a tracheal speaking valve.
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It is a claim so laughable, so far removed from reality, that I have trouble believing someone envisioned its enactment.
Normally, when people go after video games they do so with claims that it makes users violent and aggressive.
To make this argument, people must make use of studies ripped asunder so intensely that the only persuasion they can attain is with an audience of like-minded persons.
ESA representative Rich Taylor said the bill "needlessly concerns parents with flawed research and junk science," according to Gamasutra magazine.
I cannot shame these men enough for their preposterous positions on the topic.
My offense comes not with their needless attack on video games, and implicitly the video game community, but with the idea these elected officials are wasting their time and money on such a public scale.
They are flaunting their glaring lack of knowledge.
I'm fully aware; a politician parading his or her inadequacies is par the course.
But this is not merely a matter of party line tomfoolery.
I wonder how any of their constituents have confidence in their representatives when they vote on legislation.
Are these men always so oblivious on the subject matter they seek to legislate?
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board, which handles video game ratings, ranks higher than any other industry with content labeling.
Those industries include movies and music, which are notoriously absent from proposed legislation.
In all likelihood, there is enough reason in the rest of Congress to knock this sort of thing down.
The duo has tried passing similar legislation in six consecutive sessions of Congress with no success. There was a time when such arguments were easier to entertain that video games required regulation. As the industry matures and these arguments are studied with more and more scrutiny, they service no purpose to remain.
The time may come that enough evidence can be presented to fully craft an argument for industry regulation, but today none exist that is credible enough to develop such an argument.
I hope some day one of the two representatives will wake up from the best sleep of his life, take a look around and think, "What the hell have I been doing?"
Because being useful as a legislator will be far from the top of his list.
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