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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation on Friday to outlaw the sale to teenagers of electronic games featuring reckless mayhem and explicit sexuality.
The governor's approval of the bill was in doubt until the last minute, when he signed it as part of a series of measures that he said would protect children and strengthen families. The video game industry, which has sales of more than $7 billion a year and is largely based in California, lobbied heavily against the bill and vowed to challenge it in court, saying it violated the First Amendment's guarantees of free speech.
The video game measure is similar to bills passed recently in Illinois and Michigan but is expected to have far broader impact because of the size of the California market and the state's role in blazing national trails on social issues.
The bill bans the sale or rental to those under 18 of any video games that "depict serious injury to human beings in a manner that is especially heinous, atrocious or cruel." Violations carry a fine of up to $1,000.
www.gamesindustry.biz
The governor's approval of the bill was in doubt until the last minute, when he signed it as part of a series of measures that he said would protect children and strengthen families. The video game industry, which has sales of more than $7 billion a year and is largely based in California, lobbied heavily against the bill and vowed to challenge it in court, saying it violated the First Amendment's guarantees of free speech.
The video game measure is similar to bills passed recently in Illinois and Michigan but is expected to have far broader impact because of the size of the California market and the state's role in blazing national trails on social issues.
The bill bans the sale or rental to those under 18 of any video games that "depict serious injury to human beings in a manner that is especially heinous, atrocious or cruel." Violations carry a fine of up to $1,000.
Schwarzenegger signs violent videogames bill
ESA to file suit on grounds that new law is 'unconstitutional'
www.gamesindustry.biz
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