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According to CNN Money, the state of Washington became the first in the U.S. to regulate the sale of video games. Signed into law on Monday, the legislation will ban the sale of some games to minors under the age of 17. Found at Blues News.
For the full story, please see CNN Money. Here is a brief excerpt from the piece:
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Specifically, the law forbids selling minors any video or computer game depicting violence against law enforcement officials. Among the titles affected are industry best sellers "Grand Theft Auto 3" and "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City", both published by Take Two Interactive. Presumably, Atari's $30 million "Enter the Matrix", which hit store shelves last Thursday, would also be off limits to its core audience. That title earned only a "Teen" rating, since it is not graphically violent, though police officers are in-game enemies.
Retail employees who sell these games to minors are subject to fines of up to $500.
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Meanwhile, other regulation bills are in the works. The largest of these is in Washington, D.C., where Sen. Joe Baca, D.-Calif., has reintroduced his "Protect Children from Video Game Sex and Violence Act". The bill would make it a federal crime to sell or rent "adult video games" to minors – with proposed fines of $5,000 or more. Re-introduced to the House on Feb. 11, the bill is currently in the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. The 2002 bill of the same name died in that committee.
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