A federal ruling that blocks California's ban on the sale of violent video games to children is the latest setback to lawmakers trying to clean up a medium that is increasingly graphic -- and just as popular.
The preliminary injunction granted late Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Ronald M. Whyte delays implementation of a measure that would make it a crime to rent or sell games that "depict serious injury to human beings in a manner that is especially heinous, atrocious or cruel" to people younger than 18.
The law, written by Assemblyman Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) and signed in October by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, was to take effect Jan. 1. Whyte, whose courtroom is in San Jose, blocked that until lawyers for the game industry and the state can argue whether the sales ban tramples free-speech rights.
In granting the injunction sought by the Entertainment Software Assn. and the Video Software Dealers Assn., Whyte concluded that the trade groups "are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the act violates the 1st Amendment."
The ruling comes as the $25-billion global game industry faces sharp criticism for sex and violence in some of its titles. Much of the furor has focused on "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," a game that allows players to shoot cops, run over pedestrians and have sex with prostitutes.
Legislative efforts to keep violent games away from minors have faced constitutional challenges as backers try to extend some of the same laws restricting access to pornography to violent material. Courts have been unwilling to endorse that reasoning.
"This is not a surprising result," said Kurt Opsahl, staff attorney with civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation. "It brings into question whether this is really the best use of the state's resources to constantly put up these clearly unconstitutional laws, only to have them challenged and thrown out.... It does seem to be one in this series of: law passes, gets challenged, gets struck down. Rinse, lather, repeat."
Game makers noted Thursday that Whyte's decision marked the sixth time that a judge had ruled in their favor on sales bans. Most recently, a similar law in Illinois was blocked this month.
Nevertheless, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) last week joined Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) to introduce a bill to restrict sales to minors. They joined a chorus of critics who say game violence differs from other forms of media violence because games are interactive.
