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Arizona's 'blame the media' bill dies in committee
Arizona's Senate Judiciary Committee killed House Bill 2660 in a 4-2 vote; the legislation would have held media content producers liable for violent acts committed by consumers of video games, movies, TV and books. GamePolitics reports that the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Warde Nichols (R), says he will reintroduce a more concisely-written version in 2009. He believes, "At the end of the day, companies will have to stand before their customers and shareholders and explain why they are OK with the production and distribution of violent, forced, non-consensual sex acts."The bill was written by attorney Keith Perkins, who runs the Never Again Foundation, and represents rape victims in civil suits. Perkins states under Arizona's current law victims can only sue attackers, but that the money they would collect is minimal -- media groups have much deeper pockets for victims (and their lawyers who get a cut of the settlement). It looks like Nichols' bill bit off way more than it could chew. Sen. Ken Cheuvront (D) put it best when he said the bill was too broad and passing it might have unintended consequences.
Arizona bill would hold content creators liable
A new Arizona bill aims to take on the entire media industry. House Bill 2660, which passed the state House of Representatives last month, aims to make a person "liable for damages if the person produces, publishes or distributes written, audio, video or digital material" that is deemed "dangerous or obscene." Such wording could apply to books, websites, video games, movies, TV shows and Numa Numa. While the bill sounds ridiculous to the point of fiction, it is causing many to be concerned -- for example, who decides what is dangerous and obscene? The Video Game Voters Network has issued a call to action over the bill, and representatives for the MPAA and the Arizona Newspaper Associations have taken issue with it.We at Joystiq aren't too worried. Should the bill pass, it would logically self-destruct, seeing as it is also dangerous and obscene written material. [Via Game Politics]
