Ben-DutkaAs gamers, its time to stand as one and make a confident, intelligent declaration of unity.
The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA), a non-profit membership organization that represents gamers, has confirmed they will be submitting a "friend of the court document (amicus brief) to the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the upcoming violence in video games case, Schwarzenegger v EMA." To assist in the endeavor, the ECA has worked up a petition that just about every gamer should sign; this petition will be attached and submitted along with the aforementioned brief, so it will certainly have a very important purpose. Said Vice President and General Counsel for the ECA, Jennifer Mercurio:
"The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the State of California's infamous 'violent video game case' later this year, or early next. At that time, the Court is going to listen to oral arguments on whether to agree with previous federal court findings or not. Agreeing would mean that they believe that video games are, and should continue to be, First Amendment protected speech; just like movies and music. The Court disagreeing would mean that video games should be treated differently, which the ECA strongly believes to be unconstitutional and could lead to new bills and laws curtailing video game access in states across the country."
The petition "establishes an authoritative collective position by American consumers of interactive entertainment and it enshrines each and every signatory's participation in the court documents and records." ECA President Hal Halpin says this case may indeed be "the single most important challenge" the gaming industry has ever faced in the US, and that "anyone who cares about gaming should feel compelled to both sign the petition and encourage their friends and family to do similarly." So-
If you don't…I'll find you.
Mell,
I'd just pick a random state…..
(especially since we have 50 from which to chose from) LOL
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Last edited by BikerSaint on 5/12/2010 11:57:48 PM
lol @ Biker
That works. lol
Wish I did it would be convenient right now. I don't know of any citizens either.
Well if you're ever playing online be sure to spread the word to any American gamers who are unaware of the situation.
hehe you reckon I'd get away with it if I tried? Oh I'll definitely spread the word. I'll do my part.
I would sign myself, but I don't think signatures from Canadian citizens count, or do they?
Yes, the form accepts Canadian addresses. My province was listed in the dropdown and it asks for a ZIP/Postal Code. So sign away fellow canucks, sign away!
You tricky Canadians slipping flawlessly into US society. Good on ya.
I wrote this under the customize your personal message for the ECA petition.
This is quite a mouthful…for those who dare tread further…I appreciate it 🙂
Video games are a rather harmless hobby. Much like reading books, watching television, and listening to music. The harmful element engaged in all of these activities is the human mind. Video games are not without censors or age restrictions and regulations like many other mediums. Therefore, it is up to the companies that distribute and sell this delicate media to do so wisely and honorably.
Video games are created for visual and interactive entertainment. It is but a tool in the hands of an individual to receive some pleasure or harmless fun. Players are thrust into a fantasy world where reality is the distant and unknown land. Where the real becomes the fantasy.
It is quite clear that video games mean no harm. Quite simply, video games revisit many social, political, and even economic notions that exist and have existed throughout history. Some video games retell through fantastic worlds the corruption, the beauty, the order, and the chaos within reality and deploys it at its audience through an engaging and sometimes even heartfelt story-driven experience.
Like any novel, movie, or television show, (which tells a story of sorts) where there is good, there is also evil. Video games should not take the blame for evil doings that are prevalent in the real world.
Violence existed long before video games or even before medium's introduction. Violence is a part of the world as much as love or hate, good or evil, happiness or sadness. It exists because of individuality and seclusion. It exists because we are afraid of change, of differentiation, of the unknown. Video game are hardly the problem we should be examining. What we should be examining, is ourselves.
Signed… if a major change like that occurs the industry may very well have recieved a devastating blow. I cannot have that.
Doing it now, would hate for Ben to toss my ass up a tree
I am not American nor am I in the United States. But since I agree with what the petition is about, I posted the link on my Facebook wall for my American friends to read and (hopefully) sign. Best of luck to the ECA.
Singed that mother,
But seriously Bikersaint, you crazy man!
If you have kids and they are not old enough to tell the difference between GoW caliber violence and Sponge Bob Square pants just don't let them play those kinds of games. I am just saying, if you are not mature enough then don't play the violent games! Simple enough. Much appreciated for everyone else that has signed!
This is what Schwarzenegger spends him time doing? Seriously dude, if you have that much spare time on your hands, why not take up gaming?
The same here. I am not from America or Canada so I am unable to sign… But I fully agree and stand with you guys.
If the enforce their rating on you guys most developers will have to "change" the way the make games and that will in turn have an effect on gaming word wide…
Heh, Gamers United huh?
Seems there's a problem on the the petition so non-USA folks can't sign it.
But, our non-American allied gamer friends can still help support the cause by emailing out the petition(see link below) to every gamer they know, and also put it on their FaceBook, MySpace, & Twitter accounts too….
(and for those of you who have already done so, then my "thanks" go out to you all)
Here's some useful ECA info…..
Email the petition out to other's from here:
http://action.theeca.com/t/2858/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=2999
FaceBook:
http://www.facebook.com/TheECA
MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/theeca
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/theeca
…meh, can't really care. I don't care about what happens. There are bigger problems in the world. Besides, what good can a petition do? If facts point out that video games are harmful or harmless, where does the signatures of thousands of random people factor in? I am in no way an advocate of "majority rules", I see things for their pros and cons.
and lol @ BikerSaint's "freedom" speech, that was inspirational 😀
WolfCrimson,
Being a biker, it's all about my freedoms so I refuse to follow any tyrannical rules of our governmental sheep, & I've always been a freedomfighter against their meddling bullsh!t.
BTW, I did the same for my Australian brethren & rallied the troops right here for them too, vs that douchebag AG that held up R18+ vote.
So I don't just talk the talk, I walk the walk.
That's great, BikerSaint. But I didn't mean to imply that you don't walk the walk. I may have put the word 'freedom' in quotations, but I didn't mean it as sarcasm. Just that it made me imagine you sounded like an American leader or something.
Well i'm not in America for one thiing, but more importantly, the game industry is not suffering, infact its better than its ever been!
just have to ask, why are games always considered the work of the devil?
i really dont get this, if movies and novels are protected by law than why not games?
its funny, every time something happened due to a game it gets posted all over the news like 911.
for example that idiot in NZ that went into a store and started waiving a fake gun around, advertising splinter cell conviction.
but you never hear about same things done for movies cartoon shows or anything else.
why are games always the scapegoat?
im sorry, but whats good for the goose is good for the gander.
Lol omg I'm from NZ and I never heard about that. That's nuts.
really? wow i was pissing myself laughing when i heard that.
the cops were ready to fill him with more holes than swiss cheese too.
hate to sound mean, but anyone dumb enough to pull off a stunt like that deserves to be shot.
Signed.
The form does allow Canadian addresses, so they might be counting Canucks. I hope so, since my address is Canadian, but I'm still an American citizen and they had better count me.
Signed.
And I'm not from the US. Some of you out there supported Australia's R18+ support vote (BTW, 56,000 said yes to an R18+ rating, 1500 said no) so I'm going to support you guys.
Here's hoping Australia does get an R18+ rating. Unfortunately it still isn't a big enough issue to warrent big attention from politicians, but it is looking promising.
Over 200 people dressed like zombies and marched outside the NSW Art Gallery in Sydney to support an R18+ rating and demand Left 4 Dead 2 be uncensored.
… It was so awesome it made the news on TV. Over 200 zombies marching around Sydney altogether. Was the best idea ever!!!
You tell 'em, Schwarzenegger! Video games without violence is like an 80's action movie without…. wait a minute…. he's on the other side? WTF?!
that made me lol!
DONE I Just signed it.
currenly playing
Ps3 – Heavy Rain finshed God of War III
360 – SplinterCell Conviction finshed Mass Effect 2
I signed it. If Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't like violent video games, then he should avoid playing them. Isn't California hard up for some cash? And Arnold's solution is to kill another source of tax income for his state.
He should first remove his violent movies and give all the money back that he made acting, then he won't look like a hypocrite.
Petition . . . Signed
Temperament . . . Angry
Blood . . . Boiling
Freedom to play games without censorship . . . Priceless!
That's right I said it and If I have to storm the steps of the capital waving an american flag while dressed as Kratos, I'll do that too.
I would pay good money to get a photo of that.
Seriously, do it!!! It would look so awesome!!!
I am so with Dancemachine55 on this one!
I'm a photographer and Graphic Designer. I can picture it already! (no pun intended)
well, while I'd be willing to do it, it'd probably look better if it was someone who works out frequently. I don't ripple like kratos, maybe we could get Ben to do it too, I just think an average looking guy wouldn't really be impressive, but I think I could still frighten all the children.
Signed. I'm 45 years old, so this nonsense about video games poisoning my young mind is really ridiculous in my case. I always hear about the crap going on in Australia with games being banned, and absolutely don't want that rubbish repeated here.
I can't watch anything on TV because the shows are garbage and the commercials make everything unwatchable. So now they want to screw around with my video games? What am I supposed to do with my evenings, play Hannah freakin' Montana?
I work at a youth centre and I've seen the latest Miley video. You don't want to do that. Trust me.
Is this just in America?
Yeah, this is, but it is one of those things that would effect all gamers in one way of another. I urge all that can do sign as it is one of those things that can get in and onto the books with ease, but is painfully hard to take off, especially if the god squad get behind it.
Signed and sent it to like 10 other friends.
I'm in Toronto, Canada…don't know if it applies and really don't care I just to support the ECA.
Although, I do understand the arguments on both sides and find each argument compelling, as an avid gamer I can't sit back and watch the industry and gamers be treated like pre-school children who have no understanding of their favourite pass-time.
As a kid I watch Schwarzenegger exact unspeakable violence on his enemies, in all his movies. I saw him get shot with more bullets than anyone at the time. Hell, I used to pretend I was the Terminator exacting my own revenge on my own batch of enemies and…here it comes…I grew up fine!
Anyway, this is a fight that will go one for decades. In the mean time I will continue to thank mister Schwarzenegger for influencing all us kids who grew up loving him because whether he wants to believe it or not he inspired the creation of Kratos, Dante, Call of Duty, Metal Gear Solid…he has a direct hand in creating the violence he sees in video games and movies today just as much as the directors, writers, producers, the list goes on.
Again, I don't know much about American politics, but in my own opinion, religion should have very little to do with games. I can understand an argument to better enforce who M and AO rated games are sold to, but to completely prevent every American from deciding from themselves is pretty crooked.
I mean, if you aren't going to do the same thing with movies and music (some of those rappers today are just BRUTAL with their lyrics!!), why video games?
Again, don't know much about American politics, but from a distance, it looks so silly that these people make such a big deal over the sale of violent video games when the same stores that sell games and movies sell actual real-life guns.
So… is the argument they are making that the movies they sell are just art or something, the guns are for protection, and the games will actually make you guys use the protective guns to do bad things? I'm not sure I understand which type of violence is good violence and which is bad…
So… yeah. I'll sign that petition.
I already said this in an earlier reply, but I'll say it again in my very own post…
I live just north of the border in Canada, and I would be daft to think that American policies on video games would not affect our access here… especially since the three main markets in terms of the way games are released are considered to be Japan, Europe, and North America. Canada and the US are the same market, more or less.
They don't need to ban particular games. They need to find better ways of informing parents what they're buying. Also, minor retailers pretty much never care about ratings. The store down the street from me rents out and sells M rated games to 13 year olds all the time. There's ratings, and people never pay attention. I know some parents out there don't care about getting their kid an R rated movie, but it's astonishing how many parents morally against R rated movies for kids will get their kid an M rated game…
Just sayin'…
I couldn't agree more, instead of banning games for everyone because you're a bad parent, wake up and be a good parent.
My new slogan…
"Don't ban our games….ban the bad parents"
I don't think I can sign it, since I'm not from America, and they kinda point out it's for Americans, by saying things as: "We, the undersigned American video game consumers" < see American.
I'd gladly use my fake information, if that would make y'all happy, just say the word.
If I had the power, I would soooo convert the Canadian signers to American.
I would lie, cheat and steal, just like the politicians, to get what I want.
Let's even out the playing field here.
Canadians CAN vote. They even give you the option to select your province on the drop down menu. They also say "Zip/Postal Code".
It's just that I'm European…
This is an outrage! I would love to have the resources to be at that hearing with an 18-wheeler with a movie screen showing Terminator, and any other argh-nuld movies with displays of violence.
This is just another attempt to remove the responsibility from the true sources of violence in the world today. Blame video games! Its preposterous. I take responsibly for my children by explaining how the world works to them. I dont just lock them in a room with explicit games, movies, books or internet access and just hope that they can some how sort out the madness.
I Love my country but jeesh.. There are just do many loopholes in or Constitution and especially the U.S. CODE. Which is what lawyers use to worm through our laws like a game of twister.
im with fullmetalx10.
i have no bother faking it but don't want to do so if it hurts the case.
Just got done signing it. For being a non-profit organization, they sure do set a price to be a part of their group.