Utah's bill HB0353 has been passed

[Lien]

This morning, Utah congress has passed the Truth in Advertising Act Amendments, a.k.a "The video game bill", a.k.a Jack Thompson's bill. They still need the governor's approval but that's as good as done by now.

One of the feature of the bill in question will allowed parents to sue videogame retailers for "False advertisement" towards video game in the state of utah (in one word if the game is too violent and the parents didn't know, court will follow)

In other news, a certain retired attorney is rubbing his hand and saying "Excellent" in Florida. It is not confirmed if he will start a new law firm in utah and party like a baby.

For the whole History of the she-bang, check the website's history via gamepolitics:
http://www.gamepolitics.com/category/topics/utah/hb353

Update!: http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/03/12/now-utah-bill-races-against-clock They got till midnight! Come on congress forget about it!

In other news:

Now it's back to the House with the amended Senate bill, which applies to all sales, including Internet sales. This is fun, and the question is, does it strike midnight before we win?

grrr :evil:
Update 2: Well. congress concurred the bill... Now the governor must sign it and it's doomsday for gamers in Utah.
Darn you jack thompson! Even dead you strike again... wait he's not dead?

 

[KoalaRainbowPoop]

the day evil won....

 

[schimmel]

Well, all I can really say about this is that it's Utah, which is a state of Mormons, who aren't really people, so their votes don't matter. This bill is null.

 

[BigZell2020]

Utah is the biggest piece of shit state ever, I was forced against my will to live there for a year...

 

[UrbanMasque]

Yea who gives a $H|^ about Utah.
its one of those places i dont feel sorry for whenever I hear the name mentioned in the news.

 

[Lien]

Ironically, resistance 2 will be set in Utah
wha wha whaaaa

 

[De-Ting]

I live in Utah, and I'm a Mormon.

 

[Lien]

I live in Utah, and I'm a Mormon.

Hey, he said their votes were not counted, meaning they're ignored there like we do at our doorsteps. And also are you really a Mormon? Sorry to put you on test but i kinda doubt this since i sigged you a couple of times:
Who was the father of Moroni and where did Moroni buried the Nephite record?

 

[madster111]

And now, I'm...hmm..there is no word strong enough for how grateful i am that i live in another country.

 

[De-Ting]

Pretty sure Mormon was Moroni's father, and he buried the plates in...I want to say, Ohio? Need to review my history. :wink: But I know it was under a tree on a hill, pretty close to where "Joe" Smith lived.

And as for the topic here, seriously, Utah's government, there's this awesome new thing called the ESRB. I hear they disclose the content of the game and classify them by recommended age group...

BTW madster, nice quote.

 

[cdbmacn]

When I travelled across the USA last summer we spent two days in Moab, Utah, and it was possibly the best part of the trip

We got a guided tour of the landscape, while doing 40m/h over sand dunes on rented quad bikes, was awesome

Looking at the map though, Moab seems to be in its own corner of Utah, so im guessing its not representative of the rest of the state

 

[Lien]

All right De-ting, i believe you :wink: Nice to know i'm not the only LDS follower here By the way, it was buried in the hill Cumorah, Palmyra, NY

Hum hum back on topic, just so everyone know, the bill is only in utah and nowhere else. It won't affect the video game industry in the state and it will still be protected by the first amendment. However, the distribution will be difficult if the game contain inappropriate contents and retailers won't mention them.
So, if you live in Utah and work in gamestop, prepare to work from a horrible job to a worst job telling each parent what the game has before ringing them up. And i mean each one of them :lol: Sucks to be you guys.

 

[Rakon]

Well De-Ting, just another reason to move to Canada, where no one cares about the ESRB.

 

[LinksOcarina]

Um....

If this goes to the supreme court the bill will be seen as unconstitutional. There is no way to gague stupidity of parents who purchase games based off of false advertisement, because most games say what they are ON THE BOX.

 

[De-Ting]

Well De-Ting, just another reason to move to Canada, where no one cares about the ESRB.

Got a spare bedroom?

Actually, forget the bedroom. I'll sleep in your bed. :wink: Just need air fair, and I'll be thair.

 

[used44]

According to my own prejudice, I thought Utah already had some crazy lame conservative laws like this. Sucks for Utah.

 

[Tylzen]

I am confused, as said above, does the game boxes not say what the games are?

There are all this fun symbols, such as violence, drugs, sex, and other stuff that is included in GTA IV.
Seriously, what game falsely advertise itself as a peaceful game, and is actually filled with violence?

 

[KoalaRainbowPoop]

I am confused, as said above, does the game boxes not say what the games are?

There are all this fun symbols, such as violence, drugs, sex, and other stuff that is included in GTA IV.
Seriously, what game falsely advertise itself as a peaceful game, and is actually filled with violence?

well... there are stupid parents out there that buy their spoiled lil kids anything they want. ther don't care for the esrb rating till they see there lil punk kids playing the game and acting like a twit with severe retardation.

 

[Grey]

I don't get why people are freaking out over this. All this bill does is ensure that if a game manufacturer does not make the game's content clear somewhere on the packaging, then they're liable should a parent freak out over the game's content after buying it for their kid.

WAKE UP. Video game manufacturers are already doing this. Pick out any game that's near you. The box art will contain an ESRB rating on it, a PEGI rating too if you're in Europe which holds icons representing what the game contains, such as violence, drugs, sex etc and I *think* that's being brought to America, might already be there in fact. The point is, this law does fuck all. Manufacturers have already been putting ratings and content icons on game packaging for years.
If anything, this does them a favour, because the very second somebody complains about their kid stealing a car because Niko did in GTAIV, the manufacturers can just point to rating, content advisory icons and say, "Not our problem".

This is nothing to piss yourselves over.

 

[kapow]

yea, but i don't think lying to the esrb is illegal, this reinforces the power of esrb ratings, in Utah.

This seems to be something the congressmen passed just so they can appeal to their constituent's conservative leanings, so they can say "I worked to bring tougher regulations of publishers of violent games" etc.

like grey said, nothing to piss yourselves over