Washington Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on February 22, 2005

Click here to view bill details.

This has to be the most out-of-touch bill ever introduced in Olympia. Whatever happened to a thing called Personal Responsibility, or Parental Obligation? What would be next? Sue Hollywood because a movie "influenced" someone? Utterly ridiculous.

We're not responsible for ourselves anymore. We're just empty-headed morons. It's up to the government to protect us from our own stupidity as well as the stupidity of others.

This suggested law is completely ridiculous. I am tired of this continual confusion between causation and correlation. Do violent video games make people violent, or are violent people more likely to consume violent media? How do you explain the MILLIONS of normal, happy, law abiding citizens who consume this media day in and day out without ever once committing a crime? Worse, how can you determine that it was the video game that influenced the violent behavior? Because the person who committed the crime says so, fully knowing that by saying so they can relieve themselves of some of the responsibility of their crime? Or maybe we should let the victims and the trial lawyers, hungry to get the right to sue a large company and not some broke kid, decide if the video game was what caused the violence? This law is at best a horrible idea based on a faulty understanding of what causes violence and at worst an attempt to intimidate game publishers into self censorship based on the policy goals of a few uninformed extremists. I sincerely hope that Washington state will not embarrass itself by enacting such a silly and senseless law.

What an idiotic proposal. Just a continuation of "oh, those poor people cannot help themselves" psychobabble. How do these people get elected?

If there's one thing about lawmaking, it's the fact that there's always a lack of scientific/logical evidence to back up the reasoning for the law. What's the scientific basis for this? As far as I know, numerous studies have been done on this, and it has been shown that video games DO NOT AFFECT drastic and hurtful decisions. On the other side, this is a huge blow to the many game developers in Washington State. Half Life's creator, Valve, and Halo's creator, Bungie, both come to mind. Passing this bill would significantly negatively impact those companies should corperations/citizen choose to exploit this loophole. All in all, I ask for this bill to be dismissed. It's time for parental action, it is ultimately up to them, not the government, to decide what is acceptable for their child(ren). Any correspondence would be appreciated: yelper[at]gmail[dot]com

I have to say I am appalled at the idiocy of this bill. The notion that free speech could possibly be trampled on in such a way is very unnerving. I am a video game developer. I realize that video games can be a form of social conditioning as much as any other media. I realize that the line between fantasy and reality can be thin for a disturbed person. I also realize that the amount of frivolous lawsuits are on the rise. Imagine what this shift of blame will do for every disturbed kid who decides to open fire on his schoolmates. Instead of placing the responsibility where it belongs, with the person who commits the crime, you are tightening the noose on the notion of free speech. By proposing this bill, you are undermining the very fabric of our society. You are acknowledging that we the people, even as developing adults, are not responsible for ourselves. We are products of our environment. Acting out, even in a violent manner, is only a symptom of a bigger "problem," and can be remedied with the correct restrictions. There is a game called "Katamari Damacy," in which you must roll a large ball around, collecting random items, which attach to it like a magnet. Imaging the scenario: "Washington man found guilty of homicide after it was determined that his attempts to kill a former employer by rolling a large 'ball' of conglomerated furniture over him resulted in the man's agonizing death. 'I had just played this cool game when I got the idea.' the man said, before he was ushered into custody." Would we look on this man as a mentally disturbed individual, deserving of the latest in psychiatric treatment? I think so, yet his methods were inspired by something outside of his own world. Perhaps everything we do is somehow connected to outside influences. Videogames are not the only ones to blame. There's still books, movies, virtual reality booths, newspaper, the evening news, theatre, amusement parks, the workplace, bowling alleys, miniature golf... and the list is infinitely long. The fundamental flaw in your thinking and in your bill is that you fail to comprehend the purpose of media, and perhaps life, in any meaningful way. You've subjected yourself to the easiest notion that relinquishes your responsibility to yourself and your community. By supporting this bill, you prefer and support communism. Please wake up.

...I´m glad I don´t live here

well, I haved served this country in the military, and would die for it if called up again, but I think America is not going to fall from terrorists or another country. We are going to fall from within. We are teaching our kids nothing of responsibility. That our acions don't have consequences. Everyone "owes" them something. and "let's not offend anyone" so we take the 10 commandments away...which even if they had nothing to do with the bible, they are still a good set of morals! This is just some more icing on the cake.

If this Bill is passed we have become socialist.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v124/BCStud31/video-games-kill.jpg

and I'm looking forward to suing the US Army for their violent, kill-oriented massively popular videogame America's Army. Get a grip.

This bill is utterly absurd, if people would stop trying to find scapegoats for their issues and actually try to address the issues at hand, like helping people who have violent tendencies, then issues like these would not exist. Million of people play these games, why do we not have million of murders? People who commit these violent acts have pre-existing issues and problems.

as making butcher knife and chainsaw manufacturers liable when users of their products use them for violence. Video games are for entertainment purposes, or in the case of the US Army, which sponsers one of the most violent video games around, Americas Army, are for "product placement". They are not designed to inflict any harm, other than the carpal tunnel that ensues after long times in front of the screen. Parents need to be held responsible to how their children derive entertainment, and the video game industry has helped by providing easy to understand codes, such as M for mature, to help parents pick out which games their children play. This is about personal responsibility, not passing the buck. In fact, I feel the need to sue you because I wasted 10 minutes this morning filling in this box instead of going to work.

I can remember a time tha when I stepped out of line my PARENTS stepped in and told me to stop and if it got worse the severity of involvement from the PARENTS got worse and I turned out very well, I play video games and have since I was a child but never felt the need to go run over a police officer because my PARENTS made it clear that the police are civil servants that uphold the law which every member of our society chooses to follow. To place the blame on video game makers would make as much sense as blaming makers of hammers for a smashed finger. This bill is pointless and attempts to point the finger at someone else when poor parenting is clearly to blame. Does the "M" rating not point out clearly that certain games are for people 17 and over? Besides if a person takes a video game so seriously that they attempt to emulate it in real life then the problem is not with the game makers but in the person himself....it's called being CRAZY. Please remove this bill from sight and burn it.

the same kind of people who use to blame Rock and Roll for juvenile delinquency and have now moved on to Rap and Video Games. This is almost as bad as the twinky defense.

As a teenager that plays plenty of video-games ranging from the 'Elmo's Number Adventure' to 'Doom 3' I think that this bill is idiotic. This bill says that 'Oh, I can be a bad parent. If my kid commits a violent crime I can blame video games and get off scot-free.' that is not right. It's like saying you can blame gun makers and chemical plants for the guns and bombs used in violent crimes. How many violent crimes have been commited not video game related? It comes down to the fact that there is more the violent behavior then just video games. Video games can also be very beneficial. The Army is now using video games as a means of training future solders. Video games increase hand-eye coordination. Some video games develop the ability to stratigize and plan ahead. All-in-all thanks for reading this semi-long post from a 17 year old boy. Also, to the person who is going to sue the Army for 'America's Army', why? Because it's violent and promotes killing? Heres's an idea, take the game out of your computer, walk to the trash, toss the CD in the trash. Simple solution.

http://www.komotv.com/stories/35503.htm

But an attempt to give lawyers a reason to sue game makers to support idiotic parents who don't know how to raise their children to respect others. "Honey, if we just get little Jimmy DOOM 3, we don't have to hire a babysitter ever again!" I've been a gamer since I was 15, and I'm 27 now. Haven't committed a crime in my life, and I love playing many games which these people would consider 'violent'. There should be legislation created to allow victims to sue parents of children who commit violent crimes. It is their duty to teach them morals after all. Doesn't Olympia have more pressing issues to deal with like a sizeable budget deficit?

I know that most of the population does not believe that video games kill, but yet people want to make them the cause. It can't be that we were bad parents, it can't be the violence that we see day to day, it must be the make-believe video games. This bill is outragous and if it were up to me I will be oppositioning it and i hope for all of us this will not become a law.

I started playing video games, as a young kid, back when pong was still popular. As soon as video game characters moved from looking like 1 block to looking like a blocky person, there were the parents and politicians complaining the video games cause violence. Now that characters look more realistic, I could see where this is coming from, but this is just the same old rhetoric from days past. The video game industry already has a ratings system. If parents were doing their jobs instead of letting kids manage themselves, maybe they would enforce what kids watch an play. I figure violence has less to do with what kids play but more with where and how they were brought up. You know what makes me want to cause violence? Stupid political figures making stupid laws. It's a good thing I have video games to let out that anger.

I doubt the bill will pass. Our House and Senate representatives are stupid and frightened sheep but they aren't crazy. Were they to pass such a ludicrous piece of legislation, the U.S. Army may be held accountable for putting out this little piece of propaganda: http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/woolley090803.html http://www.americasarmy.com/ Suppose a child who's played this game commits a violent crime? Will his lawyer be allowed to file suit against the Army for producing a specifically violent game? No way, José. Our Senators and Congressmen will not be responsible for allowing "Joe Mundane" to bring litigation against the armed forces for something this ambiguous.

Well, it's legal to sell or rent R rated movies where people are killed in all sorts of imaginative and messy ways. It's not illegal for kids to sneak into movie theaters to see said movies either. Why do we have these flaps anyway? Microsoft and Nintendo are both headquartered in Redmond. They provide the area with thousands of jobs, as well as thousands more due to developers and other companies that are in the area only to be close to MS and the big N. Thousands more service and retail jobs are related directly to these companies. Is the state trying to piss them off and make them do like Boeing did and move? It sure seems like it.

If you want to control video games that do REAL harm....why do you ALLOW video poker in the state? The financial losses of addicted gamblers and their families can be measured quite easily, unlike the PERCEIVED damages from violent video games. I suppose if you just TAXED the violent video games, that would make them O.K. Right?

It is the responsibility of the parent to make sure their kids are not spending time playing violent computer games when their kids could be outside playing sports or participating in some other kind of meaningful social interaction. It is the duty of the parents to make sure their kids are not building bombs in the garage. If you don't like a product NO ONE is bending your arm to buy it.

I'm seventeen years old, I have access to a Mosin-Nagant M44 carbine, and I play quite a few 'violent' games - I'm working on Red Faction right now (in which miners rise up against their corporate oppressors). I can send a bullet rocketing into someone's brain. I can detonate sticky bombs. This has no effect on my behavior outside of the game, and to suggest that it were anyone's fault but mine had I mirrored any of the game's actions is absurd. I feel that blame should be placed squarely on the individual responsible for the crime(s) in question, and, to an only slightly lesser degree, the parents. Parents - you are responsible for the behavior of your children and the content to which they are exposed. Many retailers, of their own free choice, card purchasers of M-rated games; although it is not yet law, California Assemblyman Yeyand Lee is reintroducing legislation to ban the sale of M-rated games to minors, at least in California. (http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=4381) I believe that parents should be held accountable for a child's actions if neglect can be proved; just as the Columbine parents did not notice a shotgun's barrel poking out of a duffel bag in their childrens' rooms, "90% of teenagers say that their parents never check the video game ratings before allowing them to rent or buy computer or video games." (http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/videogames/main.asp) It's time to stop blaming companies for bad parenting habits. This sort of thing has happened before: (http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=871302004) (http://xo.typepad.com/blog/2003/10/parents_sue_gta.html) ...and has been proven ineffective. Look at the ratings. Look at the screenshots on the game's box. Google the title to find the game's website and read up on it before a purchase. Keep any firearms you own secured in a state-approved gun safe with trigger locks on at all times, and ammunition stored separately. Do your part. Gord

This is another example of the fact that our society has devolved into a guiltless blame-game where no one has to take responsibility for their actions. Stupid people blaming McDonalds for giving them hot coffee, obese people blaming fast food chains for making them fat, parents blaming video games for making their kids violent... We have turned into a society where everyone just wants to point a finger and blame the easiest scapegoat instead of taking responsibility for their own choices. Stop the insanity!

What ever happened to paying for your actions? I understand that video games can inspire young adolescents, but what about the parents? What about teaching these kids some responsibility? Are we just going to continue down this current train of actions until it's ok to do whatever you want, so long as you have someone you can sue? If you want to limit the amount of violence in video games, start by cracking down on television, Hollywood, and the news! They spread, and "advertise" more violence than most video games can even begin to encapsulate.

Let’s make someone who the gamers have never met responsible for the actions of the gamers. People choose to do these things under their own free will. It would be like letting family members of fallen armed forces members sue the military service that the member served in. The member did this under their own free will and accepted the risks that go along with their decision. Gamers make these decisions the same way. They know the difference right and wrong and therefore they should be held accountable.

This is completely stupid, if you are going to try and pass something such as this, then why not do it for movies as well? The same kind of thing, if not worse, is shown in movies all the time. When will politicians learn that this kind of thing is completely idiotic. It is parents responsibilities to raise their children, not the government. Make parents take more responsibility for their kids instead of just putting them in front of the TV or a video game console and let it raise them.

So right..

Here are the real statistics: In 2004 video game sales totalled 2.9 billion dollars. (Source: http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/18/technology/gamesales/ ). Since most games are $50 each, that means at least 58,000,000 individual games were sold in 2004 in the United States alone. If violent games cause violent acts then there must be a veritable crime wave going on, right? Hmmm... Nope. Even though game sales are up 8 percent over 2003, violent crime is DOWN. http://crime.about.com/od/stats/a/fbi041214.htm "Of the four violent crimes (murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault), forcible rape was the only one to increase in volume, 1.4 percent, during this time frame. In volume, murder decreased 5.7 percent, robbery declined 5.0 percent, and aggravated assault decreased 0.9 percent. An examination of the data by population group for these two 6-month periods showed that collectively the Nation's largest cities (those with a million and over inhabitants) had the largest decline in overall violent crime, 4.8 percent, even though they showed a 6.5-percent increase in forcible rape." The last time I checked there weren't any video games that allowed for forcible rape so it would seem that Dickerson is trying to legislate away a problem that does not exist.

Does Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson live in the real world? What about a violent movie? Should the 'damaged' party be able to sue if they believe someone was influenced by a scene in a film? Let's have Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson sanitize the world to her liking then we can gather in a circle and sing 'We are the World' together.

"..then we can gather in a circle and sing 'We are the World' together." Doesn't Michael Jackson sing in that? It might encourage us to molest children...

I am a 40 yr old women that has been playing video games for over 30 years. I have a U of W business degree and very successful career. I play most the quote/unquote 'bad' games and I do not want to kill, hurt, act-out or perform any other acts of violence. I understand being responsible for my own actions and it is time for parents to do the same. I am sick of individuals looking for big law suit pay outs!!!

I know it's been said before in previous post but I have to say it again....no personal responsibility for anything. Everyone is a victim! Give me a break....

I must have missed that bill that banned all forms of violence against all things ,living, dead, undead, Hebrew, Yugo, Phsyco, and elected officials. How comes I can see the adult parents of small children fight like Bill O'Rielly and Limbaugh right infront of their children? Cops come no biggy. Kids are hurt, who cares, CHILDREN are MURDERED every single day!!! Who cares? I fuckin do! I read the story that the King County police had written up and they have said that MURDER is the #1 killer of kids in WASHINGTON.

Mary Lou Dickerson you are an idiot. This kind of nonsence wastes money, and time. It's people like you that cause the state budget to fall. Take your hand out of our pockets and spend wisely.

why is it that the politicians can't think of anything better to do then, point the finger at someone else. America is turning into a disgusting political correctness country. I think its time to fire some of these idiots in Washington

www.esrb.org I love how the bill skips right over the retail outlets that actually sell games to a minors. What good is having a rating system if no one follows it? It is enforced with other media and "adult only things" such as acohol and ciggeretts. When was the last time you saw a cleark hand a 9 year old a gallon of gallo or a pack of ciggeretts? Retailers need to be in that same mindset and apply the age retrictions. I am glad to see that local stores in my area most notibly Fred Meyer for checking ID for games. Even the self service checkstands pause and ask a person to show thier ID to a clerk when purchasing any "adult only things" including games. Steps like these need to be the front line of defense for these things and MUST be allowed to be put in place. I firmly beileve this bill would stunt those meusres. Yes there is a rating system it is called the ESRB www.esrb.org It is designed to keep content out of certain hands. But it does no good if people refuse to uses it, espcially the parents or clearks that let the kids have the games. Enforcing the ESRB as firmly as other. Let me put this simply for everyone, whoever wrote this bill was looking at one thing, DOLLAR SIGNS. Microsoft makes xbox and PC games, Microsoft has lots of money, Microsoft is in Washington state.