Bawbuster's Blog - 2old2play

Congressmans response

Here is the response I got from my congressman regarding the letter I sent him about video game sensorship/ government control............

August 23, 2007

Thank you for contacting me to express your concern about the regulation of video games. I appreciate hearing from you on this important matter, and I apologize for the delay in my reply.

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects many of America's most precious ideals: the freedoms of religion, expression, speech, press, assembly and petition. Having served in the military for over 31 years, I have a profound appreciation for our nation's constitution and the rights that it so justly protects. Now that I am a Congressman, I have sworn to continue to uphold these rights to the best of my ability - chief among them being the freedom of speech. Without the ability to freely speak their mind, citizens would not feel comfortable speaking out against those that govern them and government would no longer be accountable to the people.

As a Congressman, I have the difficult task of balancing First Amendment rights with other American priorities like security. For example, in 1919, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic." In this instance, public safety proves to take priority over a man's freedom of speech. Regarding the issue your letter addressed, my fellow Congressmen and I must weigh a minor's right to purchase violent video games without his/her guardian's permission against the negative effects violent images allegedly have on American youth.

There have been many court cases that have dealt with the issue of regulating video games. For example, in American Amusement Machine Association, et al., v. Teri Kendrick, et al. (2001), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that video game arcade owners do not have the right to limit access to mature games from minors who are not accompanied by an adult. The Court said that "children have First Amendment rights." Similarly, in Interactive Digital Software Association, et al. v. St. Louis County, Missouri, et al. (2003), the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals found that banning the selling or renting of violent video games to minors without parental consent is unconstitutional.

As a father, a citizen, and a community member, I am concerned about the lessons that violent images teach our youth. Your suggestion to "implement effective programs to educate parents about ESRB game ratings and parental control tools" can go a long way in curtailing the negative effects of violent images on children while protecting your First Amendment rights from invasive regulations. I will work hard to represent you in Congress and protect the First Amendment rights of all Americans.

Again, I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your views on this matter. If I can be of any additional assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me again. If you would like to receive regular updates on these and other Congressional issues, please visit my website at http://www.house.gov/sestak to sign up for my e-newsletter.

Sincerely,

Joe Sestak
Member of Congress

[3 Comments]

Some great games and people!!

The last few nights of playing GOW I've gotten in some Great matches with my clanmates and some non clanmates!! It seems like every match decision came down to the last round and usually 1 v 1. Its nice when you can hang with a great bunch of people and just have a shit load of laughs shootin the shit out of each other. Joining this site has really sucked me back into playing video games. There were some dark days of fightin of the Timmies and listning to a bunch of brats!! Which almost made me give up online gaming. But since joing the site and getting in the right clan I couldn't be more happy. I not only have a great time playing, I have made some great friends along the way, friends I never would of met if it wasn't for this site!!! .................... Thanks 2old2play!!!

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Video Game Voters Network

I know we all enjoy video games, obviously!! I realize everyone in this site is over 25 years old, so typically the laws that politicians are trying to pass do not pertain to us as a group. But as we've seen before with our government, you give them an inch they'll take a mile. So at first it might just be trying to protect our "innocent youth " from such violent games as GOW, HAlo, Bio SHock(which looks amazing) and the list goes on. But then the next step will be to limit content and then so on and so on. This has already happened in several other countries. The Gov wants to control the use of video games through regulation, which usually just makes the kids want the game even more. Do they really think they are going to stop kids from whinning enough to their parents or older siblings, so that they get the game they want??? ...........Doudtful!! What they need to do is educate parnets and kids about video games, so people have a better understanding of what video games are and what age group they are suitable for....... Education not Regulation!!!!

So if you want to help keep the GOV. from contolling video games, make sure you go to this website and send your congressperson a letter stating such.
http://www.videogamevoters.org/takeaction/ , also make sure you vote for people who are not on an anti video game crusade!!

Thanks Baw

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Hello

Well!! I thought I would finally take the blog plunge. Stay tuned for some great words of wisdom, just not sure where they are going to come from.

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