In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that Video Games are protected under the First Ammendment. The ruling reads, "Cali-fornia’s Act does not adjust the boundaries of an existing category of unprotected speech to ensure that a definition designed for adults isnot uncritically applied to children. Instead, the State wishes to cre-ate a wholly new category of content-based regulation that is permis-sible only for speech directed at children. That is unprecedented and
mistaken. This country has no tradition of specially restricting chil-dren’s access to depictions of violence. And California’s claim that “interactive” video games present special problems, in that the player participates in the violent action on screen and determines its out-come, is unpersuasive."
Last year, the Supreme Court heard arguments on both sides in BROWN v. EMA, a case that reviewed whether or not the controversial "Video Games Ban" law enacted in California was constitutional or not. The EMA, ESRB and other agencies have been contacted for comment. More information as news is made available.
The ruling can be read here.
