The U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments regarding a proposed law that would prohibit the sale of "excessively violent" video games to minors in the state of California today, November 2.
Much of the issue surrounds how video games are sold at retail. Currently, video games in North America are self-regulated using the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) scale that assigns a recommended age rating that retailers, such as GameStop, adhere to.
In 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that opposed the sale of violent games to minors and would fine retailers up to $1,000 for each violation. The law, however, was declared unconstitutional by a federal appeals court and was blocked.
However, in April 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the decision, marking the first time a video game case has gone before the Supreme Court.
The Electronic Software Association, a U.S. trade group representing video game publishers and developers, will argue that the ESRB rating system is completely acceptable, and that video games should remain protected under First Amendment rights similar to movies, books, and music.
San Francisco democratic state senator Leland Yee, who originally wrote and proposed the bill, and Calif. Attorney General Jerry Brown argue the ban is constitutional, and that the ESRB ratings system is not acceptable. He believes the current system is simply not specific enough for today's complex video games.
Since the news of the court decision to review the law, many supporters and detractors have come forward.
In July, 11 U.S. states came forward to offer support of the law and submitted their own amicus briefs -- a written argument filed by a third party -- to be heard by the court. The states include: Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia.
Meanwhile, in September, the ESA announced over 180 elected officials, medical/science researchers, First Amendment experts, and groups such as The National Association of Broadcasters have submitted briefs of their own to urge the court to strike down the bill. Some of the game's industry major publishers have also come forward offering their opposition for the bill, such as Activision.
"The argument that video games present some kind of new ominous threat that requires a wholesale reassessment of one of our nation's most treasured freedoms and to take that freedom away indiscriminately from an entire group of our population based on nothing but age is beyond absurd,' Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick stated.
The U.S. Supreme Court will not make a ruling tomorrow after the hearings. The court will then have until June 2011 to make its decision. The ESA will be holding a conference call tomorrow afternoon to discuss what went on at the hearing.
IGN will have a full report on tomorrow's proceedings.
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