Supreme Court Seems Skeptical As Myriad Claims Gene Patents Should Exist, Because It Put A Lot Of Work Into Finding Them

New Jersey Lawmaker Proposes Legislation To Ban Games With Mature Content From Public Places

Overhype

from the waaaay-past-regular-stupid-and-into-scary-stupid dept

Tue, Apr 16th 2013 6:05am — Tim Cushing

Following on the heels of Connecticut state senator Toni Harp's bill to ban arcade games utilizing fake guns, comes this bit of amazingly bad (and of course, broadly written) proposed legislation seeking to "ban Mature-rated games in public places."

Ostensibly, the proposed bill is aimed at arcades, whether standalone operations or as part of the entertainment at restaurants, retail stores, etc. But the wording goes much deeper (and further astray) than simply banning M-rated arcade games. Before we get to the problems inherent in the proposed bill itself, let's take a quick look at one fatal flaw, as pointed out by GamePolitics.

Unfortunately for the Assemblywoman, her bill won't have any affect on games that might be found in public places because what she is referring to are arcade machines, which aren't rated by the ESRB. So banning a game with such a rating is much like banning blue unicorns - neither exists in reality.

There's that issue. Arcade games don't carry ratings. That's one strike against the legislation. But there's a lot more that's troublesome or stupid, and plenty of it is a good mix of both. NJ Assemblywoman Linda Stender has hit the jackpot, bad bill-wise, with this one. Her press release opens with a horrendously flawed assumption stated as fact and gets worse from there.

Noting the correlation between violent video games and violent behavior, Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D- Middlesex/Somerset/Union) today announced plans to introduce a bill that would prohibit video games containing mature and adult content in public places.

If Stender's going to state this as a fact, the least she could do is offer the name of a study or two backing up this claim. But she doesn't. She simply fires off the statement that she has "noted" a "correlation." Maybe she has, but she's not saying where she made this observation.

The next sentence tops this bit of conjecture-as-fact by throwing the First Amendment down like a doormat and announcing Stender's intention to walk all over it (with the "blessing" of other NJ officials).

The bill comes as a report from the New Jersey SAFE Task Force on Gun Protection, Addiction, released by the state Attorney General this week, listed the regulation of violent video games among its recommendations to mend the root causes of mass violence.

Regulation of violent video games isn't an option, according to the SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. But whatever, it's not as though most state legislators aren't itching for some federalist action, especially when it's their homegrown legislation on the line. Someone will find an angle and pursue it until shut down by higher courts. It's a shame this so-called "task force" didn't do its homework on video games and government regulation. I would imagine this isn't its only bad suggestion.

"Games that are meant for older, more mature audiences have no place in places where children can easily access them. Video games alone do not influence violent behavior, but they can play a role. Some of the most prolific mass shootings not just in this country, but in the world had links to violent video games," said Stender. "The longer a child is exposed to video games where killing is the sole objective, the greater the chance that he or she will become numb to this type of behavior and even consider it acceptable. This bill would ensure that video games with graphic adult content would not be available to children who are not old enough to make a distinction between fantasy and reality."

If by "links," she means "owned/played video games," then she's somewhat correct. If she actually means "links," then she's right back where she started the press release -- in serious need of actual evidence. As for what exactly the bill will "ensure," that's up for debate.

One thing is sure: the bill will rake in some cash for the state. Stender's bill would "prohibit operators of a place of public accommodation from making video games with an ESRB rating of Mature or Adults Only available for use by the public." Any violations would be punishable with a $10,000 fine (for the first offense -- up to $20,000 for any subsequent offenses) under the Consumer Fraud Act. That's a pretty steep fine for something as vague as making certain games "available." (The vagueness increases exponentially with the long list of "places of public accommodation." More on that in a moment.)

That's not the only monetary punishment, though. At the Attorney General's discretion, punitive damages can also be assessed and "treble damages and costs" awarded to the "injured" party. Nice little twist, that last part. This makes playing certain video games while underage potentially profitable.

Now, the part that's most disturbing about this proposal is the "place of public accommodation" list, which is far too long and far too inclusive.

For the purposes of this bill, "place of public accommodation" means any inn, tavern, roadhouse, hotel, motel, trailer camp, summer camp, day camp, or resort camp, whether for entertainment of transient guests or accommodation of those seeking health, recreation or rest; any producer, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, retail shop, store, establishment, or concession dealing with goods or services of any kind; any restaurant, eating house, or place where food is sold for consumption on the premises; any place maintained for the sale of ice cream, ice and fruit preparations or their derivatives, soda water or confections, or where any beverages of any kind are retailed for consumption on the premises; any garage, any public conveyance operated on land or water, or in the air, any stations and terminals thereof; any bathhouse, boardwalk, or seashore accommodation; any auditorium, meeting place, or hall; any theatre, motion-picture house, music hall, roof garden, skating rink, swimming pool, amusement and recreation park, fair, bowling alley, gymnasium, shooting gallery, billiard and pool parlor, or other place of amusement; any comfort station; any dispensary, clinic or hospital; any public library; any kindergarten, primary and secondary school, trade or business school, high school, academy, college and university, or any educational institution under the supervision of the State Board of Education, or the Commissioner of Education of New Jersey.

Stender is overstepping her bounds and seeking to regulate the actions of private entities by casting an impossibly wide net. "Taverns" and "roadhouses" aren't normally associated with drawing crowds of children, but now they'll have to worry about what sorts of games they have available in their establishments, just in case. Normally, they cater to adults but now they have to treat their entertainment as "appropriate for all ages." Again, the games on hand at these locations (including tabletop touchscreen game systems featuring a wide selection of titles) would not be rated by the ESRB, but would still likely be subject to Stender's law. (And don't forget that bars/taverns/roadhouses would fall under "where any beverages of any kind are retailed for consumption on the premises" wording as well.)

"Any retail establishment" dealing with "goods or services of any kind?" That covers a whole lot of ground. This could conceivably cover adult-oriented businesses like smoke shops, liquor stores and adult bookstores. Should they be required to clean up their selection of "available" games just in case?

What about your normal retailers, like Wal-Mart or Gamestop? If they aren't keeping mature titles under lock and key, are they making these games "available?" (Never mind the fact that 87% of the time, minors are unable to purchase M-rated games from retailers.) Or does this refer to what's loaded in demo stations? Or are we still pretending this targets in-store arcades only?

"Summer camps, day camps, resort camps" -- are these entities responsible for any games their guests bring in and "make available" for anyone to play? The camps may provide nothing but E-rated games but anything involving the public makes this a risky situation. Is there some form of IRL Section 230 that can protect businesses from the actions of their guests, like a camper setting up a console and a selection of M-rated games for other campers to enjoy? Or does this responsibility fall on the operators, forcing them to police the "content" of their campsites in order to avoid paying hefty fines?

"Any public library?" Really? If a minor uses a publicly accessible computer to access M-rated games, the library is at fault?

"[A]ny kindergarten, primary and secondary school, trade or business school, high school, academy, college and university?" This list starts where children are reasonably expected to be the majority and not exposed to "adult-oriented" entertainment, but it quickly goes off the rails and includes establishments where adults are the majority, if not 100% of the attendees.

GamePolitics suggests Stender's proposed law is aimed at arcade games, but nothing in this press release indicates it's limited to only those. The "places of public accommodation" language suggests arcade games, but there's nothing in here strictly defining the platform. The word "arcade" is never used.

It doesn't even seem to be limited to preventing children from "accessing" prohibited games. Her exact wording is: "prohibit video games containing mature and adult content in public places." She also throws in "access" and "available," but the broad wording and long list of "public places" suggests her ideal ban would prevent offending games from ever leaving people's homes -- about the only location the list doesn't name.

This is a bill Stender plans to introduce, so it's likely to be more narrowly defined before it's opened up for debate. The large chunk of "public place" language feels borrowed from somewhere else, but if that's what she's actually intending to target, this proposal is very worrying. She's clearly made her mind up about the negative effects of video games and it looks as if the Attorney General's task force is willing to ride shotgun (so to speak...).

There will be some people who will wonder why anyone would care what a plans a NJ assemblywoman may have for video game regulation. The problem is this: politicians have to start somewhere. Some fall off the lower rungs while others keep climbing. Either way, they tend to keep their head full of bad ideas with them. At some point, they're in the big leagues, able to do real damage.

Stender's proposal is a wreck -- an all-encompassing dragnet built out of baseless suppositions. It creates perverse incentives for the enforcers and ignores the Supreme Court's decision on the regulation of video games. This should never have made it as far as an internal dialog, much less a press release. If someone's aiming to top the list of Bad Video Game Legislation, they've got their work cut out for them.

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Filed Under: first amendment, free speech, legislation, linda stender, new jersey, video games

62 Comments

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Ninja (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 5:19am

Old woman yells at the cloud...

Cloud is unimpressed.
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out_of_the_blue, 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:23am

Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
This isn't important. Stop worrying about your "mature" pornz and violent video games being suppressed, there'll still be plenty around even if society suddenly tried to Prohibit all.

By the way, my clone army is building again: look for "out_of_tha_blue", created just yesterday afternoon. I'm not only the most commented-at, but the most copied.

Take a loopy tour of Techdirt.com! You always end up same place!
http://techdirt.com/
A "safe haven" for pirates. Weenies welcome. Vulgarity cheered.
02:23:02[c-530-2]
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droozilla (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:28am

And what next?
How about a law banning any movie above PG from being shown in public? Certainly we have to apply this same bias, after all, media is media, right? And we can't have kids watching graphic scenes of sex, violence, drug use, and the worst of them all, foul language! And of course by 'in public', I mean anywhere there's a possible screen (tv, movie theater, or maybe even a large wall that someone could potentially set up a projector near), that has any more than one person within 200 yards of it.

In fact, just to be on the safe side, let's ban TVs, movie theaters, video rental stores (if they still exist), electronics stores, shopping malls, and of course... walls.

According to this assemblywoman's logic, this makes PERFECT sense! I say we push for this at a federal, nay, global level, just to be safe.

Think of the children.
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Alex Heartnet (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:30am

"Stender's bill would "prohibit operators of a place of public accommodation from making video games with an ESRB rating of Mature or Adults Only available for use by the public."

So if the ESRB were to stop using the M and AO labels and replace it with PEGI's equivalent labeling system, the entire law would be moot?
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:37am

What's really funny about Walmart is that they already keep all their console video games under lock and key and generally will already not sell mature rated video games to anyone under the age of 18 without the accompaniment of an adult. It's store policy.

This makes me wonder if Linda Stender ever had spent any time playing a lightgun arcade game....you know the type where you're the good guy stopping a terrorist using a sniper rifle while riding a helicopter...any of the Crisis arcade games...or anything where you actually get penalized for killing innocent civilians....Then again it's an aging stateswoman from Jersy who has been known to try to ban books that don't agree with her views.

For those who don't know, Stender is the type extremely liberal left Democrat that all the other left wing parties loathe. Her proposals are only meant to fit her own agenda and to get votes by keeping her voters happy within their beliefs, but totally trouncing on those beliefs through her actions. Some would say that this is every politician, but not every one calls for a ban on a book that criticizes the political views of said politicians.
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:40am

Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
"By the way, my clone army is building again: look for "out_of_tha_blue", created just yesterday afternoon. I'm not only the most commented-at, but the most copied."

And you call those of us at Techdirt loopy...
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Zakida Paul (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:41am

Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
Pro-immorality? You really do get dumber every day.

That's all.
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:49am

Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
"I'm not only the most commented-at, but the most copied."

Two things.

1. Those of us responding to you are generally A) Tired of you; B) Trying desperately to help you; C) (only if you have actually said something relavent outside of "Mike's a pirate," or "Techdirt is loopy") we will be happy to debate with you as long as you don't act childish as you are now; or D) All of the above.

2. Those copying you are only mocking you as you mock Mike Nansick's articles and generally making a total ass of yourself....either that or they are trying to help you by making you look intelligent (which is extremely unlikely it will ever look that way).
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Akari Mizunashi (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:50am

Today, while eating at McD's, a manager asked me if I was enjoying my meal. I said, "Yep, it's good. Nothing beats a nice relaxing meal after hours of fighting Deathclaws in Fallout 3."

So, does this mean legislation is going to punish me for linking violent video games to eating fast food?

Best be careful what I say. Mayor Bloomberg may read this site and get another wonderful "idea" for New Yorkers, and I'd hate to feel their wrath for making the suggestion.
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Jeremy Lyman (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:50am

Write what you mean
Is there some type of Continuing Education Class that lawmakers could take to better understand the differences between what they intend and what they actually write? I'd suggest some kind of introductory programming class if I didn't think it'd be written off as confounding 'cyber' babble.

Instructor: "See, right there in that line you assigned this value to all the variables. Is that what you meant to do? Maybe you should think about how to complete this function without breaking 3 other ones."

I'd be really interested to see some runtime debugging on proposed legislation, maybe understand the ramifications before rolling it into production. Something tells me that most bills wouldn't pass a preliminary syntax and type-check.
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PaulT (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:52am

Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
So, you're pro-censorship for any reason, even without any evidence to support the claimed reasons for it? Even when the supposed reasons are a blatant lie? What a surprise. Yet, you're the first one to bleat about censorship when your own idiocy is hidden from view...
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:53am

I wonder how much different things would be if the Newtown shooter was in jail right now awaiting his trial and sentencing. If he had not offed himself. I'll bet all the news and attention would still be on him like it is the "Batman" killer. Since the Newtown killer is dead, the news and the politicians can't focus on him and need a new scapegoat to score their brownie (election) points so it becomes a war on the Constitution to save face, and the game of "protect the children" to try to avoid any morality argument.
Everything that has been proposed has been an attack on our Constitution but would not EVER prevent the same thing from happening again, no matter how much they shout it out.
As we saw yesterday, all the laws in the world do not stop bad things from happening, and they never will.
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out_of_the_fuckwit, 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:53am

Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
Bad laws with sweeping consequences don't matter?

Just think about how much this plays into the hands of Big Search. With retailers too afraid to even show demos, let alone sell their games, everyone will go online to play School Shooting Trainer 2014.

Big Search will then use this massive boom in ad revenue to fund an army or something.
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PaulT (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:54am

Re: Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
He complains about being copied, yet he refuses to take the most simple steps to ensure that his "identity" is protected. No wonder he loves the **AA positions so much, he acts just like them!
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:55am

Re: And what next?
In Stender's case, she would want to ban anything that shows a gun being used regardless of what rating....in movies that covers a few G-Rated Disney movies. In video games...that covers Duckhunt, Wild Gunmen, any shooting gallery that resembles the use of guns, Ikira Wars (aka Rambo in Japanese arcades), any and all shmups (Gradious anyone?) etc....
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:56am

What I want to know is why do they jump to trying to ban video games when there is gun violence? The person using the tool of a gun to kill someone is the problem not a videogame.
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PaulT (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 6:59am

Re:
I'd suspect that, like most people who call for these kinds of bans, she has never played a videogame, let alone looked into independent valid studies as to what the links might actually be with real-life violence. It's yet another "for the children" proposal with no real insight into anything that's really happening.

Oh, and don't inject political partisan bullshit into this. She's proposing a stupid bill for self-promotional reasons that will have no effect on the real causes of the issues she's supposedly fighting. No part of the political spectrum is free from this crap, sadly.
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:02am

Re: Write what you mean
"Is there some type of Continuing Education Class that lawmakers could take to better understand the differences between what they intend and what they actually write? I'd suggest some kind of introductory programming class if I didn't think it'd be written off as confounding 'cyber' babble."

Unfortunately in Stender's case...she understands technology....she's letting her political beliefs and bias get in the way because it makes her voters/sheep happy. I love Democrats...but I don't like the type willing to be stupid just to fill out their own political agenda by violating our constitutional rights.
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Rikuo (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:04am

Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
Bark, bark, bark, bark!

That's all I can see. *Rolls up a newspaper, smacks his nose*

Bad, blue! Bad! Now lie down! If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. You're not to open your trap when in the presence of your betters!

You want to be treated like a yappy bitch dog, then continue acting like one.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:08am

BREAKING NEWS
100% of all Mass Murders linked to mothers...

yes it's sad but undisputed fact that all those responsible for committing mass killings have been born and sometimes even raised by "Mothers"..... (with the exception of that one guy who was conceived in a test tube and raised by malevolent robots, but what did we expect to happen in this situation?)

Due to these undisputed facts, that only reasonable solution is to ban "Mothering", I propose a $100,000 fine for the first offense of becoming a mother, and quadruple damages for repeat offenders (even those who dare to have twins...)

It's the only sane and rational solution to entirely eliminate these mass killing sprees... No Mothers = No Mass Killers...
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:14am

Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
Can people stop feeding this troll?

This comment is so divorced from reality that is has become impossible to verify the writer of these comments exist in reality.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:15am

Re: Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
He actually thinks it's positive publicity. It's like kicking in the face of a retarded puppy.
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:22am

Re: Re:
"Oh, and don't inject political partisan bullshit into this. She's proposing a stupid bill for self-promotional reasons that will have no effect on the real causes of the issues she's supposedly fighting. No part of the political spectrum is free from this crap, sadly."

Note I said extreme liberal left Democrat politicians....of whom I only implied that the politicians of that section of the DNC are extremely hypocritical. I know a few people who actually believe in the ideas of liberalism personally and none of them try to trounce on others beliefs...nor did they call for a ban on all semiautomatic guns and quite enjoyed playing M-rated games in their youth.

Stender will only do these things for self promotion. You may cite this shit for the extreme right and their politicians...but at least you know exactly that most of the extreme right are saying what they are meaning and truly believing in stead of trying to change the nation's views on a subject they hardly know about. Was (presented by Rep. Lamar Smith) SOPA an attempt to call for change to change the view of the nation about how "evil" the use
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out_of_the_blue, 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:27am

Re: Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
*derps* Nope...and it's only because they love me...Mike's a pirate!! Mike's a pirate!! Mike's a pirate!! Techdirt is loopy Techdirt!!
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:31am

Re: Re:
*****************

"Oh, and don't inject political partisan bullshit into this. She's proposing a stupid bill for self-promotional reasons that will have no effect on the real causes of the issues she's supposedly fighting. No part of the political spectrum is free from this crap, sadly."

Note I said extreme liberal left Democrat politicians....of whom I only implied that the politicians of that section of the DNC are extremely hypocritical. I know a few people who actually believe in the ideas of liberalism personally and none of them try to trounce on others beliefs...nor did they call for a ban on all semiautomatic guns and quite enjoyed playing M-rated games in their youth.

Stender will only do these things for self promotion. You may cite this shit for the extreme right and their politicians...but at least you know exactly that most of the extreme right are saying what they are meaning and truly believing in stead of trying to change the nation's views on a subject they hardly know about. Was (presented by Rep. Lamar Smith) SOPA an attempt to call for change to change the view of the
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Alex Heartnet (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:32am

Re:
New forms of media have historically been blamed for society's woes. These type of concerns go all the way back to the self-playing piano, which some said would put musicians out of work.

Video Games happens to be the newest form of media, and has been for a while now.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:36am

Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
"Stop worrying about your "mature" pornz and violent video games being suppressed, there'll still be plenty around even if society suddenly tried to Prohibit all."

What "pornz", boy?
Looks like you have some DEEP fixations.
What's it like to keyboard with one hand?
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Michael, 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:39am

New Business Model
I'm pretty sure that if I bring my son into any store while he is carrying a Nintendo DS with an M-Rated game in it, I will be able to sue the store for damages.

If Prenda Law is available, I think they may be on-board with this plan.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:40am

Re: Re: Re:
Stender follows the same "video games cause killers" trope the NRA and most Republican wingnuts adhere to.
Stupidity crosses party boundaries.
Maybe she's trying to grab Republican votes?
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:47am

Nothing pisses me off more than people claiming that virtual violence is effective at desensitizing people to real violence. I play tons of violent games and always have - I've blown people's heads off in Fallout 3, I've ripped spines out in Mortal Kombat, and I've stabbed people in the back in Black Ops, and do you know what? Seeing the images from Boston still almost made me throw up. A few months ago I saw a minor car wreck happen and someone got mildly injured - I had nightmares about it for a week.

Real violence is real violence. It's horrific, it's awful, and it makes the world a worse place. Virtual violence is nowhere near the same level, and it is insulting and disrespectful to claim that it is.
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Trails (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:47am

I hearby ban the horse and buggy!
Really? Arcade games? When's the last time you saw people playing arcade games? I thought that industry was dying. She'd have about as much effect on violence if she banned jousting.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:48am

why is it that these various heads of law enforcement and members of Congress etc can always come up with the most unrealistic, the most ridiculous and impossible bill that they want implemented, but can never come up with a single idea that will be of use to anyone at all? they must be exhausted at the end of each day as it must be spent finding new ways to skirt round their real responsibilities, avoiding doing anything useful and constructive!
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:49am

Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
You are ill. I'm serious - you clearly have obsessive compulsive issues. Please find help.
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apauld (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 7:53am

Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
"my clone army is building again"

How proud you must be as the king of the tard army, in a few years the short bus might be full.
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PaulT (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 8:10am

Re:
Real solutions are hard, and boring. Nobody can make a name for themselves by offering realistic solutions to problems of crime, poverty, education, abuse and all the other factors that create these problems in real life. These are battles that have been fought for hundreds of years and effects of new ways to battle them may not be seen for a generation.

But, come up with headline-grabbing half-baked idea that makes it look like you're doing something radical - preferably couching in "for the children" language that is difficult to fight without looking like you're somehow "against the children"? Even if it not only does nothing but also perhaps counter-productive (easily overturned on constitutional grounds, or otherwise wastes much needed resources on pointless garbage)? Who cares as long as you make a name for yourself and win re-election/promotion?

That's why.
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Gwiz (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 8:10am

Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
I'm not only the most commented-at...

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong you delusional moron.

You are the most corrected commenter because of all bullshit you attempt to pass off as facts.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2013 @ 8:26am

Re: I hearby ban the horse and buggy!
I get what you're saying, but arcade games are having a minor resurgence due to adult arcades like Dave and Busters.

Pinball, now THERE's a dying breed - that fancy new Metallica table notwithstanding.
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nasch (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 8:39am

Re: Re: Re:
at least you know exactly that most of the extreme right are saying what they are meaning and truly believing in stead of trying to change the nation's views on a subject they hardly know about.

Now that's funny!
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Bengie, 16 Apr 2013 @ 9:01am

Sceince
Can we just pass a law that requires all new ordinances/laws/bills to be backed up by peer-reviewed scientific research where the majority of scientists agree?
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JarHead, 16 Apr 2013 @ 9:11am

Re:
I'm sure that very good plan/idea/bill came to the table every once awhile. Problem is, if that plan/idea/bill gets implemented, there are many toes will be stepped upon, and the author will get "warnings" against it. Sadly, the fact is, even if the author of such plan/idea/bill martyred him/herself to get it implemented against all that "warnings", all we ever know about him/her is that s/he's a raving lunatic trying to blow up the planet for some nefarious purpose. That's the power of the corporate media and all that "imaging".
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 9:11am

Re: Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
I do think he is the most commented at...for good or bad he still generates a lot of comments from being as dumb as he is ;-) Too bad he says nothing entirely relavent though...
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 9:13am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
The point is they at least stick to their beliefs... Stender's type doesn't.. ;-)
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 9:13am

Re: Re: Re:
************

"Oh, and don't inject political partisan bullshit into this. She's proposing a stupid bill for self-promotional reasons that will have no effect on the real causes of the issues she's supposedly fighting. No part of the political spectrum is free from this crap, sadly."

Note I said extreme liberal left Democrat politicians....of whom I only implied that the politicians of that section of the DNC are extremely hypocritical. I know a few people who actually believe in the ideas of liberalism personally and none of them try to trounce on others beliefs...nor did they call for a ban on all semiautomatic guns and quite enjoyed playing M-rated games in their youth.

Stender will only do these things for self promotion. You may cite this shit for the extreme right and their politicians...but at least you know exactly that most of the extreme right are saying what they are meaning and truly believing in stead of trying to change the nation's views on a subject they hardly know about. Was (presented by Rep. Lamar Smith) SOPA an attempt to call for change to change the view of the nation about how "evil" the use of BitTorrent is??? Nope.

On the other hand, we have people actually calling for outright bans on things they don't understand at all with no interest groups but their own selves and their emotions. As a psychologist I can tell you that the mistrust that Stender's group represent is far greater than those of her politically opposite constituents. This is because they try to focus on one group's beliefs (namely their own....note this is about beliefs, not about lobbying handouts and kickbacks) while they are willing to trample on everyone else's rights in the process. This makes certain groups on both sides less trustworthy, but I've seen it more in the DNC in the past 5 or so years than any other time.
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JarHead, 16 Apr 2013 @ 9:32am

Re: Sceince
Don't you know that science is the work of the devil designed to deceive mankind from the righteous path of the Lord? Only a few chosen ones are infiltrating this demonic institution trying to fight from within and bring the word of the Lord to the heathens.

This Assemblywoman, Linda Stender, is surely one of the Lord's warrior fighting the good fight. I am very sure that before long, the Lord's allies inside Satan's own institution, the so called "scientific establishment", will back her up, supplying "empirical data" the heathens demanded cos that's the only way they see the errors of their sinful lives. For the rest of us stout believer of the Lord, no "data" is necessary, cos our faith is unwavering.
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RyanNerd (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 9:32am

Don't feed the trolls
Especially the blue ones.
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nasch (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 10:08am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
The point is they at least stick to their beliefs.

Except for all the social conservatives who get caught cheating on their wives and being gay and driving drunk, yeah, most of them stick to their beliefs. Oh also for the ones who don't get caught.
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Gwiz (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 10:17am

Re:
... Mayor Bloomberg ...

I think you misspelled "Nanny".
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Gwiz (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 10:36am

Re: Re: Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
I do think he is the most commented at...

I just don't think "comment at" is really correct. He isn't being "commented at", he is being refuted, disputed and admonished for the most part.

The principles of Free Speech means Blue is allowed to spout his bullshit to his little heart's content. But it also means that any ignorant and incorrect speech can be countered with more speech.

Anyone reading this blog can determine for themselves that Blue is full of shit simply by reading his comments filled with supposed "facts" that he doesn't defend when anyone calls him on them.
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That One Guy (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 11:08am

Re: Re: Write what you mean
You missed a word.

'I love Democrats/Republicans...but I don't like the type willing to be stupid just to fill out their own political agenda by violating our constitutional rights.'

Acting like this is a problem with the democrats, or republicans, is ignoring that it's a problem both parties share quite equally, and just continues the foolish 'us vs. them' crap that allows the parties to shift the blame around without it landing on either(or both as it usually should).
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Gwiz (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 11:18am

Re: Re:
New forms of media have historically been blamed for society's woes. These type of concerns go all the way back to the self-playing piano, which some said would put musicians out of work.

Makes me wonder if the parents of our prehistoric ancestors were worried about all ill effects from the graffiti their teenagers drew all over the cave walls.
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btr1701 (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 12:24pm

Ratings
If I were in the videogame business, sounds like it'd be time to drop the ratings altogether.

Since most of these idiotic laws relay on those ratings-- which aren't required by law and *can't* be, per the Supreme Court-- I'd just opt out of the rating system altogether.
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 12:32pm

Re: Re: Re: Write what you mean
In my view it is the ones that speak the loudest and for the rights of single groups rather than all that are the problem.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2013 @ 12:34pm

Due to the correlation between politicians and bad laws, we should seek to immediately pass a bill that bans politicians from passing bills.
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 12:50pm

Re: Re: Re: Another Techdirt pro-immorality panic.
This wasn't Blue...why would he bash himself?
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 12:56pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
You mean the social conversations where some people tend to trample on others' rights? I don't see how it was a choice for the Catholic church to not pay for abortions through Obama Care with the taxes they have to pay when they do not believe in abortions. Isn't that a religious freedom to be Catholic? Oh yes...all the liberals cried foul about women's choice when they were willing to make the Catholic Church fund something they did not believe in through taxes....yeah I'm sorry but that is definitely calling the kettle black.
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nasch (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 1:21pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Sorry Wally, I read this twice and I have no idea what you're saying. It's possible you misread my criticism of some conservatives as blanket approval of everything liberals do, which would of course be a logical fallacy. I'm not really sure though, because I don't understand what point you're trying to make.
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Wally (profile), 16 Apr 2013 @ 1:26pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Ugh...yeah sorry about that...I understand that really, both sides do it...but one side is a lot more visible than the other.

In my view it is the ones that speak the loudest and for the rights of single groups rather than all that are the problem.
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Another stupid cunt, 16 Apr 2013 @ 2:47pm

Another stupid cunt
Connecticut state senator Toni Harp. Another waste of space, not to mention being an idiot and stupid cunt. Meanwhile, America goes down the tubes. Good job fuckwad.
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Bergman (profile), 17 Apr 2013 @ 4:04am

Re: And what next?
If I were to leave a rack of rated-M games in the legislator's offices labeled "free samples", would she be liable for a $10,000 fine under her own law?
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Bergman (profile), 17 Apr 2013 @ 4:06am

Re: BREAKING NEWS
Don't forget, 100% of those mass murderers have also been linked to oxygen consumption, water consumption and use of public roads.
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Bergman (profile), 17 Apr 2013 @ 4:07am

Re:
I seem to recall reading about a study a few years back that found that gamers as a demographic group have drastically reduced rates of violent crime when compared to the general population.

Anybody got a copy they could forward to the NJ legislature?
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Bergman (profile), 17 Apr 2013 @ 4:09am

Re: I hearby ban the horse and buggy!
Given the absolute CRAP that was Fable: The Journey, I'd be in favor of banning horses and buggies.
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