California game bill takes next step

A state bill that would restrict the sale of "violent and sexually explicit" games to minors has taken a step closer to becoming law today. Now that an assemblyman has added his vote to the committee tally, CA AB450 will move on to the California House of Representatives for a full vote on its ratification.

Earlier this week, GameSpot reported that CA AB450 had stalled in the 10-person California House Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media. Six "yes" votes are required to move a bill on to the House. A 5-4 vote taken earlier was not sufficient; however, the 10th and once-absent deciding vote belonging to Assemblyman Jerome Horton was not accounted for--until today. Horton agreed to alter his early abstention and cast his ballot in favor of the bill.

This California legislation was authored by Assemblyman Leland Yee, a Democrat and child psychologist from San Francisco. The bill proposes a fine of up to $1,000 for retailers found to have sold M-rated games to children under 17 years of age.

Yee first introduced this legislation last year and encountered some stiff opposition. This past February, however, he reintroduced a revised edition of the bill, and this is the form that was approved yesterday.

It is as yet unknown when CA AB450 will be voted on by the general assembly.