Doug Lowenstein, president of the Electronic Software Association (ESA), will leave his post as president in early 2007, according to an executive at an ESA member organization. According to the source, ESA members were informed of the news late last week. A public announcement was to have been made this week, but will not surface until after the weekend. Lowenstein leaves an organization still reeling from the decision to radically downsize the group's marquee event, the annual E3 Expo trade show.
According to various sources, Lowenstein has accepted a position with a still-forming trade organization that would represent a consortium of investment community firms. Lowenstein is expected to remain with the ESA through at least February 2007. As of press time, ESA reps could not be reached to confirm the news, nor had IDG staff returned e-mails asking to comment on how this might effect the upcoming E3 Media Festival.
Lowenstein founded the ESA precursor, the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), in April 1994. The IDSA was renamed Electronic Software Association in 2003, though its mission remains the same--to represent the North American game industry on Capitol Hill, advocate for strong antipiracy legislation worldwide, and support the ESA-created Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the nonprofit group that rates games with content descriptors.
Oh well, it`s not like it`s gonna hurt the gaming industry, right?
Quote: Israels_Son I hope they can get someone with comparable or more testicular fortitude. The industry needs someone who can drop the hammer on jerks like Jack Thompson and Joe "I won't take a stand against real violence, just fake violence" Lieberman and not break a sweat doing it. Well said buddy, there are still psychos like Jack, Joe, and Hillary on the loose looking intently on slaughtering the 1st Amendment and hell bent on making all of our lives miserable.
I hope they can get someone with comparable or more testicular fortitude. The industry needs someone who can drop the hammer on jerks like Jack Thompson and Joe "I won't take a stand against real violence, just fake violence" Lieberman and not break a sweat doing it.
how is that shameful im just pointing out the obvious
Wow, just wow. You read the story and all you see is his last name? Shameful. I'm not Jewish, by the way.
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That sucks, Lowenstein was a great guy who stood up to enemies of the 1st Amendment.
Not many knew exactly what he did or even heard of him..in fact I'm one of those people, but after reading this I can say that you will be missed Doug. Hopefully your successor will be able to achieve as much as you did.
Quote: Erinaceus1991 "All I can say is...thank you and good luck, Doug." Agreed.
Hopefully the next guy will have the guts to fight for gaming legitimacy in the media and not just in the courts.
All I can say is...thank you and good luck, Doug.
You all KNOW Jack Thompson is jumping off his walls right now. He was on the news the other day blabbing about his fanatical Puritan views and filling my parents heads with garbage, sadly his brainwashing got the best of them. Anyone got any videos they know of where Jack makes an absolute fool of himself? I want to show my parents how bad this guy really is and make sure his brainwashing never affects them again.
lowenbrau
Who will be the new president?
ComputerNDogs, He didn't lose his job because E3 is downsized. E3 was out of control. All the big publishers weren't seeing enough of a return to justify the ridiculous investment required to garner attention there.
He was a good man. I hope we get someone who will aggressively fight against moralist blowhards like Jackass Thompson like he did.
Well, I hope Jack didnt get to him... If Pat Vance leaves ESRB too, then I'll be worried.
It's about time. He might lost his job because because of reducing E3 .
I hope this doesn`t affect the game industry in a bad sense.
More Corporate babble.
He stays or he leaves,doesnt matter anymore...coz the fact remains..E3 has been downsized
Oh poo.
Oh no, Thompson finally got to Lowenstein!. . . Heh. . .That sure sounds funny, but I bet dollars to donuts Jack believes he had something to do with this. In all seriousness, though, the man's already done enough and other than the industry's marquee trade show, the whole shebang's in a nice spot for someone else to take up the helm. Now if Patricia Vance stepped out of the ESRB. . .then I'd be sweating.
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aw tahts sad news...he did good for gaming
It doesn't bode well for the next E3, but maybe I'll be wrong. I hope the changes don't end up totally ruining that conference on all fronts.
He fought the good fight against the enemies of freedom, Ave Lowenstein, lusuri te salutamus.
i guess he was tired of the games and its problems which have arisen over the past year
I think he screwed up on the whole E3 thing but other than that he helped video gamers through alot. He faced up against Thompson, Clinton, Lieberman and a whole slew of ambulance chasers. But seeing him go has divided me into two.... one side wants him to stay since he's a great guy campaigning for equal treatment for video games and so on. But the other is glad to see him go after the downsizing of E3...but one mistake doesn't destroy a great man it just makes him somewhat less popular. But Lowenstein was an excellent leader I don't think anyone can replace him.
well this sucks, he was a great guy, i hope we get someone who is competent to defend the gaming industry on Capital hill like lowenstein
lowensteins awesome
lowensteins a good guy. hs also my friends uncle
This guy is a heavy hitter. Leaving for greener pastures methinks.
"Lowenstein founded the ESA precursor, the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), in April 1994. The IDSA was renamed Electronic Software Association in 1993 [...]" He also pioneered time travel, apparantly =D
aww i like that guy he did alot for the industry
someone might wanna fix the mistake "the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), in April 1994. The IDSA was renamed Electronic Software Association in 1993" anyways sad to see him go but hopefully someone good will replace him and continue the fight
Hm, I managed to mistake ESA for the ESRB.. ..Bah, I don't care either way. Maybe I would if I were American, but..
He will be missed. Lowenstein's contribution to the success of E3 was great.
as long as there still e3, im happy
What happened to the replacment
so ea will now be diff.
Slow news day? :)
ok. Hope it doesn't hurt e3 in some way.
first comment, why do we care?