ESA lobbying for immigration changes

Last year, the Entertainment Software Association trimmed its slate of key lobbying causes to a handful of biggies: constitutional concerns, copyright law, and trade issues. According to the gaming-industry trade group's latest lobbying report to Congress, the ESA has been branching out of its slate of lobbying concerns again.

For the April-June quarter, the ESA spent $980,000 to lobby members of the legislative and executive branches on a broader array of topics, including governance of virtual worlds and immigration. Specifically, the ESA lobbied on H1-B visas and green cards for highly skilled workers.

"The ESA is advocating the increase in the number of H1-B visas available to help meet the needs of our member companies," a representative told GameSpot. "We're working on this issue because it's important to keep highly skilled workers here in the US. Many of these innovative professionals create the software that our publishers and developers use, and many of them can't stay in the US because there aren't enough H1-B visas for them."

The law limits the total number of H1-B visas granted by the government in any given year. After a temporary boost to 195,000 annually from fiscal 2001 through fiscal 2003, the number was scaled back to 65,000 a year in fiscal 2004. Generally, H1-B visa holders are eligible to work in the US for up to six years.

Another new subject to appear on the ESA's lobbying disclosure was the Americans With Disabilities Act as it relates to telecommunications. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disabilities in a variety of areas. The act also requires makers of telecom equipment to ensure that their services are usable by the disabled, "if readily achievable."

"As required by federal law, the ESA reports on all issues that we have contact with Capitol Hill on--whether we're advocating a position or not," the ESA representative said. "In the previous quarter, there was a House bill affecting Internet-based communications devices. The broad wording of the bill included many consumer electronic devices, so we were just ascertaining if game consoles were included."