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Illinois Governor proposing game regulation

Governor Rod Blagojevich seeks law to punish those who sell violent and sexually explicit games to minors.

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It's as if the Governor of Illinois never heard of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board.

In a move that would give teeth to what many are saying is ineffectual and inconsistent ESRB ratings, Rod Blagojevich, the Governor of Illinois hopes to persuade his legislature to enact laws making it a crime to distribute, sell, rent, or otherwise make available violent and sexually explicit video games to children younger than 18. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) is the trade organization that determines the rating a game gets, which in turn suggests its appropriateness for different age groups.

In a statement released this morning, the governor said his goal was to help parents who "face unprecedented challenges in monitoring and protecting their children from harmful influences."

"They have to worry about a lot more than bullies and bad influences outside the home," the governor went on to say, adding that "because of advances in technology, our kids have easy access to information and images inside our homes that our own parents would never have dreamed of exposing us to."

The governor isn't relying on ESRB ratings to determine which games qualify for the ban. Instead, his office will establish a set of standards independent of the ESRB, a self-regulatory agency that has, for 10 years, rated games voluntarily submitted to it by software publishers.

Where would the governor draw the line? Violent games would be defined as "those realistically depicting human-on-human violence in which the player kills, injures, or otherwise causes physical harm to another human, including but not limited to depictions of death, dismemberment, amputation, decapitation, maiming, disfigurement, mutilation of body parts, or rape." Sexually explicit games would be defined as "those realistically depicting male or female genitalia and other nudity exposed in a way that, in accordance with contemporary community standards, predominantly appeals to the prurient interest of the player."

The likely penalty for violating the bans, the governor's office said, "would be a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison or a $5,000 fine."

Hoping to succeed where other municipalities have failed, the governor said, "Unlike attempts by the State of Washington, the City of Indianapolis and St. Louis County, [we] will narrowly define violent and sexually explicit video games to address concerns raised by federal courts."

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