Intellectual Property Law

Gamers Form a PAC

By Cynthia Brumfield

The NYT's Seth Schiesel has this piece today about the formation of a political action committee designed to promote the interests of the gaming industry. Operated out of the Entertainment Software Association, run by former NTIA head Michael Gallagher, the PAC plans to donate from $50,000 to $100,000 to national candidates this year.

The big threat to the gaming industry is the continual push to either ban games that feature adult or violent content or to limit their sale to minors. Both of these efforts to limit video gaming have been struck down by numerous courts as violations of the First Amendment. Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), has in the past been one of the biggest proponents of limiting video game bans and has spearheaded efforts to conduct federally funded studies that document the harm of playing these games (courts have routinely ruled that no one has proved the harm of violent video games, for example.)

According to Schiesel's piece, Senator Clinton has "made peace" with the game industry given that video games, once the province of children and teenagers, are now primarily an adult activity, with the average age of gamers hovering around 30.

Full post as published by IP Democracy on January 15, 2008 (boomark / email).