LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday granted video game industry groups' request for a preliminary injunction preventing the state of Michigan from enforcing a new law aimed at banning sales of violent video games to minors.
ADVERTISEMENT
The ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan comes amid a fierce campaign by lawmakers and some parents' groups to limit access to games with adult content. California and Illinois have passed similar laws and a Florida lawmaker is trying to get like legislation passed.
"(Michigan) has been unable to demonstrate the perceived harm it seeks to protect against," Judge George Caram Steeh wrote in a ruling obtained by Reuters.
He added that the state had failed to show what harm could result from selling games to minors. The judge also said "obvious harm" could arise from "stifling free speech" if the law goes into effect as planned on December 1.
"Plaintiffs have demonstrated that the Act is unlikely to survive strict scrutiny, and that irreparable harm follows from the loss of First Amendment freedoms," Judge Steeh wrote.
The Entertainment Software Association, the Video Software Dealers Association and the Michigan Retailers Association took on the Michigan law and are fighting the same battles in California and Illinois.
Courts already have blocked similar legislation in Washington State, the city of Indianapolis and St. Louis County in Missouri, finding that the laws violated free speech guarantees in the U.S. Constitution.
Calls to Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm's press office were not immediately returned.
"We are gratified that Judge Steeh has issued this preliminary injunction and in so doing has suggested that the arguments and research relied on by Gov. Granholm and the legislature are weak and unpersuasive," Douglas Lowenstein, president of the ESA, said in a statement.
The furor over video game content flared anew this summer when game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (Nasdaq:TTWO - news) pulled its blockbuster title "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" from store shelves following the discovery of hidden sex scenes in its code.
In 2004, the U.S. video game industry reaped sales of $7.3 billion, rivaling U.S. box office.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051110/tc_nm/media_videogames_dc;_ylt=AitXnozoHF8QkLUh8uF4gsEjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
ADVERTISEMENT
The ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan comes amid a fierce campaign by lawmakers and some parents' groups to limit access to games with adult content. California and Illinois have passed similar laws and a Florida lawmaker is trying to get like legislation passed.
"(Michigan) has been unable to demonstrate the perceived harm it seeks to protect against," Judge George Caram Steeh wrote in a ruling obtained by Reuters.
He added that the state had failed to show what harm could result from selling games to minors. The judge also said "obvious harm" could arise from "stifling free speech" if the law goes into effect as planned on December 1.
"Plaintiffs have demonstrated that the Act is unlikely to survive strict scrutiny, and that irreparable harm follows from the loss of First Amendment freedoms," Judge Steeh wrote.
The Entertainment Software Association, the Video Software Dealers Association and the Michigan Retailers Association took on the Michigan law and are fighting the same battles in California and Illinois.
Courts already have blocked similar legislation in Washington State, the city of Indianapolis and St. Louis County in Missouri, finding that the laws violated free speech guarantees in the U.S. Constitution.
Calls to Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm's press office were not immediately returned.
"We are gratified that Judge Steeh has issued this preliminary injunction and in so doing has suggested that the arguments and research relied on by Gov. Granholm and the legislature are weak and unpersuasive," Douglas Lowenstein, president of the ESA, said in a statement.
The furor over video game content flared anew this summer when game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (Nasdaq:TTWO - news) pulled its blockbuster title "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" from store shelves following the discovery of hidden sex scenes in its code.
In 2004, the U.S. video game industry reaped sales of $7.3 billion, rivaling U.S. box office.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051110/tc_nm/media_videogames_dc;_ylt=AitXnozoHF8QkLUh8uF4gsEjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
