The electronic gaming sector chalked up another impressive First Amendment victory on Monday in the case of Electronic Software Association v. Hatch. [Here’s the full decision]. James M. Rosenbaum, Chief District Judge of the District Court of Minnesota, struck down as unconstitutional a Minnesota law that passed in May of this year. The Minnesota law was unique in that it sought to impose fines on the buyers rather than the sellers of games rated either “M” for Mature or “AO” for Adults Only under the industry’s voluntary ratings system. Other state and local laws that have been struck down in recent years imposed penalties mostly on game retailers who sold games rated M or AO to minors.
But the unique Minnesota approach met the same legal fate as those other laws. Echoing the previous video game industry decisions, Judge Rosenbaum declared that “video games are a protected form of speech under the First Amendment.” In response to the State of Minnesota’s plea that, when balancing the interests in this matter, the Court should consider “the lesser societal value” of “worthless, disgusting” video games, Judge Rosenbaum cut loose with this wonderful rejoinder: “The First Amendment… was certainly established to keep the government from becoming the arbiter of what constitutes ‘worthless’ or ‘disgusting’ speech. The Court declines the State’s invitation to enter into an evaluation of this kind.”
That’s pretty powerful stuff. But wait… it gets even better.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.