Here’s how the story goes: someone, somewhere in NY freaks out about videogames being violent and causing people to murder everyone. So, a bill goes through the NY senate and has just been signed into law by the governor. (To put it flippantly, of course)

Here’s how the press release went

Governor David A. Paterson signed a package of bills, many of which are focused on public safety and protecting the rights of New York residents. [One of these will] ensure the State will explore the negative effects of violent video games.

“We have the obligation to be constantly vigilant about amending our laws to protect the residents of New York State. Many of these bills will do just that by closing loopholes or creating new laws to enhance the quality of life for all New Yorkers,” said Governor Paterson…

…other bills signed by Governor Paterson are directly aimed at protecting children… A.11717 / S.6401-A [the video game bill] establishes an advisory council to conduct a study on the connection between interactive media and real-life violence in minors exposed to such media. This bill will also require new video game consoles to have parental lockout features by 2010, and mandate that games sold at retail disclose the ratings obtained from the gaming industry’s voluntary rating system.

Yeah…. To sum it up:

1. Consoles must have a parental lockout feature by 2010
2. Games sold at retail must have a rating displayed.
3. And a study will be conducted on video games vs children vs violence. (Original, ain’t it)

Hold the presses. Consoles already have a lockout feature and games already display ratings. That leads one to ask, what’s the point of this bill. When you consider that the bill also lacks any means of enforcement, the bill is hopeless.

More or less, the NY Gov signed into law a bill that was

• Unecessary
• Ineffective
• Unconstitutional

And without any means of enforcement.

Huzzah New York. We love you!

[From: Gamepolitics]