Gamers rejoice!
"Color me surprised," says the writer of GamePolitics.com. "I did not think that Huntsman would buck the legislature on this one."
"This one" is HB353, a bill that was intended to punish businesses who sold M-rated videogames to youngsters - but, because of its vague wording, could have applied to theaters playing R-rated movies, bookstores and all manner of media.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman vetoed HB353 on Wednesday. In a statement notifying the legislature of the veto, Huntsman wrote: "While protecting children from inappropriate materials is a laudable goal, the language of this bill is so broad that it likely will be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional."
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Michael Morley, R-Spanish Fork, blamed the veto on an e-mail lobbying campaign by "a lot of gamers that misrepresent the bill."
But it wasn't just gamers - who have followed the legislation closely (here, here and here, for example) - who thought the bill was stupid. The Salt Lake Tribune's editorial writers today called the vetoed bill "a bullet dodged" that would have had the unintended consequence of forcing stores to throw out industry ratings systems - making it harder for parents to filter out age-inappropriate games, DVDs and movies.
A tip to Rep. Morley and other legislators: Next time, don't let a disbarred Florida lawyer write your bill for you.
"This one" is HB353, a bill that was intended to punish businesses who sold M-rated videogames to youngsters - but, because of its vague wording, could have applied to theaters playing R-rated movies, bookstores and all manner of media.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman vetoed HB353 on Wednesday. In a statement notifying the legislature of the veto, Huntsman wrote: "While protecting children from inappropriate materials is a laudable goal, the language of this bill is so broad that it likely will be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional."
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Michael Morley, R-Spanish Fork, blamed the veto on an e-mail lobbying campaign by "a lot of gamers that misrepresent the bill."
But it wasn't just gamers - who have followed the legislation closely (here, here and here, for example) - who thought the bill was stupid. The Salt Lake Tribune's editorial writers today called the vetoed bill "a bullet dodged" that would have had the unintended consequence of forcing stores to throw out industry ratings systems - making it harder for parents to filter out age-inappropriate games, DVDs and movies.
A tip to Rep. Morley and other legislators: Next time, don't let a disbarred Florida lawyer write your bill for you.
Labels: Jon Huntsman, Utah Legislature, videogames
posted by Sean P. Means @ 9:01 AM |
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