Man receives support from CBLDF in manga possession case
In Iowa, a 32-year-old man may spend 20 years in prison for possession of Japanese manga and will face penalties under the PROTECT Act (18 U.S.C. Section 1466A). Christopher Handley is still in big trouble because of the manga he purchased from Japan in May 2006 that the government claimed was obscene and depicted minors engaged in sexual acts.
Luckily for Handley, he no longer has to face the court system alone as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has decided to provide their expertise as a consultant to the defense and provide funds for use to support in obtaining…
Australian government seeks public opinion regarding R rating
Last month the Australian Home Affairs Ministry declared that the country’s attorneys-general would mull over whether games with an R rating should be allowed in the country or not. The attorneys-general met recently in Barossa Valley in South Australia and reached a consensus that the final decision can only be reached after taking into account the public opinion.
Australia doesn’t have a R rating for video games which means that…
Tanya Byron recommends game ratings overhaul in Britain
Dr. Tanya Byron, a clinical psychologist, who is heading an independent review into the ill effects of games and internet on kids, published a report on Thursday (March 27, 2008). In the report titled “Safer Children in a Digital World” she has made several recommendations regarding children’s safety in cyberspace and ways to keep them away from adult content.
She has recommended greater cohesion between the UK government, game industry and parents, and also prescribed a greater role for the British Board of Film Classification in assigning ratings to the game. She wants BBFC to assign rating to all games 12 and above…
Thompson blames Omaha massacre on Department of Defense
Just when we thought the dust has settled, I browse through the web to find Jack Thompson setting his sights on the Department of Defense on GamePolitics.
Thompson had sent a press release to GamePolitics that seems to blame the Department of Defense for the increasing “number of commando-style assaults” by young gamers and sites the mall massacre which took place December 5, 2007 in Omaha, Nebraska as an example and then later in the article blamed the Virginia Tech massacre on an “obsessive high school player of the military-themed CounterStrike.“
Which baffled me, I didn’t remember there being another shooter at VA Tech or did he mean Cho Seung Hui, in which case the only game he ever played according to the state’s investigation on Cho was Sonic the Hedgehog...
Phillippine president officially takes up residence in Second Life
In a rather interesting gesture, Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has unveiled her likeness in the virtual world, Second Life, during the National Innovation Summit held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati November 26, 2007. She as joined by members of the Department of Science, Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro, IBM Executive Vice President for the Innovation and Technology Department Nick Donofrio.
Arroyo’s intent was to show her country that she is not opposed to change and innovation.
During the summit, with a theme from TV series Battlestar Galactica playing in the background, the president got her first glimpse of her Second Life avatar.
“Preparing our growth sectors of the future enables us to tap the opportunities of the 21st century.We will promote fast-growing industries where high value jobs are plentiful…let us declare that technology is the foundation of future economic development,” the President stressed in a speech given in July 2001 prior to hosting the summit to introduce a program that is designed to strengthen the country’s competitiveness in the global knowledge-based economy and transform the Philippines into a technology hub in Asia.
Creating a Second Life avatar is the first step to creating a virtual Philippine Embassy in the game. The virtual embassy will be largely used by IBM for global conferencing with many of its executives regularly meeting with the use of their own avatars.
“We believe that innovation is key to our national competitiveness,” Arroyo said during the summit.
Read [Inquirer.net] Also Read [Hackenslash] Site [Phillippine Government]
Related- Reality TV meets Symphonies and Youtube
- Reuters no longer desires a Second Life, abandoning its virtual branch
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There is no “Government Legislation” in Parental Responsibility
Just as there is no “I” in team or ice in hot tea, government legislation has little business trying to substitute the responsibility of parents with laws.
In an article by GameDaily, the New York state senate passed a video game bill, SO5888, sponsored by Senator Andrew Lanza (R-I, Staten Island), which seeks to:
“[E]stablish an Advisory Council on Interactive Media and Youth Violence to review the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) rating system and its effectiveness, as well as recommend further steps that can be taken “to curb children’s access and exposure to ‘adult-only’ material.“
This leads me to think that this is not as much an issue of free speech here as it is an insult to the efforts of the ESRB.
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