"...But I know it when I see it."
is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors; taken as a whole, does not have serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors; is glamorized or gratuitous; is graphic violence used to shock or stimulate; is graphic violence that is not contextually relevant to the material; is so pervasive that it serves as the thread holding the plot of the material together; trivializes the serious nature of realistic violence; does not demonstrate the consequences or effects of realistic violence; uses brutal weapons designed to inflict the maximum amount of pain and damage; endorses or glorifies torture or excessive weaponry; or depicts lead characters who resort to violence freely.
The last descriptor seems to be something of a catch-all that could very well describe a majority of character-driven games. The full text of bill H.B. 257 is available here.
As usual with these pieces of attempted legislation, the Entertainment Software Association is taking an active role in challenging the bill. Margaret Plane of the American Civil Liberty Union also voiced her organization's disagreement with Hogue's proposal, declaring the equation of violence and obscenity as unconstitutional. Hogue expressed his confidence that the bill will see no significant roadblocks, pledging to "take it to the Supreme Court" in defense if need be.
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"this bill would assign those same legal repurcussions to furnishing minors with video games containing what is defined as "inappropriate violence."
So if I lived in Utah I could go to jail currently forletting my kids play CS, LOTR BFME on our lan together, or a rousing game of lan dm?!? This is insane.-
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The neighbors who see it through your windows. The parents of your kid's friends, who hear all about how Jimmy's dad is cool and plays video games. Anybody who sees any parent buy their kids a violent game.
The world is full of unreasonably nosey people, but then, we've been taught to do that by a society built to "think about the children".
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