California Assembly Bills 1792 & 1793
Encyclopedia
California Assembly Bills 1792 & 1793 were two bills introduced by Speaker pro Tempore of the Assembly Leland Yee
(D-San Francisco/Daly City
). Commonly called the "ultraviolent video games bills" or simply "video game ban" bills, these two bills restricted sales of "ultraviolent" video games from minor
s under the age of 18 in California
. Bill 1792 banned the sales of such video games while Bill 1793 required signs explaining the regulations on said games to be placed where such were sold. Both bills were passed by the Assembly and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
into law on October 7, 2005.
Explicitly, these two bills provided that:
Yee, a child psychologist, believed that psychological research demonstrated that violent video games—especially first-person shooter games—encouraged real-life acts of violence in teenagers who played these games and therefore believed that such games should not be available to persons under eighteen. Lee's bills met little opposition other than that of the pro-gaming industry lobby. The California Psychiatric Associationhttp://www.calpsych.org/legislation/archives/ab17921793.html and other non-profit groups supported the bills. However, the legal precedents for these bills and the ban on sales or rental of violent games are very weak—allowing the California law to set a new precedent that could inspire like-minded legislation in other states.
The history these bills and the fact that Yee is a psychologist make their origins interesting when compared to most bills that have been signed into law in California. Views both for and against these bills centered resoundingly on the burden of proof of the psychological literature that Yee claimed demonstrated the need for banning the sale of violent games to minors.
At the heart of much of the discussion about the need to regulate these “ultraviolent” games is what has been termed the "hot coffee mod
" incident regarding the PlayStation 2
/Xbox
game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
. In this situation, when a certain character successfully courted a girlfriend, she asked him into her house for "coffee." The game displayed an external shot of the house with sounds of a couple having sex. With code modifications, the PC version of the game which was released in Autumn of 2005 (while the original PS2 version was released in October 2004) will display in graphic detail the sexual adventure inside her house, instead of just hinting at such. This disabled sexual content caused Leland Yee and other critics of violent games to call for an immediate re-labeling of the game by its producer, Rockstar Games
, and to use it as an example for the need of the type of legislation they promoted. The problem here is that Rockstar has claimed in no uncertain terms that this added portion of the game is not something they devised at all but the result of external modifications by hackers, and indeed, a Dutch hacker has claimed responsibility for it.
One key point of the law that appears unresolved is exactly what criteria will be used to determine a game to be "ultraviolent"—simply containing some violent content will not merit a game to be placed within the over-eighteen category alone. Without exacting standards in this regard, the mission of the law seems unclear to an extent.
On December 21, 2005, Judge Ronald Whyte deemed the bill unconstitutional, preventing it from going into effect on January 1, 2006.
In the summer of 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, also held the law to be unconstitutional.
Leland Yee
Leland Yee is a California State Senator in District 8 which represents the western half of San Francisco and most of San Mateo County. Prior to becoming state senator, Yee was a California State Assemblyman, Supervisor of San Francisco's Sunset District, and was a member and President of the San...
(D-San Francisco/Daly City
Daly City, California
Daly City is the largest city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with a 2010 population of 101,123. Located immediately south of San Francisco, it is named in honor of businessman and landowner John Daly.-History:...
). Commonly called the "ultraviolent video games bills" or simply "video game ban" bills, these two bills restricted sales of "ultraviolent" video games from minor
Minor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
s under the age of 18 in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Bill 1792 banned the sales of such video games while Bill 1793 required signs explaining the regulations on said games to be placed where such were sold. Both bills were passed by the Assembly and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
into law on October 7, 2005.
Explicitly, these two bills provided that:
- AB 1792 will place ultra-violent video games into the "harmful matter" portion of the penal code, which criminalizes the sale of said material to a minor.
- AB 1793 will require retailers to place M-rated games separate from other games intended for children, and will also require retailers to display signage explaining the ESRBEntertainment Software Rating BoardThe Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and...
rating system.
Yee, a child psychologist, believed that psychological research demonstrated that violent video games—especially first-person shooter games—encouraged real-life acts of violence in teenagers who played these games and therefore believed that such games should not be available to persons under eighteen. Lee's bills met little opposition other than that of the pro-gaming industry lobby. The California Psychiatric Associationhttp://www.calpsych.org/legislation/archives/ab17921793.html and other non-profit groups supported the bills. However, the legal precedents for these bills and the ban on sales or rental of violent games are very weak—allowing the California law to set a new precedent that could inspire like-minded legislation in other states.
The history these bills and the fact that Yee is a psychologist make their origins interesting when compared to most bills that have been signed into law in California. Views both for and against these bills centered resoundingly on the burden of proof of the psychological literature that Yee claimed demonstrated the need for banning the sale of violent games to minors.
At the heart of much of the discussion about the need to regulate these “ultraviolent” games is what has been termed the "hot coffee mod
Hot Coffee mod
The Hot Coffee mod is a normally inaccessible minigame in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, developed by Rockstar North. Public awareness of the existence of the minigame arrived with the release of the Hot Coffee mod, created for the version released in 2005 for Microsoft Windows...
" incident regarding the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
/Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 open world action video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall...
. In this situation, when a certain character successfully courted a girlfriend, she asked him into her house for "coffee." The game displayed an external shot of the house with sounds of a couple having sex. With code modifications, the PC version of the game which was released in Autumn of 2005 (while the original PS2 version was released in October 2004) will display in graphic detail the sexual adventure inside her house, instead of just hinting at such. This disabled sexual content caused Leland Yee and other critics of violent games to call for an immediate re-labeling of the game by its producer, Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games is a major video game developer and publisher based in New York City, owned by Take-Two Interactive following its purchase of UK video game publisher BMG Interactive. The brand is mostly known for Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A...
, and to use it as an example for the need of the type of legislation they promoted. The problem here is that Rockstar has claimed in no uncertain terms that this added portion of the game is not something they devised at all but the result of external modifications by hackers, and indeed, a Dutch hacker has claimed responsibility for it.
One key point of the law that appears unresolved is exactly what criteria will be used to determine a game to be "ultraviolent"—simply containing some violent content will not merit a game to be placed within the over-eighteen category alone. Without exacting standards in this regard, the mission of the law seems unclear to an extent.
On December 21, 2005, Judge Ronald Whyte deemed the bill unconstitutional, preventing it from going into effect on January 1, 2006.
In the summer of 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, also held the law to be unconstitutional.