Or do they simply elect Orwellian leaders who wish to commandeer the public’s powers of choice?

Certainly they elect people who have little idea of how to accomplish things in a way that yields the desired results.

A week ago we read about the Attorney General of New York using subtle threats against Verizon and others who would not bend to his will, and remove an entire hierarchy of Usenet from their servers.

Now the New York State Senate is trying to pass another bill regarding video games and game consoles, trying to usurp the power of parents, and enforce the quaint notion that the government should place its judgement above that of its people.  The article shows why the idea is both bad and superfluous, It also shows that many poorly thought out schemes have little chance of efficacy.

This sort of legislation shouldn’t even pass the Homer Simpson test (Doh!), much less take up any time in the legal system that certainly has better things to try to remedy.

from Ars Technica

Trying to pass legislation that impacts how games can be sold or what has to be put on them is a popular and expensive way of sending the message that you’re concerned about the issues that affect the youth of today. Although every law attempted has gone down in flames, and has cost taxpayers at least $1 million through the years, politicians continue to line up to give it a go. The newest bill is A11717, proposed by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, and it has already passed through the New York State Assembly. Now it’s on to the State Senate. It’s a familiar story, but in this case the New York government is asking for things the industry is already doing.
States continue losing streak with game legislation
Massachusetts lawmakers debate ill-advised video game law
ESA awarded legal fees from fight against Michigan game law
Gamers get political action group

The legislation would require game consoles to include parental locks for mature content but, while this sounds good on paper, every current-generation console already has parental controls. Not only that, but the ESRB has done a great job of getting the word out on how to use said controls. The bill also wants to force games to show their ESRB ratings on the cover of the title, which is also something that is done industry-wide. Every game sold at retail has the ESRB rating on the front cover, with more detailed information on what content the game includes on the back of the box. Given that industry compliance on showing the ratings on games is already at 100 percent, it’s unclear what the law would achieve.

Republican or Democrat, Liberal or Conservative, the elected officials in this country need to take a long look at the job they are put in place to do. There are entirely too many laws being written, and too many elected officials judging their performance by how much hack legislation they are capable of getting by the other side.

Perhaps their should be much more filibustering in all the legislative houses – at least that might give these bad laws a chance to be exposed to an audience that is forced to think, long and hard, before adding unnecessary bulk to the codes we all live by.

No one should doubt that these legislator’s hearts are in the right place, but everyone should question where their heads are; and ask, politely, for these servants of the people to pull them out. 

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