Editor's note: Hal Halpin, president and founder of the Entertainment Consumers Association, has something to say to you….
C'mon gang, let's throw the Bitmob community's support behind this. It only takes five seconds to sign the petition! -Shoe
Over the past month or so, the ECA has been getting a lot of feedback from folks who care passionately about the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court violence-in-video-games case — it’s the case where they’re going to decide whether video games are First Amendment-protected speech just like other forms of entertainment like movies and music.
Sure, there are those who are apathetic or skeptical — we love them anyway — but by and large, people genuinely want to engage. They understand that what’s at stake is much bigger than the idiosyncrasies of the case itself — that a victory for the Governator is a very serious loss for gamers and gaming…not solely because of the immediate impact of the verdict on retailers and the trade, but because of the sweeping and holistic ramifications that it would have. Don’t be fooled into complacency by those who say that it’s just about kids under 18, just about retailers, the trade, or protecting children. It’s not.
Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture, what we’ll see is that it’s about many things, and both sides are going to bring in a lot of ammunition, but the bottom line is that our rights as consumers are on the block and a dangerous legal precedent — that some entertainment can be arbitrarily restricted — could lead down the hill on a slippery slope that will restrict more and more of our Constitutionally protected rights.
Make no mistake: A loss here will harm our position everywhere. Politicians who had previously been unsuccessful in hundreds of attempts to legislate gaming and other forms of entertainment will have renewed optimism; the State of Illinois has already indicated that they’ll be watching this case closely for precisely that reason.
I think it’s safe to say that this is not a challenge to the video game trade alone. It’s not just about retailers and how they may sell games of whatever nature in one single state. It’s an assault on gaming and by extension, a clear and present threat to gamers. It’s incumbent upon each and every one of us — whether you are a casual or hardcore gamer, game developer, tech-driven, entertainment professional of any kind, you work for a publishing company, retailer, distributor, marketing, or PR firm…each and every U.S. gamer and entertainment consumer should care about this case because it’s about us.
For years, the video game industry has complained that gamers need to step up and get into this fight. Now gamers are, and at the most crucially important time possible, through our petition. Initial responses have been, as you might expect, very strong but folks also had questions about how they could make an impact beyond signing their own name. Fortunately, where some sought suggestions, others offered them up, and many of them are as applicable to a game programmer as they are to a casual gamer.
Additionally, one of our ECA chapter heads penned a valuable blog post with ideas that I’ll try to incorporate as well. So, without further adieu, here are some thoughts about how to help:
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Sign the petition: Go to the registration page http://www.gamerpetition.org and lend your voice to the growing chorus.
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Post petition ads: If you own and/or operate a website, download the campaign ads encouraging folks to learn more and sign on…and post them where appropriate (social networking pages/groups, blogs, boards, sites, etc.).
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Tell your friends: Once you sign on to the petition, the following confirmation page has loads of widgets and tools that you can use to tell your friends, family, followers, and fans about why this matters.
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Learn more: One of our publications, GamePolitics, covers the intersection of gaming and the law. Whenever there’s more to know about the case, you can bet that it’ll be promoted there (and hopefully across all the gaming media sites, too!).
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Your comments are valuable: Comment in articles, discuss it on forums, debate it in ShoutBoxes, and share your thoughts on social networking sites and groups. The more people talk about it, the better. We encourage active and thoughtful discussion, not just with fellow gamers but with people that may not be aware of your perspective.
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Volunteer: Join one of the (over 50!) ECA Chapters across the U.S. and Canada and see what they’re up to. Some are attending events and encouraging people to sign on, while others are bringing the debate to their classroom discussions. Chapters offer a great way to interact with like-minded folks.
- Talk it up: Whether you’re on Xbox Live or World of Warcraft, there’s plenty of opportunity to tell fellow gamers about the case and petition. We’re hoping that the game publishers will jump in with their own solutions to promote it to gamers as well, but there’s no reason that you can’t take on that job in your own clan.
