Giving up free speech for our future’s sake
Florida judge gets tough on ‘Bully’ | Tech News on ZDNet:
A Florida judge has ordered the maker of “Grand Theft Auto” to hand over an unreleased video game set in a high school, a move that raises questions about the legal protections that games enjoy.
The judge is being asked to grant a partial injunction against sales of the forthcoming Take-Two Interactive Software game, called “Bully” and set at a fictional private school named Bullworth Academy. “Bully” is scheduled for release on Tuesday.
Florida judge gets tough on ‘Bully’ | Tech News on ZDNet:
Thompson’s lawsuit likens “Bully” to a “murder simulator,” alleging it will teach minors about methods of bullying and school violence. He asks the court to declare the game a “public nuisance.”
This is depressing in so many ways. Are parents so overwhelmed by teen peer pressure and commercialism that they can’t prevent their children from buying and playing this game? The fact that the game was even produced says something about the nature of our culture. Let’s face it, they wouldn’t make it if they didn’t think people would buy it. And finally, although probably the least of many people’s concerns, we have something called free speech protected by the First Amendment.
Florida judge gets tough on ‘Bully’ | Tech News on ZDNet:
Ever since a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1931, the law has said that injunctions placed on material before publication run afoul of constitutional protections of freedom of speech. In a subsequent 1971 ruling, for instance, the justices warned that such an injunction “constitutes an impermissible restraint on First Amendment rights.”
But then again, given how some businesses are likely to sue if free speech interferes with their profits, maybe it is a good idea for the government to strike first.
Filed under: Bully, Culture Values, Family Values, First Amendment, Florida, Free Speech, Grand Theft Auto, Jack Thompson, censorship, peer pressure, video games
