Cengage Advantage Books: Fundamentals of Business Law 9th Edition by Roger LeRoy Miller

Exercise 18

Should Video Games Be Required to Have Warning Labels?
Just about any product that you purchase in the physical world has one or more warning labels. Indeed, some critics argue that these labels have become so long and so ubiquitous that consumers now ignore them. In other words, putting warnings on just about everything defeats their original purpose. In the online environment, warning labels are not so extensive-at least not yet.
So far, video games have largely escaped mandated warning labels, although the video game industry has instituted a voluntary rating system to provide consumers and retailers with information about a video game's content. The Entertainment Software Rating Board assigns each video game one of six age-specific ratings, ranging from "Early Childhood" to "Adults Only."
Should video games, whether they are downloaded from the manufacturer's site or bought on a CD-ROM or DVD, have additional warnings that would advise potential users (or their parents) that the games might be overly violent? When the California legislature enacted a new law imposing restrictions and a labeling requirement on the sale or rental of "violent video games" to minors, this issue became paramount.
Video Software Dealers Sue the State
Immediately after the labeling requirement was enacted, the Video Software Dealers Association, along with the Entertainment Software Association, brought a suit in federal district court seeking to invalidate the law. The court granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs and also denied California's cross motion for summary judgment in its favor.
The act defined a violent video game as one in which "the range of options available to a player includes killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being." While agreeing that some video games are unquestionably violent by everyday standards, the trial court pointed out, as did the federal court that heard the appeal, that many video games are based on popular novels or motion pictures and have extensive plot lines.
Accordingly, the court found that the definition of a violent video game was unconstitutionally vague and thus violated the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech. The court also noted the existence of the voluntary rating system. The state appealed, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit also found that the statute's definition of a violent video game was unconstitutionally broad. The state appealed again.
The United States Supreme Court's Decision
In 2011, the United States Supreme Court affirmed the decision in favor of video game and software industries. The Court noted that video games are entitled to First Amendment protection. Because California had failed to show that the statute was justified by a compelling government interest and that the law was narrowly tailored to serve that interest, the Court ruled that the statute was unconstitutional.
FOR CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Why would some legislators believe that the six-part voluntary labeling system for video games is not sufficient to protect minors?