BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1956
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 16, 2002
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Ellen M. Corbett, Chair
AB 1956 (Vargas) - As Amended: April 4, 2002
SUBJECT : VIDEO ARCADE FACILITIES: POSTING REQUIREMENTS
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD VIDEO ARCADE FACILITIES BE REQUIRED TO POST A
SIGN WARNING OF THE POTENTIAL HARMFUL EFFECTS ON CHILDREN OF
EXTENSIVE EXPOSURE TO VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES AND ENCOURAGING THE
USE OF A RATING SYSTEM WHEN SELECTING A GAME?
SYNOPSIS
This bill seeks to educate parents and other patrons of video
arcades through the use of a sign warning of the potential
harmful effects of extensive exposure to violent video arcade
games and encouraging the use of a game rating system created by
the video arcade gaming industry. The measure also requires an
arcade facility to make available to consumers a brochure that
explains the rating system.
The bill's author argues that the measure is necessary because
the industry-created rating system is neither widely known nor
effective since minors have access, without adult supervision,
"to the most graphic of video games." The analysis cites a
policy statement on media violence by the American Academy of
Pediatrics in which the organization stated that "repeated
exposure to violent behavioral scripts can lead to increased
feelings of hostility, expectations that others will behave
aggressively, desensitization to the pain of others, and
increased likelihood of interacting and responding to others
with violence."
Opponents, on the other hand, assert that the measure is
constitutionally infirm, arguing that governmental attempts to
compel speech impermissibly interfere with free expression.
They also take issue with the bill's statement that "due to the
graphic display of virtual violence, extensive exposure to video
arcade games may be psychologically harmful to children,"
arguing that the research does not support this statement.
SUMMARY : Seeks to educate parents and other patrons of video
arcade facilities through the use of signs and brochures.
AB 1956
Page 2
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a video arcade facility to post a sign that warns
consumers that due to the graphic display of virtual violence,
extensive exposure to video arcade games may be
psychologically harmful to children.
2)Provides that the sign shall also encourage the use of a video
arcade game rating system, created by the video arcade gaming
industry, when selecting a game and requires that the sign be
posted on the wall of the facility in a prominent area and be
in specified type.
3)Requires a video arcade facility to make a brochure available
to consumers that explains the rating system described above
and requires that the brochures be located in a prominent area
of the arcade.
4)Provides that a failure to comply with the requirements of the
bill is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine in the amount of
one hundred fifty dollars ($150) and provides that each day a
violation continues constitutes a separate offense under this
section.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides, under the United States and California
Constitutions, that a law may not restrain or abridge the
freedom of speech. (U.S. Const. Amendment I, Calif. Const.
Art. I, Sec. 2.)
2)Provides that speech is obscene and may be regulated when:
a) The average person, applying contemporary community
standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole,
appeals to the prurient interest;
b) The work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive
way, sexual conduct defined by the applicable state law;
and
c) The work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary,
artistic, political or scientific value. ( Miller v.
California (1973) 413 U.S. 15.)
AB 1956
Page 3
3)Provides that material considered obscene as to minors, but
not as to adults, may be regulated. ( Ginsberg v. New York
(1968) 390 U.S. 629.)
FISCAL EFFECT : The bill as currently in print is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS : In support of the measure, the author states:
Advancements in technology and graphics have allowed
the introduction of life-like depictions of extreme
violence in publicly accessible coin-operated video
games.
A rating system has been created by the video
industry, but it is neither widely known nor effective
as minors have unfettered access, without adult
supervision, to the most graphic of video games.
While signage and brochures are available from the
American Amusement Machine Association, these
materials do not include a warning that parental
discretion is advised when selecting a video arcade
game nor do they state that prolonged use of these
machines may cause psychological harm to children.
The Coin-Operated Video Game Parental Advisory System
was created to allow consumers to ascertain the
content of coin-operated video games. It uses a
color-coded, "traffic light" system. Despite the
creation of this rating system, not every machine
carries a label of its rated content in a visible
area.
AB 40 (Vargas) of 2001 compared. This bill seeks to address
similar issues raised in AB 40 (Vargas). That bill, however,
focused on minors' unsupervised access to graphically violent
and sexually explicit games in amusement arcades. AB 40 was
approved by this Committee by a vote of 8-0, but was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee. Critics of the bill raised
concerns that it was a constitutionally impermissible limit on
minors' access to amusement machines because it required that
each game display the appropriate rating assigned to it by the
arcade industry's game rating system and required that those
games that had been deemed to contain graphic violence or
sexually explicit content be located in a separate area to which
AB 1956
Page 4
minors' access was restricted.
In opposing AB 40, opponents noted that an Indianapolis
ordinance, which was substantially similar to the bill, was
enacted in 2000 and never put into effect because of subsequent
legal challenges. In ruling for the plaintiffs, members of the
arcade industry, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals stated that
the plaintiffs were entitled to a preliminary injunction because
they had shown a strong likelihood of ultimate victory.
According to the opponents of this bill, on December 31, 2001,
the U.S. District Court entered a Consent Judgment and Permanent
Injunction, ending the case.
This year, the author has revised his bill and decided to take a
different approach to address minors' exposure to violent video
games. This bill seeks to educate parents and other patrons of
video arcades through the use of a sign warning of the potential
harmful effects of extensive exposure to violent video arcade
games and encouraging the use of the rating system created by
the video arcade gaming industry. Opponents, however, still
maintain that this bill is unconstitutional as impermissibly
compelled speech. Given that the bill is a significant
departure from the approach taken in AB 40, which was modeled on
the Indianapolis ordinance found to be invalid, the issue of
whether this particular bill is also invalid is untested in the
courts.
The Coin-Operated Video Game Parental Advisory System. Under
the bill, video arcade facilities must display a sign that
encourages the use of a video arcade game rating system, created
by the video arcade gaming industry, when selecting a game. In
addition, the facility must make a brochure available to
consumers that explains the rating system.
According to a brochure on the rating system distributed by the
video game industry, the system uses "a color-coded traffic
light approach [to] alert players at all times to the game's
content." The system is self-regulating, and parents and others
are encouraged to notify the coin industry when they see a game
that is missing a parental advisory disclosure message.
According to the brochure, the color-coded rating is assigned to
the game by the manufacturer and "every new coin-op game has a
disclosure message in the artwork of the game's 'header.' Older
games have been stickered with the appropriate disclosure
message."
AB 1956
Page 5
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : In November 2001, the American Academy of
Pediatrics issued a policy statement on media violence, stating:
Experimental studies have shown that after playing
video games, young people exhibit measurable decreases
in pro-social and helping behaviors and increases in
aggressive thoughts and violent retaliation to
provocation. Playing violent video games has been
found to account for a 13% to 22% increase in
adolescents' violent behavior ?
Children learn by observing and trying out "behavioral
scripts." Repeated exposure to violent behavioral
scripts can lead to increased feelings of hostility,
expectations that others will behave aggressively,
desensitization to the pain of others, and increased
likelihood of interacting and responding to others
with violence. Active participation increases
effective learning.
Video games are an ideal environment in which to learn
violence. They place the player in the role of the
aggressor and reward him or her for successful violent
behavior. Rather than observing part of a violent
interaction, video games allow the player to rehearse
an entire behavioral script, from provocation, to
choosing to respond violently, to resolution of the
conflict. Moreover, video games have been found to be
addictive; children and adolescents want to play them
for long periods of time to improve their scores and
advance to higher levels. Repetition increases their
effect. (citations omitted.)
In support of the measure, the author cites studies that have
shown that the viewing of violence by children has lead to more
aggressive behavior, noting:
On July 26, 2000, a joint statement was issued at the
Congressional Public Health Summit on the Impact of
Entertainment Violence on Children. It included the
following excerpt:
"At this time, well over 1,000 studies - including
reports from the Surgeon General's office, the National
AB 1956
Page 6
Institute of Mental Health, and numerous studies
conduced by leading figures within our medical and
public health organizations-our own members-point
overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media
violence and aggressive behavior in some children. Its
effects are measurable and long-lasting. Moreover,
prolonged viewing of media violence can lead to
emotional desensitization toward violence in real
life."
The statement was signed by leading members of the
following organizations: American Medical
Association, President, American Academy of
Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians,
President, America Academy of Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry, American Psychological Association, and
American Psychiatric Association
In addition, the Federal Trade Commission issued a study in
September of 2000 that examined the marketing of violent
entertainment to children. In its Executive Summary, the
Commission stated:
The Commission's literature review reveals that a
majority of the investigations into the impact of
media violence on children find that there is a high
correlation between exposure to media violence and
aggressive, and at times, violent, behavior. In
addition a number of research efforts report that
exposure to media violence is correlated with
increased acceptance of violent behavior in others, as
well as an exaggerated perception of the amount of
violence in society.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Media Coalition, Inc. opposes this
measure, writing:
The primary constitutional infirmity is that the
posting requirement is clearly compelled speech. The
government cannot mandate that arcade owners take up
the state endorsed position on the impact of arcade
games on non-adult users. The First Amendment allows
speakers not only the right to communicate freely but
creates the complimentary right "to refrain from
speaking at all," Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705, 714
AB 1956
Page 7
(1977). ?
Arcade owners will inevitably lose patrons who, without
being aware that the material referenced by the posted
signs is protected by the First Amendment, will refuse
to enter places or access games that have been deemed
potentially harmful. Many retailers will refuse to
have arcade games that could be construed as violent
and allegedly harmful. As a result, A.B. 1956 would
cause an unconstitutional "chilling effect" on the
availability of constitutionally protected material and
would inevitably prevent minors from using games they
have a First Amendment right to access.
Finally, we challenge the claim that "due to the
graphic display of virtual violence, extensive
exposure to video arcade games may be psychologically
harmful to children." While many newspaper headlines
may have jumped to this conclusion, the research
certainly does not support this statement. There is
very little research on the impact of violence in
video games and no research the effect of violent
content in video arcade games. We recently released a
report, Shooting the Messenger: Why Censorship Won't
Stop Violence that surveys the research on the effects
of violent media on the consumer. We found that the
research is contradictory and inconclusive.
The Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) and its
California-based member companies oppose the measure, arguing
that it "would not survive judicial scrutiny" because
"governmental attempts to compel speech would impermissibly
interfere with free expression."
The American Amusement Machine Association and Amusement and
Music Operators Association oppose the measure, writing:
The legislation seeks to stigmatize video games based
on their message. "Violent" speech enjoys the full
protection of the First Amendment. Violent, and even
"graphically violent" speech has never been included
under any judicial definition of obscenity, a
definition that has consistently been limited to
material of a sexual nature. (citations omitted.)
AB 1956
Page 8
In light of the above precedent, we believe that
Assembly Bill 1956 would not survive a constitutional
challenge. As a preliminary matter, there is a strong
possibility that enforcement of the proposed
legislation would be enjoined pending resolution of any
lawsuit challenging the legislation. Expending the
resources of taxpayers of California to enact and
defend legislation of questionable legal validity would
be financially costly and, most importantly, would do
nothing to address the real causes of youth violence.
Moreover, passage of this legislation would impose
burdensome regulations on entertainment establishments
ranging from family entertainment centers and amusement
parks, to restaurants and movie theaters, that would be
detrimental to these types of businesses, and which
could lead to a loss of jobs and tax revenue in the
State of California as a whole.
Double referral. This bill has been double referred by the
Assembly Rules Committee to the Assembly Committee on Arts,
Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
American Amusement Machine Association
Amusement and Music Operators Association
Interactive Digital Software Association
Media Coalition, Inc.
Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.
Analysis Prepared by : Saskia Kim / JUD. / (916) 319-2334