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Lieberman's Legacy -By Ghostdude 1-3-2002
How one man's personal crusade has effected a nation's perception
Simple question: What is a Gamer? One might reply, "Someone who plays games." Obvious. You know it, I know it, pretty much everyone knows it. Unfortunately, there is group of people who would have a much different reply. If you were to ask them this question, they would answer, "A murderer in training." The sad, and potentially scary thing is, this group is growing everyday. And they make noise.
But what makes these people believe that Gamers are Murderers? The answer to that question is not a what, but a who. Senator Joseph Lieberman is that "who."
You see, Senator Lieberman is under the impression that the games you and I play-- games such as Grand Theft Auto III and Doom-- are harming us. He believes that if one plays violent games, they too will become violent. He argues that the Columbine shooters played Doom extensively, and that it was a major component in their decision to murder their schoolmates. But his argument begins to fall apart when it comes time to prove it.
Let's take the above example of Columbine and Doom. Lieberman believes that playing Doom essentially turned the shooters into cold-blooded killers. If it did, then why hasn't this happened to any of the other people that played it? Doom has sold more than 600,000 copies. Two people out of six hundred thousand is .0003%. Clearly a disturbing trend. Right, so if that's all that's needed to establish a link, than you could easily establish a link between violence and everything from asthma to vegetarianism. Down with the Cucumbers!
Let's assume for a moment that the rational gamers are correct, and there is no link. Why do people believe Lieberman? Exhibit A, Lieberman always uses various "studies" to prove his point. But what he leaves out are the other studies that say the exact opposite of what he is saying. I think we can establish a link between politics advanced dementia.
Exhibit B, Lieberman's is the only point of view they've heard. Every time there's a story about games, the liberal media spews biased propaganda against games and their obvious link to Satanism. Other views aren't given any airtime, and anything Lieberman says is taken as gospel.
The Repercussions
Of course this is America, land of the free where anyone can have any oddball point of view they want. Lieberman has introduced legislature into Congress that would censor games and their marketing, since his point of view is that they are the devil. Dubbed the Media Marketing Accountability Act, this bill would make it illegal to market adult material, such as M-rated games, to minors, and it would give the FTC the ability to sue companies that it feels have violated this mandate. Sounds simple, right?
Wrong. The problem is that it's very vague about what is considered advertising to minors. For instance, it prohibits advertising adult material in any medium where children make up a substantial portion of the viewers. But it leaves it to the FTC decide what a substantial portion is. It could be 10 percent, it could be 50 percent, we don't know. And that is exactly the problem. Publishers would be very weary of printing any ads, because the FTC could suddenly decide that there are too many minors reading it.
He's Not Alone...
Of course, Lieberman couldn't continue on with his anti-game agenda if there wasn't an audience for it. He's not the only senator that believes games consume the souls of America's posterity; Senators McCain and Clinton were backers of the bill and Senator Kohl actually co-introduced it with Lieberman. But they aren't they only people trying to change the games industry. There have been numerous lawsuits brought against several game makers, each one attempting to hold them accountable for the violence that they supposedly caused. Fortunately, they were all dismissed; regardless, the very idea that someone would sue the makers of games and possibly win is chilling. Developers might hve to stop making games for fear that they could have a giant lawsuit on their hands and the blood of innocent people placed on their heads.
But that is exactly what Florida lawyer Jack Thompson, who brought many of the lawsuits against game makers to court, wants. He claims that shooter games are nothing more than "Murder Simulators" that teach our children to kill. He believes that society is at a greater risk because of gamers such as you and I because we "train" excessively with FPSs. He also is under the deluded belief that games don't fall under the First Amendment as free speech.
...But Neither Are We.
Fortunately, the court system happens to disagree with Mr. Thompson. The 8th District U.S. Court of Appeals recently ruled that games do fall under the First Amendment, and are therefore free speech. But whether this will end the steady stream of unsubstantiated claims against the games industry still remains to be seen. Until that happens though, we'll have to do our best to protect our pastime from the jackals in Congress and elsewhere.
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