If Gov. Rod Blogojevich has his way, Illinoisans under 18 won't be able to buy sexually explicit or violent video games, including Grand Theft Auto, Halo 2, and Mortal Kombat.
Blogjevich plans to send the Illinois state legislature two bills in the coming session, one to ban selling and renting violent video games to those under 18 and the other doing likewise for sexually explicit video games. If they succeed, Illinois would become the first U.S. state to pass and enforce such bans.
"Parents today face unprecedented challenges in monitoring and protecting their children from harmful influences," Blogojevich said in a formal statement. "They have to worry about a lot more than bullies and bad influences outside the home. Now, because of advances in technology, our kids have easy access to information and images inside our homes that our own parents would never have dreamed of exposing us to.
"Some of the popular video games on the market right now allow kids to simulate and participate in violent and sexual activities," the governor continued. "Soldiers heading to Iraq use simulations like today’s video games in order to prepare for war. And that may all be okay if you’re a mature adult or a soldier training to fight, but is that really necessary for a 10-year-old child?"
Under the intended language of those bills, "violent games" would include "those realistically depicting human-on-human violence" where players can kill, injure, or otherwise harm another human, while "sexually explicit games" would include those "realistically depicting male or female genitalia and other nudity" in ways "contemporary community standards" define as appealing to "the prurient interest of the player," according to a description from the governor's office.
Penalties for violating the bans – assuming the state legislature passes the bills and Blagojevich signs them – would include up to a year in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.
The two intended bills would also require sellers to label violent and sexually explicit games and post signs explaining a video game rating system, with fines up to $1,000 for the first three violations and up to $5,000 for every violation after that.
Blagojevich said that, unlike previous similar bids by Washington state, Indianapolis, and St. Louis County, his bills would define violent and sexually explicit games narrowly enough to answer concerns from federal courts and aimed specifically at protecting children.
"This is all about protecting our children until they are old enough to protect themselves," continued Blagojevich, who has set up a Web site to help Illinois parents understand both such games and their actual or suspected impact on their children's behavior. "There's a reason why we don't let kids smoke or drink alcohol or drive a car until they reach a certain age and level of maturity."
The video game industry isn't exactly likely to see it quite the way Blagojevich does. "We think as an industry we can regulate ourselves," said Entertainment Software Association general counsel Gail Markels to reporters. "[We are] voluntarily making great strides."
The ESA, in fact, says s65 percent of parents with under-18 children that they've surveyed say computer and video games are positive additions to their children's lives, with 96 percent of those parents saying they pay close attention to what their kids play and under-18 players saying their parents were there at the point of sale 89 percent of the time.
